Drawing a grid by hand and then meticulously filling each small square with marks is slow and quiet. The intentionality in taking time, measuring breaths, and making marks produces a record of something valuable. The process remains significant to Claybord artist Emily Boyd as she has learned that quietness isn’t necessarily based on the noise and commotion level around us but that which is inside our hearts and minds.
Can you share the origin of your creative process? Walk us through the steps you take from drawing the grid to the final steps.
I started painting patterns at the end of college. I was learning about breath work and grounding techniques as tools in dealing with anxiety – and I developed a painted pattern that coincided with a rhythm of breathing as a way to calm my body and mind. I had played with patterns before and had been painting for years by that point, so combining both created this intentional painting practice with repetition and rhythm that offered to soothe, calm, and center. My patterns have developed and changed over time since then, but the initial concept is still at the root of how I create. This idea that our very method of making can bring some benefit – joy, breath, calm, you name it – to our lives and bodies. I have fostered this in my practice and hope it is shared with others through my finished works.
My painting process begins with hand drawing a grid in pencil. I use a 2H pencil and mark the edges of the Claybord at 3/16ths of an inch, then use a ruler and draw the grid lines. The grid stays the same size across all my work. It’s like laying a foundation, my first step in every piece. Then, I prepare my watercolor palette and fill the grid squares with painted patterns! I use a very small paint brush (typically a liner brush I have trimmed to my preferred size and shape) and one grid square at a time. I paint a series of little marks. I connect those lines to the marks in the next square and the next, and slowly sections of pattern come to life. The watercolor gets to perform its own little dance alongside me as I work. I paint with the Claybord upright, so the paint will flow through the marks I’ve made, collect in places, and often drip down the surface. I love letting the medium do its own thing – I love that juxtaposition of meticulous control and free-flowing marks.
What role does color play in your work, and how do you select your color palettes?
Color plays a very important role, but I would say it’s light that plays the biggest role. In most of my work, I think of the sky – of the weight and form of clouds and how light plays around them and breaks through them. The imagery of light bursting forth from behind dark clouds is full of hope. Capturing this glow is something I love continuing to attempt. Then, my color choices are based on what I hope to convey conceptually. The mood, the emotion, and the imagery of each piece all impact my color choices. Often, I move from cool, deep blues around the outer edges to warmer, lighter tones in the center. The places where the pigments mingle and mix are some of my favorite details, especially because of the drips and watercolor’s lovely granulation.
It appears that you have a strong personal bond with nature. How has this connection shaped both your life and your artistic creations?
The natural world around us offers so much light, color, and inspiration. And it offers us the opportunity to be grounded and connected in a really beautiful way to the life around us and within us. It is what we are of, and what we will return to when our souls depart. In my own journey, nature is an often-underutilized source of what my body really needs to be present and to be rooted. It offers freedom in slowing down, breathing deeply, and having seasons. It is important work for me to continue to choose turning towards these gifts instead of always being lost in the busy doing of our world. My painting practice is a challenge for me in how it continually asks me to slow down, commit to repetition, invest time, be present, and look long and often upwards, outwards, as well as inwards.
Nature – sky, landscape, clouds, light – provides the imagery portrayed in my work and the conceptual elements my practice holds dear and dives into.
In your artwork, disorder challenges the concept of order. Can you discuss how you explore this interplay between the two and what it represents in your work?
As I mentioned earlier, there is a stark contrast between the order and disorder in my work. I spend such great time and energy setting order, drawing grid lines, and painting detailed and meticulous tiny marks. And then, I let go. I let the medium and gravity act, playing with chaos and chance. These drips are not planned or engineered. They are simply allowed to happen. This is such a deeply personal and intentional element for me because it reminds me continually how much beauty comes in letting go, even a little, of our illusion of control.
You have run a marathon, you can sew, you are an accomplished artist, and you own a brewery with your husband. Is there another goal or accomplishment you aspire to?
Wow, you make me sound really great, thank you, Ha! Truly, what a sweet reminder of the richness my life has held so far. I hope one day to spend more time working in installation art, specifically on a large scale. I will always paint, I am sure. And I am certainly not anywhere near finished with the process in which I currently create, but 3-dimensional work and how it can transform a space and change our interactions with a space – this has long also been a deep love and a future dream. I have some weight-lifting goals, some farther-distance running goals, and family hopes as well. But truly, I am just wildly grateful for another day to keep creating.
Speaking of owning a brewery with your husband! You have created the artwork for all of the beer cans and bottles. How do you approach the design process when creating the brewery’s artwork differently than yours?
I’d say that it has changed over time as I have grown and learned so much about package design! Branding, marketing, etc., were all pretty new to me. I studied Fine Art, so my first round of creating labels was definitely a fun learning experience. My aim was to tell a story of the beer style visually and its name through imagery, color, etc. But I approached those much more as pieces of art first and as products second. Then, a few years in, I had the privilege of collaborating with an amazing graphic designer and friend, Bryony, with Shiift Creative to revamp our package design. We approached each style conceptually – how to again visually tell the story of each beer, but this time through patterns. We loved the challenge of representing a category of beer styles through patterns (hoppy, sour, Belgian, lager, etc.) with the flexibility of the colors changing depending on each specific beer’s ingredients. It was fun to see the crossover between pattern development, color choice, composition, etc., from my studio practice to product design while creating work differently and for a very different purpose. I have since passed the torch to Aly Butler, Oddstory’s in-house designer and Creative Director, and she has built on the brand and made it thrive!
What do you love most about Ampersand Claybord for your work?
I found Claybords while experimenting with different surfaces a few years ago. I still occasionally paint on paper and have always preferred hot press over cold. I love the difference in how the medium behaves on the smoother surface. So, when I found Claybord with its deliciously smooth surface and saw how the paint sits on top, maintains crisp marks well, and preserves the vibrancy of color, I was hooked. Claybords also helped solve the framing question for my work. I enjoy traditionally framed watercolor pieces under glass, but I also love painting large pieces, which present their own set of issues in framing. Sealing the Claybord and popping it into a floater frame offers a stunning, clean, modern look that I adore. I have since also learned to appreciate that I can completely wash away the watercolor (before it is sealed) from the surface, which has allowed for some fun experimentation and play in my work.
Artist Bio:
Emily Boyd is a process-based artist who creates abstract pattern paintings with watercolor and ink. Her work explores the often-opposing creative art methods as a finished product and art as a process. Heavily inspired by nature and often loosely representing land and cloudscapes, her finished works show undeniable evidence of the process of their creation.
Boyd derives deep meaning from an intentionally developed practice of making. Repetitive and methodical, her work’s rhythm and flow offer her calm and stillness in creating, and she hopes that the finished works provide the same to their viewer.
Emily is a full-time artist, living and working in Chattanooga, TN, with her husband and their Catahoula Leopard Dog named Teeky.
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