Emily, who has been drawing for as long as she can remember, graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in NYC with a BA in Studio Art, concentration in Painting, and an Art History minor.
In college, Emily painted primarily in oils and watercolor but became obsesed with resin when she stumbled upon it 5 years ago: "I found this newer love for resin and was able to transition so easily. It has the rich properties and thickness of an oil paint but holds the fluidity of watercolors. [Resin] completely changed the direction of my art. I've always been inspired by nature and I was painting a lot of landscapes but resin has given me the ability to capture nature in a nonconventional way."
Emily often incorporates locally sourced sea life into her work: "I paint on swordfish bills and local scallop shells, so whether my viewer sees a piece and is reminded of the first time they caught a swordfish or are brought to a memory at their favorite beach, my hope is to bring my viewer to a place they feel at peace."
Emily preps her piece, whether it's a wood surface or a swordfish bill, by sanding it smooth with fine grit sandpaper. Taping the back of the piece prevents resin or paint drips from getting on the underside of the painting.
If she's creating an ocean piece, she'll paint the design first in acrylic for placement. She typically tints her resin with a mixture of high flow acrylics and mica powder. She pours onto the surface, following the outline she painted with acrylics, torching out bubbles and using a heat gun on the white resin to create a wave effect.
Emily says she gets a sense of joy, freedom and purpose whenever she sits down to paint: "I love getting into a trance-like state where I feel like I’m almost a vessel. All anxieties or overthinking falls to the wayside and I just move in this energetically creative flow."
Emily sells her work on her website and Instagram page and at festivals and stores in New Jersey. "I'm soooo grateful to finally call myself a full time artist for almost a year now."
To see more of Emily's work:
Visit her website: www.emilyarenbergart.com
Follow her on Instagram: @em_a_art
Congratulations on your win, Emily!
To celebrate our amazing resin artists, every month we send out a 32 oz kit to a couple of folks who have tagged us on Instagram—and then we share their work with the world!
Don't forget, tag YOUR ArtResin work with @art_resin on Instagram, and YOU could be our next winner!!
ArtResin: Made For Artists, By Artists.
