Today we’d like to introduce you to Aerin Sentgeorge.
Hi Aerin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m Aerin Sentgeorge, a Kansas City-based artist and the founder of aerin.design (my website). My path to becoming an artist has taken a few turns. I earned a master’s degree in art from Indiana University and spent 12 years teaching art before moving into instructional design. I still work full-time in that field while growing my art business, so my creative practice is something I’ve built intentionally alongside my career. I’ve been painting for about two decades. About four years ago, I was reintroduced to the process of marbling, and that got me thinking – how cool would it be to combine marbling with landscapes?! So I had to figure it out! Through it all, what has drawn me back to the studio time and time again is a fascination with nature, from epic mountain views to tiny life forms, and a desire to translate what I see and feel.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Marbling, an ancient technique, is traditionally done on paper, often with opaque colors and tighter, more formal patterns. See my website for a video of the process. Combining marbling with painting isn’t something I’ve seen anyone else do, so there was no guide to follow. I spent a significant amount of time testing papers, paints, and ways of finishing the work until the results held up. How do marbled layers behave under watercolor? How does marbling affect the paint? What protects the finished piece? Each answer came from trial and error.
Then, turning this process into a business meant learning a different set of skills: photographing the work, mounting and varnishing the work, and explaining it to someone at an art fair. I’ve done all of this alongside a full-time career and family life, so I protect my studio time deliberately. I listen to customer feedback, keep adjusting how I show the work, and look for ways to make the business more sustainable. Building an art career is a process of continual adjustment, much like making the work itself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work combines the ancient tradition of ebru marbling with contemporary materials and my own approach to color, pattern, and composition. In my work, I tend to keep the marbling light so that I can paint over it, but it still adds texture and movement. I expose or cover the marbling depending what effect I want. I float liquid acrylic paint on a prepared bath, shape the colors into patterns, and transfer the image onto paper, then build on it with watercolor and other materials. The results can suggest water, geological formations, organic growth, or other patterns found in nature, and I leave room for each person to bring their own interpretation.
I’m drawn to the way currents move and change, and how something can be both structured and unpredictable. I can influence the patterns, but I can’t dictate the outcome, and that balance keeps me coming back to the process. I enjoy working with color relationships, transparency, and the effects of one shape moving into another.
Because the paint is transferred in a single impression (essentially monoprinting), each work is one of a kind. Through aerin.design, I’m building a body of work that brings people back to a place they’ve loved, or transports them somewhere they haven’t been.
I offer original artwork and fine art prints at a range of price points so people can find something that fits their space and budget. Original works currently range from approximately $70 for smaller pieces to $2,000+ for larger works, depending on size and complexity. Fine art prints range from $40 to $400, depending on the format and size. Each original is priced to reflect the time, materials, and experimentation behind it.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I’m grateful for the people who support my work, from customers who take home an original piece to those who follow along, share my work, and visit me at art fairs. Conversations with people who connect with a piece are one of the most rewarding parts of showing my work in person. I appreciate learning what they see in the patterns and colors, especially when their interpretation differs from what I had in mind.
Art fairs have also given me opportunities to connect with other artists, learn from their experiences, and become part of a broader creative community. I value organizations and events that make art accessible and bring artists and audiences together. I don’t have anymore shows in 2026, and will be hunkering down to create more work for the coming year. I will announce my spring schedule and other news on my Instagram page aerin.design.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aerin.design
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerindesign
