Studio Reveal: Shift Supervisor and the Magic of Gold Leaf
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If you have been following my work here in Cleveland, you know my studio is under the strict supervision of a very dedicated senior feline manager. Today, I am incredibly excited to share a brand new piece that serves as a playful tribute to that constant, watchful eye: Shift Supervisor.
A High-Contrast Departure While I usually reach for vibrant pinks, blues, and purples to create my Visual Dopamine, this piece required a different kind of energy. I wanted to capture something incredibly elegant but still distinctly playful.
For Shift Supervisor, I used a highly reflective gold foil cardstock base. Instead of a spectrum of colors, I used solely black acrylic paint marker to hand-draw my signature swirly, fluid curves. Nestled right at the bottom edge of the artwork is the shift supervisor himself—you can only see his ears and eyes peeking over the matting, keeping a close watch on the studio.
I added a single, tiny white dot to each of his eyes to look like the light is reflecting off of them. It is the only white used in the entire piece, making that watchful gaze truly pop against the gold. If you look closely, you will also find a few other tiny cat silhouettes playing and hiding among the swirly patterns!
The Gold Leaf Frame To elevate this piece even further, I decided against standard metallic paint for the frame. Instead, I hand-finished a 5x7.5 inch frame using genuine gold leaf. The texture and brilliance of real gold leaf simply cannot be replicated. To tie the whole piece together, I continued the black acrylic swirly drawings and tiny hidden cats directly onto the gold leaf frame itself.
The artwork is professionally matted to a 3.5x5.5 inch opening, making it an incredibly striking piece of high-contrast desk art or shelf decor.
Shop Shift Supervisor on my website or Etsy shop today to bring this elegant, playful energy into your own space!