Artist of the Month - Muffy Kashkin Grollier
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born and grew up in a family of six children, in Massachusetts. I moved to Vermont as a young adult and have lived here for nearly fifty years.
My husband is a French chef. We live in a large old farmhouse in Orwell with our cat and two Golden Retrievers. We have chickens and a goose. I work with children during the week and fit my art into every free moment I can. My husband and I love gardening and we have large gardens of flowers, vegetables, and medicinal and culinary herbs.
I believe in fairies and magical entities and leave plenty of wild places for them to live and play!
Are you a full-time artist? If not, how do you tend to make time for your art practice?
In my heart and soul, yes. I am a full time Early Childhood Educator and a licensed Preschool teacher. I own and operate a private program in my home year-round. I am able to spend evenings, breaks, and weekends working on my art. Art is a fundamental part of my program’s curriculum so I can join the children with their art activities, stimulating ideas for my own projects.
Tell us about your earlier encounters with art and creating. Where or when did your creativity begin?
I have been an artist all my life. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t doing something creative! I began oil painting around age two. My mother would lie down on her bed with me at nap time. Usually, I would sit and babble while my mother napped. One day, as my mother slept, I explored her nightstand. To my delight I found a tube of black paint. I painted the bed, the pillows, and blankets and of course, my mother!
My mother was a talented artist and my most supportive teacher and mentor. My mother and grandmother taught me to sew, knit, crochet, and embroidery. I made my doll clothes and graduated to making my own clothes and later artwork. We lived a very creative and imaginative life.
When I learned to read and write I would write and illustrate poetry. I continued to write throughout my life and eventually published “Gregory, Gregory Hates His Food”.
How did you learn the skill you have now?
I learned a great deal from my mother. She was an oil painter. She was also a master calligraphist and lettered diplomas for a college in Springfield, MA.
In elementary school, I was chosen to take special art classes for the gifted, and was introduced to a variety of mediums.
Over ten years ago, I took a class in needlefelting three-dimensional characters. I later took a class in two-dimensional felting, discovering the joys of “painting with wool”. The techniques I learned with watercolor and pastel made my paintings come to life, adding character to my subjects, and depth to my colors.
I love to learn new techniques and often take classes just to stretch my artistic experiences and knowledge.
What medium(s) do you tend to work in now? What draws you to them?
My primary medium is wool since I specialize in needlefelting. I like the textural feel of fiber; it’s like the living spirit of the sheep is in the fiber and helps to bring the painting alive. Similar to pastels, you layer color over color so that when you needle them in, the color underneath enriches the color on top. It is a lengthy process, almost like meditation, when I am working on a piece. I use a barbed needle that locks the fibers into felt after continuous stabbing. To create art from the fibers of an animal with a little barbed needle is magical.
Although needlefelting is my primary medium, I continue to play with watercolors, gauche, acrylics and any other medium that suits my fancy!
We would love to hear about where your art happened. Some artists work from home, others have a dedicated studio. Where do you tend to carve out space for your work?
I tend to create on my living-room couch while watching movies. My art is very mobile, and I can work most anywhere. However, my whole house is storage for my art supplies.
What are your biggest inspirations? Where do your ideas come from?
Everything! I am inspired by nature, other artists, new techniques, and the wanderings of my mind. I photograph animals, plants, landscapes and buildings that I would like to paint as well as pictures of other artists’ work. I have notebooks full of ideas for inspiration.
I’m also inspired by art materials. Something new will inspire me to try something new!
What are you hoping to explore next with your art? Any new ideas, mediums, or projects?
I have notebooks of photographs I have taken that I want to paint. I want to do a barn series, more fantasy pictures, illustrate more of my stories, more flower paintings and many, many more.
Pros and Cons of your creative lifestyle?
I have a racing mind. Innumerable thoughts and images pass through my mind. It quiets and focusses when I am engaged in creating my art. Art is a positive addiction that is only satisfied when I create with my hands, my mind and my heart.
Where can someone find your art?
In my home in Orwell, Vermont.
In the Brandon Artists Guild gallery.
Instagram: Muffy Kashkin Grollier
Facebook: Muffy Kashkin Grollier
Website: muffykg.com (but I must admit that I don’t know much about maintaining a website and it needs updating!)