Behind the silk: The making or Golden Hour

Golden Hour was born in the Caribbean sun.During my residency with the Brilliant Minds Collective in Turks and Caicos, I set out to create something that felt alive — warm, textured, honest. But at first, I found myself feeling frozen under the pressure to make something great.

Eventually, I gave myself permission to loosen up. To play. To stop chasing perfection and just throw some paint down and see what happened.

To break the ice, I turned to what was right in front of me — the soft, sun-faded tones of a recently worn bikini. That palette became my entry point.

With my colors mixed, I moved quickly — not overthinking, just experimenting. And then, something familiar and thrilling happened: squiggles began to appear. These organic lines reminded me of things I’ve seen in nature:— the layered sediment of geological strata— tree rings etched with memory— topographic maps of unseen landscapes— ripple patterns in water, frozen mid-motion

They felt both ancient and alive. I followed that thread, shifting the color order, layering, remixing.

Looking back at my photos, it was clear — the squiggles were the keystone of the pattern. They became the hero of Golden Hour.

After the initial series was complete, I zoomed in on select compositions to highlight the sedimentary textures that emerged — spontaneous and layered like time itself. This weekend, I’ll scale up to an 8ft x 4ft tray to continue the exploration.

The squiggles live on.