MEYSPRING Artist of the Month - February 2024
Congrats, TBM Creations!
We’re ecstatic to introduce you to the “maikaʻi loa” couple of TBM Creations and MEYSPRING’s Artist of the Month winners for February, Troy and Bea Morrison! Based on the breathtaking island of Maui, Troy and Bea create outstanding epoxy and wood creations, including seascapes, river pours, awesome longboards, and more, using MEYSPRING Pigments from the beginning of their artistic journey together.
Their stunning works of art and positive vibes always shine through in their posts. Even through the tragedy of the Maui wildfire and losing their store in Lahaina, they have persevered and made the needs of others in their community a top priority, emulating the Hawaiian term “Ho’ōla,” which means to give life, to revive, to heal. Seeing their resilience and sharing beauty through tragedy moved us deeply, and we’re truly in awe of having such incredible people like themselves in the MEYSPRING Community.
Meet the Artists
Keep reading to see some of our favorite pieces Troy and Bea have made over the years with MEYSPRING Pigments and for our behind-the-scenes interview!
Tell us more about you guys!
Troy is from Detroit, Michigan, and grew up enjoying playing music, skateboarding, and learning tradework from his journeyman father. I (Bea) was born and raised in Germany and went to school for hospitality. I enjoy our animals (4 cats and a Dachshund), singing (off-key), and making up weird dances to display my excitement.
Troy and I met the very first night that I arrived in Maui. Troy happened to be one of the roommates in the house I moved into! We got married 6 months later, and now we live the life of our dreams with our fur babies up in upcountry Maui while running our business from home. We love the touch of farm life up here, surrounded by forest, sheep, ducks, and our puppy and kittens - they definitely keep us on our toes!
Fun Fact: Although we live in Maui, we rarely go to the beach. We prefer hiking waterfalls and forests - but we love the ocean views!
What inspired you to become woodworkers/artists?
Troy is a very creative person who has always been passionate about woodwork. When I (Bea) met him on Maui in 2019, he was already an experienced handyman and woodworker. Living on this island has allowed us to have access to some of the most beautiful types of wood, which Troy loves to work with.
Troy spends a lot of time in the garage working on new projects, which inspired me to try new things as well. I started with paint pouring and then moved on to resin, which we combined with Troy's woodwork projects. We have come up with many new ideas that we want to try out, and it has been a lot of fun being creative together.
How long have you been working with resin?
For almost four years now! I started playing around with resin in 2020, and I had a tough time with it at first; there were so many more components to it than the acrylic pours I'd done. After several more months and many, many defeats, it finally clicked! Once that happened, I was able to really enjoy the epoxy process, and later on, Troy got into it as well.
What made you choose MEYSPRING pigments?
The MEYSPRING pigments were actually the first pigments that I had tried, and they've become a staple in our inventory! The vibrant colors are mesmerizing, and I love that they continue to inspire us. Sometimes, we come up with a new project simply because we desperately want to try out a specific pigment color that I fell in love with! They're easy to work with, and the results are always stunning.
What is your favorite pigment color or color scheme?
Tough one! We definitely can't live without our blues, like the Turquoise and Tropical Blues - they just work so wonderfully for our ocean-themed boards! But I'm also a sucker for the Imperial Emerald and Pure Copper, so sometimes I create a set of coasters just so I can play with those colors that I don't usually use for our ocean pieces.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Hawai has become our home and constant inspiration. There are so many unique and beautiful elements to this place - the Ocean, the waves, the mountains, the waterfalls, the volcanic activity on the Big Island, the dreamy beaches- it goes on and on!
We both enjoy the process of being inspired by the Maui beauty that surrounds us, letting that flow into every piece we create, and then seeing the joy on people's faces when they find the trinket dish or wall piece that will forever remind them of the amazing experiences they had while here on Maui. It's absolutely fulfilling.
How much time do you dedicate to your craft?
We both work from home full-time, although Troy usually spends more time doing resin, while Bea does a lot of the background work, like marketing, communication, and packaging. Bea spends about 3-4 hours per day in the shop, while Troy does resin for at least 7-9 hours a day.
What are your goals for your artistic journey?
We constantly try to carve out a little extra time for side projects. Since this is now our full-time job, it can be challenging to find the time just to let the creativity flow while you have events coming up, Etsy orders to fulfill, and Wholesale clients to restock. So, time to just sit with our creativity is often limited. We both strive to achieve more balance where we give ourselves time to just be in the moment and create with no agenda.
What is the most significant "Aha moment" you've had so far?
I (Troy) have had pretty profound "Aha" moments multiple times while working with resin, but my favorite was when I decided to work with texture and realized that I could realistically create water topographies that refract and reflect light, resulting in my water sculpture series. Also, when I took our resin 'river' boards to the next level by texturizing them with relief grooves that imitate a river's "current."
"Aha" moments come when you see how to make something different and unique. They are achieved when you set out to define your "art," which results from pushing your creativity beyond the status quo. Maybe my greatest "aha" moment was when I decided to make my "art" solely for myself and not for social media consumption or external praise. Then, if afterward, I am proud of what I've done, we advertise it. Always make "art" for you. Everything else is "commerce."
What advice would you like to share with aspiring creators?
Trust the process, and work hard. Dedicate yourself to your projects. Imitate your favorite artists to teach yourself the techniques, then branch out and get creative; DO SOMETHING NEW. Working with resin can involve a huge learning curve, which can be discouraging at times. But looking back, we've gained so much insight from each failure. We've seen that all mistakes are learning opportunities. Sometimes, they help you figure out how to fix something or how to do something better, and there are, of course, also those "happy mistakes" that allow you to explore something completely new and unexpected!
Congratulations again to Bea & Troy on winning MEYSPRING Artist of the Month - February 2024!
To see more of TBM Creations’ work, check out the following pages:
Instagram: @tbm.creations
Website: www.tbmcreations.com
Facebook: TBMxCreations
Etsy: TBMxCreations
Would you like to be featured as MEYSPRING’s Artist of the Month? Tag @meyspring and use #MeyspringPigments in posts featuring your creations made with MEYSPRING Pigments on Instagram or TikTok at least 2 times per month.
Winners are featured on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, and our blog! They will also receive a $100 Gift Card to www.meyspring.com.
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