A unique way toCreate art

Story by Tara Ryazansky Contributed Photos Jamie Pomeranz

Artist Jamie Pomeranz creates beautiful abstract roses. At first glance, I thought that they were watercolors, but on her Instagram (@devilsmaycare), I see that they are created in a unique way. Pomeranz pours colors on her canvas and makes her flowers with a medium called alcohol ink.

“People often think they are watercolor when they see them,” Pomeranz explains. “But alcohol inks behave very differently. Alcohol inks are the ink refills for professional illustrator markers. I’m basically pouring with Sharpie ink. The inks are alcohol-based where many markers that aren’t permanent would be a water base.”

She says that she uses a type of paper that’s nonporous so that the ink doesn’t absorb into the paper.

“You move the ink around and create the designs, but the alcohol ink dries very quickly. It will dry if you don’t move it, so you have to maintain that fluidity. I can use it on tile, I can use it on glass, anything that’s non-porous,” Pomeranz adds.

Watching the ink colors move around the canvas is mesmerizing. She uses her own breath, sometimes with a straw, or even a hairdryer, to manipulate the ink into the shapes she wants.

Pomeranz has been a full-time artist for all of her adult life. “For about 10 years I owned a T-shirt brand where I took my photography and silkscreened it onto T-shirts. I would take my photographs and change them in photoshop to be more graphic and I then printed them. I did that as my full-time job and that was like a job and a half.”

She ended her T-shirt line, which was also called Devils May Care, in 2013. “I had my kids, and I put my T-shirt business aside,” Pomeranz says. “In all honesty, I was really burnt out from it and I didn’t want to go back to it.”

After she stopped designing T-shirts, Pomeranz says she didn’t make art for a few years. One night, a friend of hers suggested that they have a “wine and whine” night.

“We were going to drink a bunch of wine and complain to each other,” Pomeranz explains. Her friend brought over some art supplies as well.

“She brought these inks over, and I had never used anything like them before. I was just completely addicted immediately. I went out and bought some the next day,” Pomeranz says. “You can actually see the first piece of this entire journey on Instagram because I just thought that it would be funny and nice for my own record to put it up there to see my own progression. It’s there if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of my Instagram.”

Pomeranz continued to post her art on Instagram. “I thought, ‘You never know what might happen.’ Maybe I would get some free art supplies or something. That was around four years ago now.”

Since then, Pomeranz has grown her artwork into a business. “I have been really fortunate to make friends all over the world through Instagram. It’s created a lot of opportunities for me. I was paid to create content for Michael’s. I recently got to work with Legion Paper, which has been my preferred paper brand for 20 years. I got to teach at Princeton University,” her art has also been licensed. “I’m in Target, that’s pretty cool. I’m in some major retailers like Wayfair and Nordstrom Rack.”

But perhaps the biggest success that Pomeranz has had with alcohol inks has been finding her way back to art on that wine and whine night.

“I think it’s really important that parents realize that they’re still people. They still need to have their own things going on. Our lives rotate around our children, but I like the metaphor that you need to put your own oxygen mask on for yourself before you can take care of other people. I think that as mothers we tend to forget that we need things for ourselves. We need to prioritize ourselves and step out of that space so that when we return, we can be better parents,” she says. “I decided I really needed to take some time back for myself, so I just started doing a little bit every day. I really fell in love with it, and it gave me so much of my sanity back. The thing about fluid art is that you only have so much control over it, so you have to kind of just give yourself over to it. You can get better and learn how to manipulate it, but it won’t necessarily go the way that you planned it because it is a liquid. You can really get into a meditative state watching these colors float around and letting your control go a little bit. I needed that. It’s like a really excellent therapy. I highly recommend it to people.”

Learn more at devilsmaycare.com or @ devilsmaycare on IG — 07030

Hidden away, just past the lobby of the W Hoboken, is a new sushi spot. It has the vibe of a speakeasy, but instead of jazz, they bump ‘90s hip hop and encourage guests to tag a section of the wall. A mural of New Jersey’s own Lauryn Hill and other hip-hop legends decorate the walls of the cozy space.

Sushi by Bou offers an omakase experience, where its sushi chefs guide visitors through a timed, multi-course meal. It’s $60 for a 30-minute, 12-course experience, and $100 for a 60-minute, 17-course omakase.