Artist Inspiration - Pthalo Azul

When I saw Rachel's work I loved the detail and texture of her unique designs.  I was thrilled when she decided to be a guest blogger on Everyday Inspired, and share what inspires her to create her amazing work. 
Thanks Rachel for sharing today!

Circle Floral Pattern Brooch

Pthalo Azul

My name is Rachel Anne Jones, which is why I often go by Raj--which I use as my artist pen name. I graduated with a BFA in Illustration from BYU, and so a majority of my work is in graphic design and illustration, yet I also run my Etsy shop, Pthalo Azul, which sells my designs and illustrations in cute little brooches, prints, and wall hangings.

Victorian Skeleton Key Black Acrylic

My shop, Pthalo Azul (Th-Eh-Low Az-ool), is named after my favorite color to paint with: Pthalocyanine blue (sometimes spelled Thalo or Phthalo depending on the brand) and it is the warmest blue that comes in a bottle--painting with it is like eating chocolate without the calories--it's an incredible color. It's also very strong and intimidating to use, since it can easily overwhelm your painting.

Red Riding Hood Art Nouveau Style Paint

I started my shop to sell the experiments I do on my own time. Most of the materials I use are ones that I wasn't trained in, but I decided to learn because I've always had an interest in how things are made, and actually making them yourself is the best way to find out. So, I decided to name the shop after my favorite blue, an intimidating and risky color with unexpected results. When I started to sell things (which took several months of tweaking my items), I realized how I could serve clients in a different way with a different medium, and it's fueled me to promote my shop professionally.

Brooch Typography Question Mark Etched into birch wood

While laser cuts might not involve paint, it does help me with my paintings. I'm a firm believer that the more that you learn and know about any talent and any skill, the more it will benefit every facet of your life. So I would say that aggressively learning new and old mediums inspires me to create, and I try to keep track of what I learn and create at my blog (thisisnotacraft.blogspot.com) and that also keeps me learning since I have pressure to update the blog.

Brooch pin black acrylic snowflake sillhouette

Artists from the Victorian Era also inspire me, and I don't know if its because of my proximity to San Fransisco (which is heavily Victorian in style) or if its because those artist did things that we have difficulty doing today even with all of our technology, but I find them endlessly inspiring.

Visit Pthalo Azul's Etsy shop and Blog.