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Welcome to a World of My Art

Click on Images to enlarge and check out just a sampling of my sites offerings and my friends and family rockin some clothing. 
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Sisters at my studio door

Sisters at my Summer studio door rockin' the leggings and rash guards. See Kid's Wear for more. 

Hello. Welcome to my online shop my site. I recommend browsing the collections in my drop down menu. The SHOP drop down houses my clothing and accessories and the GALLERY houses my actual paintings. Contact me directly if you are interested in a painting as I ship those directly from my home and I have many more originals not on view on this site so contact me directly at shackik@comcast.net.

Curious about me, the creator of these works, read on.  I am C.K. Higgison painter of whimsical worlds,  designer of clothing infused with great karma and my own original designs, retired art teacher of elementary school kids, mother, grandmother, wife and Maine resident for over 48 years. This is my website.  Curious about Cottage by the C ? Origins of my site name stem from the fact that for over 16 years nearly all my paintings had small houses or cottages in them, and  C is the first letter of my first name. I secured the domain name way back in the early 2000's and the name has stuck. 

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If you are interested in seeing my work in its original form I have a tiny summer studio in our driveway. If you are interested to visit my studio in person  please contact me directly. Contact me. And in addition, late April through early October, we have a roadside flower stand, featuring flowers and aromatics from our gardens at $5 a bouquet. Bouquets by the Road, 

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My Story

I have been working with paint and making paintings of one form or another for many years. While originally from away, Connecticut in fact, I have been living, working and painting in Maine for nearly 50 years. I attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and graduated from Bowdoin College with an A. B. in Creative Visual Arts. I have had various day jobs, from working in an art gallery, to being a visual merchandiser,  running a museum gift shop, to founding the Bowdoin Summer Art Camp. That led me to finally figure out what I want to be when I grow up... an elementary school art teacher. For over 20 years I taught art to young children in various public and private schools here in Maine. While recently retired from full time teaching, during the school year I still enjoy working with young children as a substitute teacher and in my freer time spend time in my studio and my gardens.

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In teaching art to young children I have found my true balance between making my own art and empowering young children to see, create and find their own visual voice as well.

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I have been married to my artist husband Peyton Higgison, for the past 39 years and we have made our home here in Brunswick, Maine where we raised our two grown sons Hunter and Skyler. Hunter and his wife Joanna have made Springfield,  Virginia their home and Skyler lives nearby with his partner Amanda and their young family. Two days after Christmas of 2021 we had a devastating house fire, most likely started from a charging lithium battery, so in some ways we have been  starting over the past two years.   My winter studio space was destroyed and we have been finding our way  to make a new life for ourselves here on the same land. We are living this summer in our partially renovated barn. I continue to paint daily during the summer,  looking to try new techniques and push my creative thinking and try new things. I have been mastering the art of making salves and scrubs and have recently come up with a super cool Artist's Handscrub and Salve that I hope to market this summer at our flower stand. Stay tuned on Instagram #flowerpowerME.

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For those curious about the signing of my art work as C. K. Higgison, I am of Armenian descent, and my full name is Chaké (sounds like Shacki) Emira Kavookjian Higgison. While I am very  proud of my Armenian heritage, it's an intimidating name to try fit on my small paintings and even harder to pronounce when seen for the first time, thus I use C.K. for my artist's signature abbreviation.

CONTACT

US

C.K. Higgison:   shackik@comcast.net

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