Today we’d like to introduce you to Eva Crawford.
Hi Eva, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
This is my bio/artist statement:
Eva Crawford is a Charlotte born award-winning artist with a BFA from UNC-Chapel Hill and a lifetime of art making. Her interactions with former high school students and her own 5 children, which include a son from Uganda, taught Crawford to make art about human stories and hope.
Crawford is well established in her career, yet she welcomes the daily challenge of staying true to her unique artistic voice and creating work that responds to that voice. Her artwork ranges from expressive to intricately slow creations, and her materials include watercolor, acrylic, charcoal, and collage and range in size from notecard to wall mural.
Crawford’s artworks are soul-filled as she captures the true essence and subtle nuances of her subjects. Often there is an emphasis on beauty or humor recognizing that humor is sometimes the best medicine.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My father was a terrific artist/illustrator who gave me the confidence to pursue being an artist from the moment I first held a crayon. I love making and know that truly beautiful art is from the heart. So the road to where I am today has been a steady one of daily maintaining focus and creating and not falling prey to comparison and achieving success.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am known for my portraits and portrait stories. The human soul is precious and I feel needs to be seen to flourish. My portraits, which are often commissioned, capture the twinkle of that person’s soul which only comes with my close inspection of subtle nuances.
In 2022 with the help of an Arts and Science Council grant I completed my Your Good Neighbor CLT project by drawing 68 “good neighbors” nominated by those they impacted. The culminating show where the good neighbors got to take their framed portraits home raised $6000 in gratitude donations that went to Roof Above, Eustress Inc, and Nine Eighteen Nine Studio Gallery. Opportunities to encourage others by seeing themselves or a loved one through portraiture is my joy.
Damaged and threadbare quilt portraits are an recent and ongoing investigation as the precious fabrics and their hidden stories are given new life as I paint giant faces on them. As a mural artist, I consider the quilts as mobile walls. The portraits are inspired by the quilt fabrics, often hinting to perhaps the soul of the quilt revealing itself. The most meaningful quilt portrait is of my grandmother Zola Pearl on a double wedding ring quilt she hand-stitched.
What matters most to you? Why?
Experiencing mental illness challenges in my family contributes to my appreciation for story. Everyone has their own hurts and joys. The “why” of what I make is rooted in connection with fellow humans as they share during my Kintsugi Experiences (the Japanese slow art of mending broken ceramics with gold), or when they connect with my “heartwork”, or as I prepare for their portrait. As an explanation, I am an Academy Kintsugi trained Kintsugi Experience facilitator, and using modern materials I lead 3 hour healing sessions using the slow Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with gold. Groups coordinate with me to lead the 4-7 participants usually in my studio at Dilworth Artisan Station in South End Charlotte.
Pricing:
- to remove the emotionality of pricing – have a ready to use formula
- I use (length + width) x multiplier = price
- Your multiplier can grow as you grow in your profession
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.evacrawfordart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecrawfordart
- Other: Galleries: https://shaingallery.com/collections/eva-crawford and https://dkgallery.us/artist/eva-crawford-guest-artist
