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Cynthia Oswald

Cynthia Oswald

Surface Design, Fine Art + Branding for Creatives

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Surface Design + Art Licensing

The “Wild Garden” Collection

The “Wild Garden” Collection

Get ready to bring the beauty of the great outdoors into your home with my upcoming collection! On May 20th, I’m releasing the “Wild Garden” collection, featuring a gorgeous array of home décor items and original fine art. This collection is all about celebrating nature and inspiring slow living.

The “Wild Garden” title is more than just a nod to the subject matter—it’s a deep and meaningful reflection of the collection’s ethos. It’s about accepting our natural tendencies while being mindful of our time and making intentional choices. With a focus on flora and fauna, each piece is grouped by its native environment and represented in a variety of mediums.

I’ve been working on this collection for years, and it’s been a true labor of love. As a lover of patterns and nature, I’m thrilled to see my interests come together in this new way. Drawing inspiration from my childhood memories of nature exploration, each piece is a unique representation of the natural world.

The Wild Garden collection represents a significant moment for me, as it’s a culmination of my artistic practice and a breakthrough in my ability to trust my instincts and intuition. This collection is the perfect blend of fine art and surface pattern design.

Each of the three larger pieces in the collection represents a different idea: acceptance of the present moment, hopefulness for the future, and appreciation for the past. With endless possibilities for exploring my love of patterns and nature, I couldn’t be more excited to share this collection with you! So get ready to embrace slow living and surround yourself with the beauty of the great outdoors.

View the collection

An Interview with Painter, Printmaker & Mixed Media Artist, Sally Richards | Chester County Studio Tour 2023

An Interview with Painter, Printmaker & Mixed Media Artist, Sally Richards

Chester County Studio Tour 2023

Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sally Richards, painter, printmaker, and mixed media artist who will be showcasing her work in the Chester County Studio Tour this May. Sally just recently won 1st place in the Wayne Arts Centers, Annual Regional Exhibition for her painting, Picnic Spot at Seal Cove, in April 2023. During this interview, we discuss her process and a sneak peek at what you will see during the Chester County Studio Tour!

Some of my favorite excerpts from this interview: 

“Instead of [the work being about] subject matter, it became about recreating those feelings of really authentic, full out expression, the love of discovery, solving problems … all the fun things. So I taught myself how to do that, and I don’t paint unless I’m in that space.

“I think what’s interesting is people that have bought my work almost universally said about it that it’s that they find the work inspiring. And so when they’re with it, they find some kind of freedom or new energy, or a transformation of their space.

Take a listen to our interview to learn about her work and her artistic process. 

Check out her work at https://www.sallyrichardsart.com/ and follow her artistic journey @sallyrichardsart  on Instagram! 

Award-Winning Piece

Picnic Spot at Seal Cove
Acrylic/Mixed Media on cradled panel
12×12 ( framed)
$495
First Place Award 
Wayne Art Center 2023 Regional Juried Exhibition

An Interview with Mixed Media Artist, Emily Mullet | Chester County Studio Tour 2023

An Interview with Mixed Media Artist, Emily Mullet

Chester County Studio Tour 2023

Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Mullet, a mixed media artist who will be joining Tina Crespo and myself at Studio #5 for the Chester County Studio Tour this May. Emily is the creator of the PXV Art Mag—an incredible platform she’s created to document and amplify artists in our local community. During this interview, we discuss how she encourages and gathers the local creative community, how she thinks about her collections, the stories behind her work, plus a sneak peek at what you will see during the Chester County Studio Tour!

Some of my favorite excerpts from this interview: 

“… letting myself stay in that zone helps me discover the meaning of my work versus just doing one piece and then move on to the next thing. I can kind of marinate in my thoughts and really be intentional about the work I’m creating. Even though I’m creating with this excitement and joy, it still is able to be distilled down into something really meaningful.”

“I’m really interested in limitations and how having limitations make you think outside of the box, and get you to unexpected places when you have to work within those.”

“If you cultivate your natural talents and strengths, you’re going to evolve into a way more beautiful, unexpected person than you would if you’re trying to just be good at what everyone else was good at, whether it’s personality traits or academic things.” 

Take a listen above and learn about her work and what inspires her to create. 

Join Emily and the Artists of Phoenixville community at the next Magazine Release Party, details here. Available risograph prints are listed here.

Check out her work at emilymullet.com and follow her artistic journey @emilymullet on Instagram! 

An Interview with Artist & Photographer, Tina Crespo | Chester County Studio Tour 2023

Cynthia Oswald original watercolors

An Interview with Artist & Photographer, Tina Crespo

Chester County Studio Tour 2023

Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tina Crespo, an artist and photographer who will be joining Emily Mullet and myself at Studio #5 for the Chester County Studio Tour this May. Tina is a mixed media artist who also provides brand and product photography for creative businesses. After years of working in the photography industry and building knowledge around composition, lighting, and styling, she ventured off on her own and began a career supporting other creative businesses while developing her unique style as an artist. During this interview, we talked about her journey as a professional creative and what visitors can expect to see during the Chester County Studio Tour.

Some of my favorite excerpts from this interview: 

“The whole point of this particular collection is understanding what does it mean to be well loved. What is a well-loved object? For me, it’s something that’s a little bit destroyed. It’s something that’s worn down. It’s an old photograph that’s been touched a million times. A recipe that has been handed down generation after generation …”

“The whole collection comes back to broken things are beautiful. It’s bittersweet—this life that we’re living—and you can have these moments of being broken and also being refreshed at the same time. That’s really what I want people to feel when they come in. A sense of something leaving and something arriving at the same time.”

