Cara Croke Art

I spent the last week+ laid out with the flu 🤧 so I’m making up for lost time today. Finishing up some commissioned pieces and tidying my studio for the end of the year.

I still have some work available at if you’re looking for a last minute gift for the holidays 💙

Sporting a little sparkle for my birthday ✨ lunch with my sisters and best friends and dinner with my family and neighbors, I couldn’t ask for better celebrations!

#

How lucky am I to have a shop like this in my community? Support small business and visit Capricorn Book Shop! (And maybe see some of my artwork while you’re there 😉)

From :
We’ve just displayed our next Over the Mantle artist! We are in love with Cara’s approach to cyanotype and fabric art. Her collection includes a mix of framed wall and tabletop art as well as bags, pillowcases, aprons and bookmarks. These pieces make the perfect gift for anyone on your gift list, or for yourself!

💙💙💙

Come see me and a few of my pieces at the Abington Art Center Faculty Exhibition! The opening reception is tomorrow night from 6-8 pm. Hope to see you there 🌈

I finished a new piece this morning while the baby napped; stealing moments in my creative space. I am being pulled back toward botanical imagery which I find appropriate timing as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter, I’m ttempting to find as much sunshine in my days as possible!

I’ve been really struggling into find productive time creating or thinking about my new work. I’m trying to take a step back and see where this new work is going so the first thing that goes is social media. This is a piece I made at the beginning of the summer and I love it so much but it feels like the end of the work I was doing? Not sure what will happen but I’m grateful that you’re still here! I appreciate you 🩵

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any new work, mainly because I haven’t made any until just now. The summer was a blur of babies, pool, beach, and fun; limiting my time in the studio. I managed to piece some time together to make this new work that I fall in love with a little more each time I look at it.

It has taken until October for me to find my rhythm in this new school year. I’ve entered the world of being a parent to a school aged child and it’s if time has speed up even more in the last month. I’m gearing up for a busy fall with a few shows and hoping to restock my Etsy store before the holidays! I’m happy to be back in a making space both physically and mentally 🩵

About last night… I had the best time celebrating the opening of my art work at at the ! Such a wonderful atmosphere with amazing people. If you’re in the area stop in and see some of my work and and stay for a drink or two. Thanks so much to Emily for inviting me to show my work in such a special space.

Started a new piece kind of by accident and it just feels right. I haven’t had a lot of time to work lately with all the kids home and vacations so it felt nice to make something intuitively and genuinely enjoy the process. This cyanotype also faded to this lovely rusty blue green, I can’t get enough of it.

I haven’t been very active on here recently for too many reasons: I haven’t been making much art, I’ve spent time with my kids, family parties, reading, just life in general. I thought I’d take this opportunity to reintroduce myself as I begin a new body of work. I’m an artist, art historian, educator as far as my resume reads but I’m a partner and mom too. I’m a friend, avid reader, amateur chef and Anglophile. I have two best friends; one lives two blocks from me and the other 2,000 miles. This year has already provided me with incredible artistic opportunities and I am so excited for what is to come, I hope you’ll be here for it all 💕

I haven’t posted in a while because so much has been going on and I don’t know how to keep up. I have a few shows coming up that I am getting my work ready for so creating new work has been on the back burner. I carved some time to start this sweet little piece though. I love how it is starting!

Probably since I was able to hold a crayon I knew I wanted to be an artist. Last night I was able to share my lifelong passion with some of the most important people in my life. My first solo show was more than I could ever have dreamt it to be. Seeing my artwork all together was incredible but the amount of people who came to support me was truly astounding (including my first art teacher from when I was 7 years old 😭). Gratitude is not a big enough word for what I’m feeling today.

One of the perks of making cyanotypes is that I get to spend a lot of time in the sunshine. This week I made a whole bunch of cyanotype printed home items like cloth napkins and pillow cases. I’m thinking about doing some craft shows in the fall but I’ve never done anything like it before. Anybody out there have any advice?

I’m in love with the detail that came through from this orchid. Over the winter I print my cyanotypes using a UV lamp and it gets the job done but there is nothing that compares to the development that I get from the sun. The color is so rich and the detail is impeccable.

I’ve been practicing my embroidery stitches and the satin stitch has been the hardest for me to get right so far. I’m finally feeling like I’m getting the hang of it with this little ginkgo leaf! I love challenging myself (even though I may have gotten really frustrated and practically threw this across the room at one point).

I’m doing a little last minute Mother’s Day sale for my local friends. Check my stories for prices!

Motherhood has completely unraveled me and then wound me back into a ball of completely different thread. I think about the changes to my body and my personality since becoming a mom but I think the biggest change has been to my artwork. I’m constantly thinking about parenthood, whether about my own upbringing or my children’s and it flows into everything I make right now.

Unraveled
2023
Embroidered Cyanotype Print

I’ve been in a creative rut the last few weeks. I haven’t really made anything and I’ve just felt stuck. After this weekend’s workshop though I feel like a fire has been lit again and I’m ready to create some new work!!! Literally wrote down ideas at 3:30 this morning while I was up with the baby. Can’t wait to get back into a creative groove like I was in when I made this piece. Now only if these kids would sleep….

Was yesterday real? Because it definitely feels like a dream. I met these wonderful artists at a workshop led by Danielle () where we talked about our own jealousies, creative blocks, inner critics, joy and so much more. The openness and vulnerability of the group was incredible to witness. I’ve just been floating around since leaving these women yesterday thinking how lucky I am to have met them and heard their stories.

Wish ✨

Bloom where you are planted 🌼

I finally finished this piece 💕

Testing out some slightly different ideas.

Tiny stitches 🪡

Our house got whacked with illness over the last few weeks. Stomach bugs and ear infections have brought my studio work to a screaming halt for the time being which is ok because my babies need me. Especially this little one who is on her third ear infection in three months 🫠 hoping the warmer weather clears out all these germs!

This piece looked too perfect in my garden today.