Biography

Crystal Love Bartlett was born in Cranston, RI. Maria, her mother, is Colombian and her father is Scottish, Irish and Hungarian. They met in Ecuador. They both acquired a constant need to travel, and so at the age of seven Crystal was put on a plane to Colombia. At different stages of Crystal s childhood she felt drawn to participate and learn various art forms: music, dance, writing, and drawing. With the constant travel and lack of money, pursuing piano classes and dance classes became impossible. Drawing though, was an art form that could be done anywhere with just a pencil and paper. Crystal remembers the real moment that she was captivated by the expression known as drawing. She was about seven or eight, hanging out in the playground with other kids, when another little girl showed her a princess she had drawn with a marvelous Victorian dress. Captivated by the fact that it was possible to create such things on paper, a fire was ignited within her. From that day on she taught herself to draw from both books and real life. An artist was created.

Through the years, despite the constant transitions and travels art had become a safe place, a home, somewhere where the outside world could not taint. In eighth grade Crystal was put in a senior art class. After graduating high school, Crystal was afraid of going to college, so she did what felt safe doing which was art. And so during her early twenties Crystal obtained an associates degree in Art.

Crystal really enjoyed doing oil paintings and it soon become her favorite medium. Crystal continued her education in clinical psychology while working at a coffee shop. During this time period creating art was pushed aside, and art already created was left in closets sleeping away

One day she met someone with whom she talked about being an artist; he asked her to show him her art work. He proceeded to buy a piece from her and introduced her to someone who let her use a studio space to create enough pieces for an art show. During this time Crystal had also graduated from college and was working at the coffee shop full time. She hated her job and could not stop thinking about her desire to create new paintings. She talked to customers sometimes about her art work and one of her customers bought one of her pieces. This created joy and inspiration, yet the long dreary days of working at the coffee shop became more and more unbearable. Finally she quit the coffee shop and proceeded to create 20 paintings during the summer of 2006. Being a part of an art show instilled feelings of fulfillment, accomplishment and happiness that she had not experienced before. Since that day Crystal has not stopped creating new paintings and she has continued to display her work both in NH an VT.

Artist statement

Being able to draw and use colors as a way of expressing feeling and thoughts that can not be expressed through my writing and words is an important means of creating relief for my soul. I am able to find fulfillment and accomplishment no matter where my life is going if I am able to create art.