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Kaitlin Cole

@cole_studio

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Contemporary Art | Intellectual Art | Paintings for your home 🎨🖌🖼
| Artist in Brisbane | DM for conversation | Statement Artwork | Colourful Art 🧠

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SAVE THIS: How I mount my watercolour paintings onto artist board 🎨
Mounting watercolour onto board gives me another way to present finished work without the traditional mat-and-glass presentation. Here’s my process:
You’ll need:
• Wide-rim artist board cut/sized to your painting
• White gesso
• 2 brayers (lino rollers — a rolling pin can also work)
• Matte Super Heavy Gel Acrylic Medium
• Baking paper or glassine
• Fine sanding block
• Stanley knife
• Cold wax
• Lint-free cloth
1. PREP THE BOARD
Paint the artist board with white gesso to create a barrier between the board and artwork. Allow it to dry completely.
2. MOUNT THE PAINTING
Use one brayer to spread the matte super heavy gel evenly over the board, right to the edges. I leave enough medium that you can see small peaks.
Position the painting carefully. Cover it with glassine or baking paper to protect the surface, then use your clean brayer to roll from the centre outwards, removing air pockets and ensuring good contact.
3. WEIGHT + DRY
Place the mounted work face-down onto clean glassine/baking paper and weight it evenly. Leave for around 12 hours, or until completely dry.
4. TRIM + FINISH THE EDGES
Carefully trim the paper flush with the board using a sharp Stanley knife. Gently sand the edges away from the artwork to neaten them.
If you find any lifting, work a small amount of gel underneath the affected area and weight it again until completely dry.
5. COLD WAX
Once everything is completely dry, gently apply cold wax to the surface with a lint-free cloth using circular motions. Allow it to dry according to the product instructions.
6. DISPLAY
Frame it, float it, or display it however suits the finished piece. ✨
This is my own mounting process, so always check the specifications and archival suitability of the particular products you’re using before applying anything to an original artwork.
Save this one for the next time you want to experiment with mounting your watercolours. ❤️

#WatercolourTips #WatercolourTutorial #ArtTutorial #WatercolourArtist #ArtistTips taken in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia by @cole_studio

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5 days ago

Notes to self.
Collected slowly.
Lived honestly.

#AuthenticLiving
#CreativeLife
#ArtistMindset
#StudioRituals
#QuietRebellion taken in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia by @cole_studio

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9 months ago

A little introduction for anyone new here — hi, I’m Kaitlin. 👋🎨
I’m a full-time Australian artist, completely self-taught, painting with acrylics, watercolour, and a lot of heart.

My work is shaped by motherhood, resilience, and a love for bold colour and beautiful light.
If you’re into art, storytelling, pigment nerdery, and the behind-the-scenes reality of creating… you’re in the right place. 💛✨

Thanks for being here — it means more than you know.

Tell me a bit about you!

— Kaitlin

#KaitlinColeArt #MeetTheArtist #AustralianArtist #WomenInArt #SelfTaughtArtist #AcrylicPainting #WatercolourArtist #ArtReels #ArtJourney #CreativeLife #StudioLife #ArtInAustralia #MumWhoPaints #ArtistIntroduction #ArtCommunity #ContemporaryArtist #ArtOfTheDay #BoldArt #PaintingLight #ArtistOnTikTok #BehindTheArt taken in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia by @cole_studio

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a year ago

Well. Shit.
All Things Find Their Way began as a commission and became another first for me - my first watercolour abstract.
I've spent so much of my art practice learning how to observe. How to paint the thing in front of me. How to get the shape, the light, the colour, the feeling.
This asked me to do almost the opposite.
To stop trying to control where everything was going and trust that the colour, water and marks would eventually find their way.
Which, considering the title, feels rather appropriate.
Every time I get comfortable, apparently Artist Me decides it's time to fight Previous Artist Me in another boss battle. 😂
But I think that's exactly where I want to be.
All Things Find Their Way
Original watercolour commission.
Arches Cold Pressed
Holbein and Rockwell Watercolour

#WatercolourArt #AbstractWatercolour #AustralianArtist #ContemporaryWatercolour #ArtistLife taken in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia by @cole_studio

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3 days ago

Who am I without… my creative heart. Community. ❤️
I went into this photo session nervous. Actually, nervous is probably an understatement. I was so apprehensive.
Over the past six years, breast cancer, surgery and perimenopause have changed my body and my appearance. Somewhere along the way, I realised I was still looking for the woman I used to see in the mirror, and struggling when I couldn't find her.
This week I was incredibly lucky to receive a gifted photography session with @briony.walker and @studio.on.brunswick .
And these two women gave me something I wasn't expecting.
They laughed with me. Joked with me. Guided me. Made me feel safe. And yes - loved me through the awkwardness until I stopped worrying quite so much about what I looked like.
For a little while, I got to see her.
Not the woman I was six years ago.
The woman I am now.
An artist. A mother. A woman who has survived some shit. 😂 A woman who has changed, grown, created, fallen apart, rebuilt herself and kept bloody going.
These photographs aren't about trying to reclaim the person I used to be.
They're a celebration of the person I Am Now. ❤️
Thank you Briony and Lyne for helping me see her.

