INTUITIVE EXPRESSION

As an artist, I feel free.

I love a blank canvas and paint with no plan, letting my insides run wild without pressure, expectation, or resolve. I trust myself in this space. It’s where I show up and AM without overthinking or consequence. It’s untethered expression. I feel safe.

"Femme Apparently" in process

​I paint to breathe. Every smudge is an exhale of release and honesty.

So much of my life is spent in controlled energy, riddled with anxiety. I take to painting as a sense of release and exhale.

​​Nothing in mind, no specific outcome.

​​It's where I lay claim, set up fence, and distance in order to expand inward, expressing outward; letting go and allowing space for whatever breathes out.

"The Edge" in process

"Sketchy" my sketchbook with a sampling of Tiny TABstracts - mini abstract paintings

Early work | acrylic on paper once referred to as a Frappuccino

//meaning

I'm often asked what my paintings mean. This is hard to answer. I suppose they mean freedom.

Each is a captured moment of simple exhale. 

​My goal is to freely express and let something beautiful unfold from the chaos. 

A space to get lost.​
​To me, that's art.

BLOBS EXCITE ME

I sit to paint. I grab supplies quickly; laying out my boards, grabbing a handful of colors  - whatever I'm feeling, usually a grounding brown - gathering a couple of brushes, water, palette knives with scrapers and brayers. From there, I go. A million decisions in a moment. Blobbing, scraping, smooshing, pausing, editing, and most importantly, feeling.

Grouping of acrylic on canvas panel

I prefer hard substrates of board, paper, and wood. I find I can really get gritty with the firm backing, allowing me to create deep pressures, rubs, scratches, and marks.

Original TAB//ART painting

OUTCOME

A piece is finished when my bones rattle, my eyeballs sing, and my soul feels the warm, tingly goodness of honest communication. ​Then, the exhale has ended.

xo //tobi

"Green Smudge II" - tiny

Abstraction can be a place to let go and adventure or dream. My hope is that you are inspired to do just that.

Get lost in originals