Monica Crawford: Self-taught painter is recognized by Coshocton Art Guild

COSHOCTON − Monica Crawford of Adamsville is the October artist of the month for the Coshocton Art Guild.

She creates acrylic paintings and collage mixed media paintings using found materials or self-printed collage papers. Her paintings span a broad spectrum of techniques that creates not only beautiful images but interesting textures and dimension.

Crawford had a 40-year career in information technology, primarily in project management for software implementations in higher education.

"When I first started painting in art journals in 2020, I liked to say that I was left brain by day, right brain by night. I retired in February of 2023 and am happy to have nearly as much painting time as I could want," she said.

Like many, Crawford's earliest recollections of art media were crayons, colored pencils, pens, paper mâché and clay. She took a few ceramics and metal-smithing classes in the 1980s, but she is a self-taught painter. She is currently experimenting with different sizes of canvas and challenging herself to tackle larger abstracted landscapes.

"My artist motto is 'just keep painting' (sometimes in the voice of Dory from Finding Nemo). This reminds me to not be too attached to a particular outcome and the more I paint the more my skills and personal aesthetic will develop," said Crawford.

She is an active member in the Coshocton Art Guild, Tollhouse Gift Shop, and Zanesville Appalachian Art Project. Crawford said this is because the groups support and strengthen connections among artists and helps to make the importance of creative work visible to the larger community.

"Being a member of local art communities creates a sense of fellowship and support that is helpful for what is essentially a solitary pursuit, as well as providing opportunities for showing and/or selling artwork," she said.

Crawford's pieces can be found at the Tollhouse Art and Gifts Shop, 408 N. Whitewoman St. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The art guild is also having an open mic night Oct. 21 at the Coshocton County Commissioners Community Room, 637 Chestnut St. Registration starts at 4:45 p.m. Food available by donation. It's open to songwriters, musicians, poets and comedians for three songs or 15 minutes of material.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Monica Crawford: Self-taught painter is recognized by Coshocton Art Guild