My name is Jo Situ Allen. I'm also known as DIRTY ERASER. I'm an artist from Laguna Beach, California, known for my dreamy and high vibrational works in ink, watercolor, and multimedia.
My paintings transport the viewer into the energetics of the natural world. I love for my creations to merge the worlds of art and science - my work is informed by my previous career as a naturalist and author of two books on California's native species.
I come from a family of creatives - but decided to focus on ecology/geography early on because of my love for the environment. Always making things with my hands, I never thought of it as a potential career until my two girls were born and I chose to stay at home to take care of them. I found that making art became my meditative practice - especially as I had postpartum depression and anxiety attacks after each birth. I promised myself that I would create everyday - no matter what - and started sharing my work.
The universe works in such beautiful ways because a publisher found my creative/scientific story intriguing and wanted to meet. We eventually published two coffee table coloring books that I wrote and illustrated. Since then, I've become known for highly detailed and fresh botanical illustrations grounded by my undergraduate and graduate degrees in sustainability.
I was inspired by the dried botanical bouquets in each gorjana store - the texture of each flower and plant is captured so beautifully - fragile, yet timeless. Laguna Beach is renowned for our town's natural beauty - I was excited to capture the dreamy vibe of Laguna Beach - the misty canyons, the way the light hits the water - with the lines representing the movement of water here and the sphere representing a perfect Laguna Beach sunset.
