MEET YOUR ARTIST
Scarlett | The Midwest
SQ’s very own, Scarlett [co-founder and resident artist], has been a practicing mixed-media artist nearly a decade and has been drawing throughout her entire life. She started getting into digital art this year (YAY FOR US) and as long as she can continue to create a sense of calm, comfort and nostalgia with anything from a paint brush to a stylus, we will get decades more.
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Scarlett grew up being inspired by Anime, the Faerie art in Neopets, The Little Mermaid and Bratz when she would draw. When she started painting she felt called to create beachy nature scenes which would be the contrast of her everyday life… even perhaps acting as a means to obtain balance and grounding. Once Scarlett feels a piece is complete, she worries that the vulnerability and time put into it won’t be recognized by viewers which is a pretty common worry for artists. It's certainly valid especially having to ride along mass produced or AI designs. Scarlett is very intentional about what she allows the world to see which only adds to her value.
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“I like to create based on parts of my life that make me feel things.” Depending on the medium Scarlett is choosing to create with, sometimes it’s about the pencil to the pen to the colored pencil. Sometimes, it’s about the colors and playing around with color theory. In her new adventures of learning digital art, when she has an idea or a memory that sparks a feeling, she immediately acts on the impulse whether it’s simply writing down the idea or starting out the concept of the piece right then and there.
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The satisfying feeling of “fresh paint leaving a brush and transferring to a blank canvas is one of the most therapeutic experiences that don’t cost me by the hour” is straight up self-care for Scarlett. She talks about how the act of painting is just as important as [if not more so than] the finished product. She points out that as she gets more into digital art, a big part is trying to recreate that therapeutic feeling and making it about the practice knowing all the renditions between start and finish might not be what is holed up in the brain, but that’s the journey of it all. Scarlett admits she is having a lot of fun and hopes she can remember the fun part and not focus so much on what she can’t do yet. *which is a magical skill in my opinion*
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Scarlett hopes that people get her extremely specific references in her art but knows only the dorkiest of nerdy nerds are likely to pick up on some of them. There is so much meaning behind every detail in everything Scarlett creates and it shows.
SPECIAL EDITORS NOTE TO SCARLETT & OTHERS: There are often very large stories for some of the very subtle choices that Scarlett makes and as her business partner, friend, fellow resident artist, and at this point, family – I can tell anyone viewing her designs: you want to ask about them. Period. She genuinely and gently strokes your feels with her magical art brain full of nostalgia and, personally, I am honored I get to observe, learn, consume and share it all along with you. Scarlett, you are truly my favorite; I enjoy mentoring you and running this business together as equals and I’m always learning from you. I’ve seen you, your art style and generally the way you carry yourself change over the last year (since we started this bop) and it fills my heart fully 💜thank you for being a team with me. – Michelle