I'm Mariana. I run The Ferne from a small studio in Leesburg, Virginia.

By day I work in tech. I'm also a mother of two. I paint in the gaps — early mornings before anyone's awake, late evenings when the house finally goes quiet. Whenever I can steal an hour.

I don't start with a plan. I put down a wash of color and see what happens. Sometimes a landscape appears. Sometimes just texture and light. A lot of the work comes from things I'm processing but don't have words for yet — so I paint them instead.

The pieces build slowly. Acrylic and texture medium, layered until something starts to feel right. Recently I've been working in oils too. Some paintings have gold in them — metallic pigments that catch the light differently depending on where you're standing.

I don't sketch first. I don't really know what a piece will become until it's done.

Painting is the one place I let myself not figure anything out. I just listen.

Each piece is signed and ready to hang. Ships within a week. If you're in Northern Virginia or DC, I can deliver it myself.

— Mariana