“Portraying my women with colorful fruit, flowers, sunglasses, bugs and balloon animals was a fun way to portray personality. ”
SOULDEGA: When did your passion for painting start?
ERIN: I can't even pin point when I think my passion started but it was probably in elementary school. I can remember all of my art teachers and even some of my favorite paintings I did. In middle school I decided art was my favorite subject and then signed up for every single art class in high school. Photography, ceramics, everything and always came back to painting. College was really where I took it to the next level, minoring in it.
SOULDEGA: What piece of work has been most challenging and why?
ERIN: My most challenging pieces are my watercolor looking acrylic paintings. They are a lot of layers and very messy and I just keep adding paint until I like them. I usually go into them without a plan too which is a challenge.
SOULDEGA: What helps you to get into a creative zone where you feel inspired and disciplined?
ERIN: Hanging out with my girls! All of my friends are super creative and working on awesome creative projects all the time. We inspire each other and pump each other up. A day at a coffee shop or in my living room all working on separate projects but together is my favorite.
SOULDEGA: Who are some of your favorite female painters and why?
ERIN: Alexa Proba, Ashley Longshore, and Laurie Lee. They not only are awesome women but so original and creative! I love watching their journeys and ideas on instagram. They have turned their art into full on businesses and that is inspiring.
SOULDEGA: We noticed you're attention to playfulness with color and female subjects, what is the inspiration behind these aesthetics?
ERIN: I am surrounded by a lot of beautiful, smart, colorful women. Give me all the colors, patterns and beautiful things and put them all together, that's my group of friends. Portraying my women with colorful fruit, flowers, sunglasses, bugs and balloon animals was a fun way to portray personality. At my last show they all saw themselves in certain paintings and that was so awesome!
SOULDEGA: If you had to spend the night in a museum, which one would it be and why?
ERIN: I would probably spend my night in a natural history museum. Flowers, fish, and bones have become a big part of my painting recently and spending a night looking at them and taking pictures, being immersed in it would be the most inspiring for me! Painting right on the floor while looking at the flowers or fish would be so much fun!
