Newport Beach artist transforms children's drawings into collages that ‘pop'

Los Angeles Times

2 days ago

Art adorns much of the space in C.C. Knowles' Corona del Mar home.
It's eclectic, and also deeply personal, as Knowles created it all herself.
She's proud of the output, but she knows it's not marketable. Her best friend from college, Julie Teel, would sometimes offer good-natured ribbing, telling her that she needed to find something that people wanted to buy.
During one commiserating session, Teel told Knowles she should create collages based on children's drawings. That suggestion led to Knowles' new business, Attic to Art, was launched last fall.
Empty nesters can now have full walls, as Knowles puzzles and converts their children's scribblings into art pieces with a wood base that are highly displayable.
Georgianne Ramm of Newport Beach is a happy customer. Her daughters Katie and Kelly are both now in their mid-20s, but Ramm had much of their artwork from nearly two decades ago at Andersen Elementary School just sitting in her attic.
'I had asked my daughters at Christmastime, 'Do you guys want this stuff?'' Ramm said. 'They were like, 'Throw it away.' But then I saw what C.C. had done for my friend Tracy, so I went through the art.'
Knowles produced a 36-inch by 36-inch piece for each daughter, and Ramm gifted them to Katie and Kelly as Easter presents. Her hope is that down the road, it will be in their babies' nurseries as a generational gift.
'C.C. is so talented, and she did such an incredible job,' Ramm said. 'She positioned things well. The whole process was really cool. Cutting everything, sorting it, positioning it. She would always email me pictures and ask my opinion.'
Knowles said she's made about 36 collages so far through Attic to Art and she's constantly working on more in her home studio. The retired elementary school teacher started off testing out pieces with her own children, Olivia, a junior at USC and Kaelen, an incoming senior at Corona del Mar High School.
Parents will typically drop off buckets of their children's artwork at her home, often putting Post-it notes on pieces that they want to have featured and are important to them.
Knowles keeps them involved through the process of creating their order, which usually takes about two to three weeks.
She enjoys the process of puzzling the art, but there's more to it than that. She adds color to sketches that are on white paper with paint.
'It's not just a bunch of stuff shoved together,' she said. 'I'm looking for it to make not so much a story, but just a good flow. Is it kind of funny? Are there pieces right next to each other that make you laugh or are such a weird juxtaposition that they're funny?'
When the art is formed and the parents have approved, Knowles tacks the piece with a quick-drying glue before applying two rounds of Mod Podge, a glue, sealer and finish.
Finally, she'll apply paper tape on the piece before spray painting the sides in her garage. The final step is two coats of resin epoxy, which makes the piece 'pop' and also protects it.
She signs the back of the collage, but also notes there that the art was created by the child and collected by the parent.
Knowles said she charges $100 per square foot, but the result is often priceless for her clients.
'There's something so special about it,' said Leslie Ann Harty, a Newport Beach mother who had two art pieces made featuring work by her 10-year-old daughter, Everly.
Harty said she painted the wall in her living room matte black, so that the artwork really stands out.
'When you're looking at it, it's like you're having a long-lost conversation with your child when they were 3, 4, 5 years old, you know?' she said. 'You remember that time. Who doesn't want to save that feeling forever?'
Colleen Taricani does. She has known Knowles for about 15 years and said she was one of the first Attic to Art clients, getting a pair of pieces done for her college-age children, Joey and Kate.
'Not only are they just these modern, amazing pieces of art, but they highlight the essence of each of my children in a profound way,' Taricani said. 'This whole project was so perfect for C.C. to take on, because it's using things that have already been created and then turning them into something else. That's her sweet spot in all of the art that she creates.'
Knowles said she's thought about renting studio space elsewhere, but at this point the business remains a home-based operation. Of course, that can mean some growing pains.
Last December, she accidentally left a 5-gallon jug of resin epoxy on the floor of her garage, then pulled her car in. The walls and items in the Knowles family garage have been a lot stickier since that day.
'It's a huge mess,' she said with a laugh. 'My husband hates what I've done to our garage.'
She can rest easy knowing that her clients love the creations she makes out of items that were often long-forgotten.
'I'm happy that I got to know a lot of people that are kind of in the same boat I'm in.' she said. 'Our kids are leaving us, and we're trying to figure out where we are now in life. We're not old, we're not young. We're still parents, but we're not parenting as much. I've met a lot of kindred spirits through doing this.'