Watch the interview above to learn about her work and what inspires her to create.

Check out her work at tinacrespo.com and follow along on her Instagram journey here. If you are interested in joining her upcoming photography workshops reserve your spot here.

Tina Crespo
Tina Crespo

Works by Tina Crespo are available at the Chester County Studio Tour, Studio #5 in Phoenixville

Charting Your Creative Path: Exploring Long-Term Career Goals with Bonnie Christine

Charting Your Creative Path:

Exploring Long-Term Career Goals with Bonnie Christine

Last week I had such a full schedule and then an opportunity popped into my inbox to chat with a long-time business mentor, Bonnie Christine. I had lots of reasons as to why it might not work this week. And then I also had the years of Bonnie’s wisdom in my brain—encouraging me to be bold, take “10 seconds of courage”, get comfortable being uncomfortable—and I knew it needed to be a “heck yes”. So I thought about some things I’d love to chat with Bonnie about and we jumped on a 20+ minute Zoom to share thoughts about creating a long vision for your career, getting really clear on your goals, how to consistently chip away at them overtime, and celebrating the small wins throughout the process. I hope you enjoy listening in on the conversation!

Below are a few things Bonnie shared during the call that really stood out to me:

“What if you try as hard as you can and you succeed? Are you even willing to wrap your mind around the possibility that you will succeed?”

“It’s in the consistency that things progress and goals are met.”

“Create a habit of approaching the progress.”

“Successful people only get there through consistent action.”

Secrets to Success in Surface Pattern Design

Join Bonnie’s Free Workshop now through February 28, 2023

Behind the Scenes of the Vast Views Collection

Grounding myself in motherhood

Behind the Scenes of the Vast Views Collection

It’s 8:30 am on a Friday morning and I’ve already cooked breakfast, sang and danced, played restaurant, painted, and made a huge mess of my living area alongside my two girls (and two large dogs). We are busy over here—and by “we” I mean me—I’m busy wearing many hats. It’s just as I had hoped for, more than I ever could have dreamed, and also can be a real struggle to keep up with. Sometimes I feel like I’m 8 years old treading water and a little too far from the edge of the pool. I was never a strong swimmer. Other times, I’m in complete awe of how I can find rest by looking into their eyes, I can ground myself by caring for them, and I can find presence by being present. 

My girls are 1 and 4. They have reminded me of the little pleasures in life that fill my cup. Finding a grasshopper, discovering a new plant, soaking in a beautiful view, dancing when no one is watching, singing in the shower, goodness, even digging for worms can be exciting. I’m calling these simple pleasures into my life right now and drinking them in like my first cup of morning coffee because they ground me in these early years of motherhood. Motherhood in combination with running a business, nurturing a marriage, and fulfilling my own creative desires feels near impossible some days (notice I said nothing about a social life!). I paint the feelings I want to experience, I ground myself in the practice, and I sincerely want to create that sense of grounding and the ability to mindfully connect with the present moment for those that collect my work. 

This year I’m bringing back the mini watercolor landscapes for the 25 Days of Minis project with presence in mind. When I was a child, I would walk to the highest elevation on my parent’s property and climb a large tree that had a limb hanging over the fence row, overlooking the valley. I would walk out to the edge of the tree limb and sit there absorbing the landscape. It stirred up a well of emotions in my heart—excitement, hope, possibility. I think about how truly present I was in those moments. Free of cell phones, work, expectations, you name it. I was free to daydream and that is exactly what I did there while I looked out over the vast view. It was in those moments that the abundance found in nature seemed completely accessible to me. 

The best compliment is when I witness a child absorb my artwork. I’ve seen my one-year-old giggle when noticing a ladybug in a pattern I designed, my 4-year-old is constantly trying to procure paintings for her bedroom gallery, and when children that aren’t part of my family appreciate my work, my heart literally sings a little tune. It’s a song about daydreaming into the present moment, finding joy in the smallest pleasures, and soaking in the moments that we are in, right now. My hope is that this work can serve as a visual reminder to focus on flourishing, see the beauty and magic in the present moment and that the wild abundance that exists in nature is also accessible to us.

mini watercolor landscapes
Mini Watercolor Landscapes from the 2021 Collection
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Cynthia Oswald Portrait of an artist

About Cynthia

In addition to creating surface design and fine art, I own and manage a boutique branding agency just outside of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. When I’m not working you can find me chasing my little ones or dogs around our small home, enjoying a fire with my husband, reading, or riding my bike on the river trail near our home.

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Recent Posts

  • Featured on CanvasRebel: A Creative Journey Unveiled
  • Choosing the Best Website Platform for You
  • The “Wild Garden” Collection
  • An Interview with Painter, Printmaker & Mixed Media Artist, Sally Richards | Chester County Studio Tour 2023
  • An Interview with Mixed Media Artist, Emily Mullet | Chester County Studio Tour 2023
  • An Interview with Artist & Photographer, Tina Crespo | Chester County Studio Tour 2023
  • Charting Your Creative Path: Exploring Long-Term Career Goals with Bonnie Christine
  • Behind the Scenes of the Vast Views Collection
  • Curate Your Brand In Really Meaningful Ways
  • 3 Simple Steps to Bring Awareness to Your Preferences & Brand Cohesion

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