Working on a painting at the studio table.

why did i do this

Last night was the culmination of a few years of building a body of work worthy in my estimation of sharing publicly. It’s a mix of excitement and “what have I done!” and basically, silence. lol. Here is the conversation I’m having with myself:

Q: What are you hoping to achieve by creating a website and a shop and a blog and some social media posts?
A: Believing in a creative sense of purpose that seems to have been assigned to me by nature / universal spirit of divine. And that if I share it and put value into it, maybe the universe will respond with more time, space (and money) to continue pursuing this expression.
Q: Who are you to do this?
A: I’m a unique person with a unique history who is expressing curiosity, empathy, concern through a mode of being which is art.
Q: Where do you fit into art history and art criticism?
A: I have lots of thoughts about how I do not fit into ideas of “great art” or established modes and ways of making, and the less I can belong to any ideas, the better. I’m trying to express whatever is going on in my consciousness in the most honest way possible which seems to be images.
Q: What if nothing ever happens with this?
A: Maybe. Let’s see.
Q: Why did you decide that amount to charge for prints?
A: Because I spend a ton of time, and money on art supplies, and will spend a lot on the printing and shipping costs - at the same time, I want people to be able to have art in their spaces if it lights them up. I have no idea what to charge, but this seems like a reasonable price based on the investment I am making as well.

OK, trying to prove myself to myself done… for the moment.

I look forward to seeing what occurs, but I feel grateful to have a way to share this art with you all. And for myself, to now have more time to be making art and not dealing with technology. 😂 I like that I can have a format that’s not dependent on a social media platform or somebody else’s “house” to share my art. It’s here. And I can just upload new stuff now and send emails to the people who are into it!

gouache painting — "I didn't see the Owl" gouache, 2024

So - WELCOME!

Please take a look around - I just posted an enormous group of paintings that I felt moved to make, especially inspired by a Vedic rounding retreat I went on.

meditation

I will probably mention meditation multiple times. If you’re interested in the type of meditation I practice (Vedic, or Transcendental meditation) - I encourage you to find someone in your area and do a free intro class.

I’ve been doing this type of meditation for ~5 years, and went on my first rounding retreat in August - I was super skeptical and nervous and thinking what the heck did I just take time away from my family and spend money on to be here. I didn’t know what to expect. I sort of expected to be bad at “it” without knowing what “it” was. Not during the experience, but afterwards, I felt this core of stabilization that I never knew was there (when I think of it, I take both my hands and put them in front of my chest like I’m holding a rope) - it replaced the “hum” energy I typically feel which is basically stress from the 3rd dimensional world. What I learned from my incredible teachers is that that core has always been there and will always be there - it’s not be gained or lost. And for that knowledge and awareness, so grateful. 🧘 💕✨

I’ll say a bit about the paintings come out of that.

Fat Girl

On the “fat girl” paintings.

I’m a fat person and that’s just sort of a fact - I’m not thin. I’m fat. And that used to bother me every minute of every day. These days, sometimes I see myself in pictures and compare myself to the person next to me - but in general, I don’t spend a lot of energy thinking about it. I’m sort of neutral and I like that. I was at a great Creative Mornings event the other week where we wrote down a bunch of our identities - things we call ourselves, what other people call us, and then talked about death of those identities. Which is also in line with the meditation and my lifestyle - not being attached to any particular ideology or identities and actively trying to die to those - so as to reemerge a happier, more useful person. And while I generally “get” this idea and run to the “burn them down” approach to identities, I hadn’t stopped to write down the actual names, or engaged in name-calling to myself. I was surprised that one of the first ones was “fat girl”. (some of the others were: artist, woman, irresponsible, American, recovering, corporate woman, human, mother, wife, meditator, etc.) As if each name imbues meaning, purpose, disguise, disgust, love. I’m not even an “Emily Archer” really. (does anybody else care about this?)

As a fat girl my whole life, I made paintings that reflect that. My 5 year old daughter the other day said “Mommy’s big” and my 6 year old son said “No she’s not” and my daughter responded “Yes she is. Her arms are big. And she has a squishy belly.” then she hugged me and said “that’s just how you live." … When I talk to them about my body I say things like “I love my body because it’s strong and does things for me.” and “I have a big belly and I love my body.” I have no idea if these are the right things to say, and I feel like modifying lots of things with “as long as you’re healthy” or “let’s make good choices” but honestly, it’s been such an unmanageable part of my life, I just want to love myself and just be who I am, and not really talk about how I compare. But it’s been decades of a journey to get to this point with such high highs and low lows. I’m reading a book called 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl written in 2016 by Mona Awad - it reflects a lot of that experience I’ve had. And honestly, the body has carried me to another day of life and I’m grateful for that. And I’m really grateful for the pleasures that having a body brings - of holding hands, hugging, playing piano, feeling a cool breeze, getting goosebumps, lifting heavy weights, making art, being scared diving deep that you might not breathe again then the relief of breathing again. So, I made some paintings that are like ways of looking at myself as a fat girl, at the beauty of imperfection and individuality, of the actual state of being a consciousness in a body in a point in time but how that’s not really the only thing going on.

Consciousness party

On the “consciousness party” paintings: I feel like if we could visualize all of space and time and the existence of consciousness of all creatures, it would look like quite a chaotic party. But a wonderful busy party. This was inspired by being in a house full of meditators at my retreat - and what I imagine it’s like being in the company of someone with ultimate levels of consciousness. Another way of thinking about it is Heaven - to dwell with God in a restored kingdom where there are infinite possibilities and magic and great healing. And no thing.

neurospicy

Sprinkled throughout the last year or so, I’ve made paintings called “ADHD”. I was diagnosed last year with ADHD. Which honestly has explained so many things in my life and has been a huge lifting of self-criticism (bad at time, bad at money, bad at friendship, bad at following a plan, bad at laundry, bad at finishing a job) and an entree into the neurodivergent club which is full of lots of people just like me. Seeing ADHD through the lived experience of others on social media has been so relieving. What I realized is that not everybody’s head feels like a New Orleans Mardi Gras jazz band… as a baseline. And sometimes when I make art, it looks like what it feels like in my head. And so I sometimes paint ADHD landscapes. :) Like the time Lizzie made a neurodivergent cake on the Great British Baking Show.

Ok, so that’s a bit about me, putting good vibes out there. And looking forward to connecting with you.

🙏💕🔥✨

-EA

and we’re live! (AKA 😬 and 🔥 and 🤞)