Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 1hSuper wonky fingers and hands — hands are hard! — but here is Inktober day 3: Miniature. Derwent Inktense ink blocks and micron pen on 4” x 4” watercolor paper. 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Inktober Day 2: Relic Derwent Inktense blocks and Micron pen on 4” x 4” watercolor paper 030
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 02/10/2026For Inktober Day 1: a neighbor’s apple tree. Derwent Inktense blocks on watercolor paper. 050
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 28/09/2026The Mini-Boo game at Hexaboo.com is rated as pretty hard. I like keeping it challenging, so I implemented a hint system that people can opt into using. If you haven't tried it, try it out! hexaboo.com#miniboo 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026There's still time to see the "Illuminate" show at Graphite Arts Center in Edmonds, WA, where I've got two pieces on display! The center is really beautiful so if you're local, stop in and see the show and my pieces! www.artworkarchive.com/profile/cary... www.artworkarchive.com/profile/cary... 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Rough draft of some thoughts expressed in the art studio. Monotype in acrylic ink. 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Getting work ready for submitting to shows. “Scared To Death of What’s Inside But We’re Going In” Acrylic and pencil on canvas 24” x 34” www.artworkarchive.com/profile/cary... 030
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Trying to find the right Akua inks for what I’m trying to do in my print making. This is…almost right 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Very happy that these two paintings have been accepted into Graphite Art Center's show "Illuminate" in Edmonds, WA! Show runs from August 14 to October 4 -- if you're near, please stop by and see! 020
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 04/08/2026New work made from destroying old work: for every image I make on paper that I think is successful, there are several non-bar-meeting pieces in the discard pile. Collage from monotype prints. Part of the “Structure / Time” explorations. 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 29/07/2026“My Beacon Is Not Always the Brightest Star” Acrylic and Pencil on 40” x 40” canvas Painted by me, a human, by hand. More info here: carynvainioart.com/paintings/ 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Studio View Iterations 2 & 3 Multi-layered ink monotypes 10” x 10” carynvainioart.com/printmaking/ 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 26/07/2026My husband’s grandfather was a well-known painter of the Northwest School of abstract expressionism in the 60s. It was a treat to walk into the Seattle Art Fair today and literally see on the first wall one of his paintings! 120
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 20/07/2026I took the photo here the other night from my studio window. It doesn't capture even remotely what my eyes actually saw. The sunset had me locked in place, just staring at it: the way the trees filtered the light, the silhouettes, everything. All week I've been making monotypes from it. 151
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 18/07/2026My continued quest to investigate structure emerging from organic chaos over time. Multi-layer ink monotype prints, 8” x 8” image on 10” x 10” paper. 071
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Made my own cigar pochade box with a little 3D printing help from my husband. Trying it out in my front yard for a few days to see what tweaks it needs. Really didn’t quite capture the light as well as I wanted here — I’m trying to get better at plein air oil painting! 140
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 04/07/2026Hexaboo now tracks your streak! If you haven't tried Hexaboo yet, give it a try! www.hexaboo.com 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Had a bunch of time today near Seattle Center so I decided to paint a couple of views from the top of the Space Needle. 161
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 18/06/2026Just a little sketch in my sketchbook with ink and wash. A cabin in the ghost town we hiked here in WA a few years ago. 040
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 15/06/2026I’m chasing the thread of structure over time. When I started the body of work this comes from two years ago I knew it would evolve but I didn’t know where to. All I knew is that I had to paint images that were all about bright chaotic disruption and then it had to evolve from there. 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 14/06/2026North Fork of the Stillaguamish River painted in monochrome watercolor, from memory of the spot near family. 030
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Tiny painting of some peaches as the inaugural painting in the little kit my kid got me for my birthday. I should have put a cooler red in and my bowl is pointy, but otherwise I’m happy with it. 130
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 07/06/2026It's probably going to take more than one post for me to list everything I've crammed into this thing and can still carry and close it: - Moleskine sketchbook - Derwent Inktense block tin - envelope with my 3" x 3" cut watercolor paper - viewfinder for those 3" x 3" paintings - (more!) 100
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 07/06/2026I'm a huge fan of Peg & Awl's products and my husband gave me their Sendak artist roll for Christmas. I've been using it every day since then and I LOVE IT. I thought I would show pictures of what's in this thing -- it's like some kind of art clown car. Take a look. (Not sponsored, just a fan!) 141
