Meet the Cryptid behind the content!
I am Aerica Neeland, a KCMO based tie dye and mixed media artist, channeling the whimsy and the weird to bring new products to local markets and the world at large.
I've always been "out there", and have always looked up to see if it's finally time to board the UFO that's come to take me away. My inspiration comes from that sound we all definitly heard that came from just beyond the light of the campfire.
I feel like we all share a common thread of wonder and awe at what we struggle to define, what's just beyond explanation. I believe that's why cryptids and other folklore beasties have been around the world for countless centuries.
We all strive to figure out "oh man, what the #$%& was that?" This is what drives me.
I went to Oregon and Bigfoot taught me tie dye!
(Artist's actual photo of Bigfoot, sighted 8-17-2019)
My formal education includes two years of fundamentals in Fine Art and at least another two in Biology. I am familiar and comfortable working in acrylic, watercolor, and printmaking, and have a lifelong love natural themes. This passion for beauty in nature led me to live in the Pacific Coast Range foothills of Oregon.
It was there where I met my mentor, Bigfoot himself, who taught me the hot water irrigation, geode, and reverse techniques in tye dye. My lifelong fascination with color theory and pigment application finally had a place to take off and soar, just like the UFOs we'd watch touring the valley.
My dye process favors dye-splits and geode tie patterns, but I am exploring and developing other dye disciplines as I go along in the fuge flow state that seems to take over when I get down to my Dye Lab. My goal is to expand into mixed process techniques including precise liquid applications, batik process, and other far out ways to make designs, images, and patterns on fabric. As an emerging artist, please follow along with my development and growth. My natural learning curve is steep, so keep coming back to see new cool stuff coming out as soon as I can make and post it!