Artists are Explorers and Pioneers

Never thought I’d have anything in common with Picasso, but I too can say, “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

Today’s Art Quote

I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.
Pablo Picasso

Some of the people I’m closest to have referred to it as a disorder. I can’t tell you how many times throughout my life I’ve fielded the question, “When are you going to settle into one art form?” But I somehow manage to brush off their comments because little brings me as much satisfaction as learning how to do something new.

Pablo Picasso is probably best known for his paintings and his sculpture, though he also left the world with a collection of ceramics, drawings, prints, tapestries, and rugs. Right now, I specialize in stained glass and Bauernmalerei from different regions. Over the years, I’ve also caned chairs, made cut and carve candles, sewn clothes and home décor, refinished furniture, laid tile, sculpted figures out of both salt dough and polymer clay, dabbled in ceramics and photography, and recently have been learning taxidermy. I may even have forgotten a few…

What about you…

Leave a comment and tell us what you’ve dabbled in and what you specialize in and leave a link to your online store if you have one.

About ByCoco

ByCoco is the shop or studio name being used by Coco Watkin on Etsy and Artfire, both of which are online venues for buying and selling handmade. Right now, she offers heirloom quality stained glass and folk art collectibles, which are hand painted in traditional European styles of decorative painting. Because she likes to dabble in so many mediums, she will occasionally offer other unique items.
Coco's husband operates a small apiary and is an excellent caricature carver. All five of their children are also creative. And her mother in law is a phenomenal water colorist.
Do you know what an apiary is and what other types of products might be available for sale?
Leave your answers in the comments below...

Who is Coco?

I was born and raised in New Orleans where the atmosphere is rich with culture and where imagination is celebrated through its architecture, its music, its food, its Mardi Gras and its other festivals. New Orleans is a large city with a small town flavor and a special love of the arts—visual, performing and culinary.

As a military wife of 30+ years, I've experienced different cultures within the United States and abroad, each exuding their own indigenous artistic flair for transforming the ordinary in life into something extraordinary. Beauty abounds if we just take time to notice.

As the mother of five children, necessity has often been my inspiration and on a fairly regular basis has proven to be the mother of invention. Parenting has been a wild and unpredictable ride, and I'm excited about becoming a grandmother this July (2009).

Among other endeavors, I am a self-taught artisan specializing in stained glass and decorative folk painting (European style stroke work). Over the years, I've also dabbled in carved candles, soap, clay, needlework, fountains, basic carpentry and refinishing, various types of sewing, and jelly making. Often while creating something in my studio, I am tapping into my knowledge of and skill in more than just one artistic medium.

My other passion is for transforming trash into treasure or giving new life to something old. Both the process of creating and the process of transforming objects are spiritual experiences for me--It's when I feel most alive.

I look forward to sharing my infatuation with everything creative. Hope you will visit often (bookmark me now or subscribe to be a follower of this blog). Read about what interests you, and please, Please, PLEASE, leave your comments, make suggestions, and ASK QUESTIONS. Questions can be about art & craft techniques, selling on line, life in general, or even about me personally.

Enjoy!