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 02/06/2026In my current body of work I’m seeking and calling out structure among organic…non-deterministic stuff? (I was going to write “randomness”, but landscapes are not random.) 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 02/06/2026The process of making these: I have an acetate sheet with the print area marked. I make the marks with brayers, paper towels, and other tools, applying ink, wiping it away, and re-applying it. I do this for each layer individually. 100
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 02/06/2026Printmaking and painting go hand in hand in my art practice: I tend to do some work in painting, which I think carry into printmaking, which in turn informs my painting. Thrilled at how these 3-layer ink monotypes turned out in this studio this week. 230
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 30/05/2026Absolutely thrilled that the buyer of “And So the Infinite Division of Space and Time” received the painting this week and sent me images of it hanging in their home. I think it looks amazing there. (See more of my work at www.carynvainioart.com) 071
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 26/05/2026A little pre-bedtime tiny painting with my ink blocks. Photo is of my front yard in November of 2024. 020
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 24/05/2026Painting is back from the framer, and I really wanted to fully unwrap it to see the lovely white float frame but this is being sent to the buyer and I won’t be able to rewrap it as nicely. But it looks so good! 020
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 23/05/2026And the prophecy sayeth: an alpaca will come, crowned in stickyweed 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 21/05/2026New tiny paintings! I'm working on a series of monochrome tiny paintings that come from the PNW landscape around my home in the Cascade foothills. The series is called "Good Bones". They're here if they grab your fancy: www.carynvainioart.com/artwork-earl... 020
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 20/05/2026I’m doing some simultaneous monoprint work with my current series. I go back and forth between printmaking and painting, using one to inform the other. This is one of the successful ones from a recent session in the studio. “Good Bones” Ink monotype on BVK Rives paper 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 13/05/2026Some recent studio sketchbook work that I've been looking at every day. The painting on the easel now is taking strong inspiration from the one on the left. 060
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 11/05/2026I've collected all of my currently available small works and prints here: carynvainioart.squarespace.com/config/pages... I'll be taking these down later in the year to offer them at in-person events, so if you've got your eye on something, now's the time! And I'm happy to take additional photos! 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 11/05/2026“Chaos Cascadia 2” has sold out, but these three still have some in the series available! www.carynvainioart.com/buy-prints 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 09/05/2026This painting is pissing me off. Despite my humidifier the tape keeps peeling off the easel as if the painting wants to leap free of it before it’s done. I keep having to retape it. 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 04/05/2026Did a sketch of the trestle bridge about ten minutes from my house. I took the pic the other day while doing a bad oil painting; I like hours this one turned out (I used my Derwent Inktense blocks). 120
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 04/05/2026After the chores were done this morning I sat outside with my coffee and sketchbooks while the alpacas grazed in the pasture we just opened for the season. 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 04/05/2026I love the point at which the toned background color I’ve laid down has been consumed by most of the composition, but not entirely. 030
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Recent sketchbook work inspired by the views near where I live. 020
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 26/04/2026My work comes from the Pacific Northwest landscape around me. Here’s “The Bridge Between You and the World”, a tiny 3” x 3” painting still available to buy: www.carynvainioart.com/artwork-earl... — similar to a spot I just sat and sketched in the other day. 0293
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 24/04/2026Each artist has their own ritual around the first marks on the canvas. My first marks are a declarative statement. They are the first moves in a chess game in which the marks will fight for territory against each other as they push and pull across the canvas over time. 051
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 24/04/2026Has a dog door in the house he knows how to use. Refuses to use the one we installed in the art studio. 030
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 23/04/2026Earth Day-themed Miniboo today! hexaboo.com#miniboo 010
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 23/04/202645 minutes later: one stretched canvas! And I’m really proud of those corners. Canvas stretching is raw physical labor. Not my core skill set so I take pride where I can get it, lol. 000
Caryn Vainio @hellchick.bsky.social · 22/04/2026I hate stretching canvas soooooo muuuuuch. But I’m doing it because someone is buying the painting, so I can’t be too sad. 110