#ArtistLife #WomenArtists #CreativeCommunity #ArtistPortrait #BrisbaneArtist by @cole_studio

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4 days ago

POV: you’re an artist AND your own social media manager. 😂
Had every intention of filming the process.
Got distracted.
Forgot to set up the phone stand.
Painted instead.
Phone died.
So please enjoy approximately 11 seconds of evidence that I was, in fact, productive. 😂🎨
At least they got mounted. Priorities.

#ArtistProblems #ArtistLife #BehindTheScenes #WatercolourArtist #AustralianArtist by @cole_studio

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8 days ago

The tea. The mess. The brushes. The paint. The art. ☕️🎨
Basically the natural lifecycle of a watercolour painting. 😂
I joined @chelseyfreyta s webinar today and painted along with her, and this was the result. I love how loose and delicate those flowers became — especially considering the state of the palette and tissues by the end. Apparently beauty requires casualties.
Painted on Baohong Masters rough watercolour paper with Holbein watercolours, using my slightly ridiculous collection of Da Vinci, Princeton, Winsor and Newton and Neef brushes.
And yes. The tea is an essential art material. I will not be taking questions. ☕️

#ForThoseWhoLoveToPaint #WatercolourArtist #WatercolourPainting #LooseWatercolour #WatercolourFlowers by @cole_studio

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11 days ago

Handmade takes time. And maybe that’s exactly what makes it special. 🖌️
Every brushstroke, every tiny decision, every “I’ll just fix this one bit” that somehow becomes another hour. 😂
We live in a world obsessed with faster, easier and instant, but art asks us to slow down. Time isn’t the inconvenience of handmade. It’s part of the story you’re getting. ❤️

#HandmadeArt #WatercolourArtist #SlowArt #ArtProcess #AustralianArtist by @cole_studio

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15 days ago

I tried self-care. I tried mindfulness. I tried positive thinking… turns out I just needed to paint a pumpkin. 🎃😂
This week’s Tutorial Tuesday with @chelseyfreyta and I absolutely loved this one. A little autumnal moment, even if Brisbane has absolutely no intention of cooperating with the aesthetic. 😂🍂
Painted on Baohong cold pressed paper with Holbein watercolours and Neef brushes. 🎨

#TutorialTuesday #WatercolourPainting #WatercolourArtist #PumpkinPainting #AustralianArtist by @cole_studio

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16 days ago

Well… apparently I paint urban landscapes now. 😂🎨
I’ve wanted to try one for such a long time, but for whatever reason I could never quite get myself there.
So I finally did it.
California Lane, Fortitude Valley, my first ever urban landscape in watercolour. And I am ridiculously proud of this one.
There’s something about all those lines, tiny details, plants, signs and little flashes of colour that made my brain VERY happy.
Serotonin does me good!

Painted with Holbein watercolours, on Baohong Masters cold pressed watercolour paper and with Neef brushes. 🖌️

#WatercolourPainting #UrbanWatercolour #BrisbaneArtist #FortitudeValley #AustralianArtist taken in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia by @cole_studio

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18 days ago

Just an artist trying to paint… who somehow also became a full-time content department. 😂🎨
Paint the art. Film the art. Edit the art. Post the art. Engage with everyone. Analyse the insights. Repeat.
Sleep was apparently never part of the business plan. 🫠

#ArtistLife #ArtistProblems #ContentCreatorLife #BehindTheArt #AustralianArtist by @cole_studio

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20 days ago

Flowers were never meant to stay. 🌸
Maybe that’s why we love them so much. They remind us that beautiful things don’t have to last forever to matter - but we do have to be present long enough to notice them.
This little orchid became my reminder to stop, look, paint, and be here while it’s here. 🎨

#WatercolourArtist #FloralWatercolour #OrchidPainting #MindfulArt #AustralianArtist taken in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia by @cole_studio

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22 days ago