I discovered artist Erika Sears on Pinterest, only after I had saved like 10 of her paintings before realizing there was this one magical person creating all this art I loved. I went deep down the rabbit hole of discovery (my happy place) and learned that Erika paints in Portland, she's made a painting every day for 5 years!! and she's been featured on Portlandia for 4 seasons in a row!. What a time.
I really like how Erika is able to capture the simplicity of everyday, ordinary moments, and transform them into her extraordinary, colorful, reflective studies. Light bouncing off a McDonald's bag, or the shadow a mylar balloon casts, the texture of a jar or honey, or the contrast of a birthday cake, half-eaten.
I asked Erica to create and exclusive collection for Furbish, and when we first started talking months ago, I had no idea that the timing of her pop-up would be so very serendipitous with what's going on in our lives right now. As we've been forced to turn in, isolate, and shelter, our everday surroundings have become the new backdrop of our lives. What an amazing time to celebrate, and remember those moments that everyone collectively paused, and in stillness found some contentment.
Also, a very big thank you to my readers, Furbish customers, and patrons of independent artists. Artists like Erika and store owners like myself both depend on customers who support our creativity. We value that support more than you can imagine to pay our bills and take care of our families. We try to make the world a little brighter, and luckily, we get to create as our livelihood. That's empowering, but also very scary during this uncertain time. The pop-up opens tomorrow at 12pm, est - and I hope you'll check it out, and maybe buy a piece that tickles your fancy.
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