Arts & Entertainment
Artist Spotlight: Beth Costello
Glenwood Landing painter and creator of My Inner Child DollTM is in touch with her inner child.
Beth Costello–painter and the creator of My Inner Child Doll–recalls that when she turned 35, she picked up a paint brush and began the next chapter of her life as an artist.
The Glenwood Landing artist prides herself on being a painter of bold strokes, fanciful patterns and robust designs that show women as alluring and a bit mysterious.
"My women are all parts of myself. The more I painted, the more I began to discover parts of me that I never knew existed," said Costello. "I never knew I could be the woman I am today. She did not exist years ago."
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Costello said that it is the physical process of painting that is most important to her: "Sometimes I have a painting in mind; sometimes depending on my mood I just need to paint and what ever emerges is what I need to paint," she said. "That is why my art is so diverse because it is how I feel at that moment that dictates the outcome."
Costello's journey as an artist has taken several career turns: tee shirt and greeting card designer, painter, and last year she developed a line of My Inner Child DollTM.
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People who have seen the dolls are struck by the simplicity of the design and are almost emotional with their reactions, according to Costello.
"Childhood is the one thing we all have in common," she said.
The dolls are 3D versions of some of her original paintings, and Costello believes that each doll she designs has a different character trait or personality.
While My Inner Child DollTM is often purchased as aesthetic piece of art, the dolls have also been used as a tool for children who cannot verbalize their feelings–specifically in art therapy and special education classes. The dolls have even travelled overseas to Qatar to an all girls' school.
"I want to be an influential artist that can bring change to the world, one person at a time, and be a catalyst for healing like a great song," Costello said.
Costello's dolls can be seen at Art that Matters, Nassau County Museum of Art, Grassroots Bakery, and Feinstein Research Center – NSLIJ.
