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Letters from Austin Lan

I thought I'd be staring at the sky more

Published 5 months ago • 1 min read

Issue #1

Letters from Austin Lan

I’ve been busy.

When I first stepped away from full-time work, I imagined my life as a full-time artist would be full of quiet artist moments—staring up at the sky, long pauses, stillness.

While there are moments of peace, there is also a lot of movement -- making, experimenting, connecting, and wondering.

Read on for snapshots:

Year of the Horse

A large part of my attention has been on releasing my Year of the Horse design, the latest in my annual Lunar New Year practice. I recently released the print for purchase: a numbered edition of 75, signed with my Chinese chop seal.

It's been a joy to see these pieces begin arriving in new homes, and to see where they land.

"There was always something to do, something to fix around the house, something with a looming deadline, a visitor coming to town… I was always working on the most important thing right in front of me and there was never a shortage of important things."

If this feels familiar, I invite you to read my companion essay: On the Year of the Horse, published on my Substack. I wrote this piece as a ritual offering to ground the year -- it includes a few principles I return to when the year feels like it’s moving faster than I can handle.

New Materials

Lately I've been mixing my two core mediums — watercolor and chalk pastel. I think this combination brings out the best of both: the dreamy atmosphere of watercolor, the luminosity of pastel, all with a loose hand and textured marks. I'm excited to see where this takes me next.

Women, Painted by Women

These are from my ongoing series of figurative watercolors — the work I return to most, like a prayer to the feminine divine. I hope you can feel the care and worship I put into these.

PS a few are available. If something speaks to you, reply to this email.

Where the work is right now

A few pieces are currently on view in South Miami through a private showing, and 3 are currently on view with ARRAE Gallery in Coconut grove. The piece at the top of this newsletter had a moment to shine at a recent pool party.

It’s been rewarding to see the work exist slightly outside my studio space :)

Thanks for being here. More soon.

— Austin 💙

​austinlan.art​

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Letters from Austin Lan

Dispatches from a life spent making things beautiful — new work, shows, and honest notes from the studio.

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