I guess it gives everyone pause to describe what they're all about, especially for those of us a decade beyond the half-century mark who've had a few different incarnations in this life alone.I grew up in a small artists' colony on the east coast of the U.S.and have been fortunate to have been shown the art in the world all around us. I've lived in many places on both coasts, my philosophy having been that if you want to know a place, you've got to know the people, and that means living there for awhile. My degrees are in French and Clinical Psychology, but I owned a successful stair building company for 25 years before retiring and moving to the Washington coast. I enjoy people, but do a lot of solitary activities like writing and my crafts. I have no favorite colors or items. I'm largely indiscriminate about enjoying the world around me. But I am more than a little partial to my two mini-dachshunds (one long-haired, one short-haired) and my very devoted and perfect husband.
The first item that started me in my craft...
I was about 7 years old. My mother is an artist who often gave us various media (paints, clay, etc.) to create with. But in this particular craft, I was at my best friend's house across the street from mine. The artist Ben Shahn, who lived nearby, had a grown daughter who was visiting my friend's parents. She took out some construction paper and just told us to cut out different shapes. Once we were done, she told us to arrange the shapes onto another piece of paper, then glue them down, and just see what we came up with. On that occasion it was a face. (I seem to lean toward faces.) On other occasions, they were just abstracts.
What is your favorite technique at the moment and what tool do you favor the most in your shop?
This type of collage - just cutting out shapes and pasting them onto paper - is what I enjoy doing at the moment. I guess my favorite tool is my scanner/printer which allows me to put the images onto cards and make prints, so that I can keep the original.
What inspires your creations and what sparks your creativity?
It's strange, but often, I dream the images and what shapes I need to cut out to make them. Sometimes I just cut out the shapes with no preconceived notion of what I'm going to make, but most often I dream the images.
Name one favorite item from your store and why is it so dear to you?
I think Serene Face (http://www.etsy.com/listing/41214996/serene-face-print-11-inx14-in-matted) which I have in both print and greeting card form, is my favorite because it's the first one I dreamed in this series, which I just started in 2009. Her face is just so warm, understanding, forgiving and non-judgmental, I'd like her to be my best friend.
What does your future have in store?
I'm very much a here-and-now kind of person (ok,yes, an old hippie), thinking that the tide of the present will naturally lead to the ocean of the future, so I tend not to stock up on goals, BUT personally, I've been working on a historical book that I'd like to finish and publish before the end of the year. As a crafter/ shop owner, I'd like to know that other people get some pleasure out of what I do - and I guess sales would be an indicator of that, so I'd like to be successful in that department.
I can be found at:
www.delincolon.etsy.com
www.delin-colon.fineartamerica.com
Words of Wisdom ...
I think it's a fallacy that wisdom comes with age, especially if you fried a few brain cells in the sixties (I often say that the difference the last 45 years made for me was switching from acid to antacid.) However, obvious as it is, I do feel it's extremely important to enjoy what you do. I think it's essential to have a passion for something in life and then occupy yourself with it. Then life becomes an artform itself. As my husband always says,"Art without emotion is mathematics" (www.discoveredartists.com/davidcolon)
Blogged by: Cisnexpressions.etsy.com
Inspired by: delincolon.etsy.com
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