If you are looking for seasonal cards as the holidays approach, senior Addisyn Donfris might just have the perfect thing for you. Specializing in watercolor, she creates everything from birthday cards to depictions of landmarks on Colgate University’s campus. Her range of work and designs makes for the perfect gift for anyone’s friends or family.
“I make mostly watercolor cards — greeting cards, holiday cards and birthday cards — and then also some acrylic paintings. I also took a printmaking class, so I make some prints as well,” Donfris said.
On campus, Donfris is an art and art history double major and a member of Colgate’s swim and dive team. Additionally, she is an artist who works with Muse, a platform on campus designed for artists to connect with peers and sell their artwork.
“I knew the people who were on the administrative side [of Muse] and they reached out to me and asked if I wanted to be one of their artists,” Donfris said. “It’s really just a student-run organization to try to draw attention to artists on campus and student artists, and give them an opportunity to show and sell their stuff.”
To accomplish this, Muse has an Instagram account (@musecolgate), where students can reach out to their artists directly, and hosts periodic pop-ups for artists to sell their art in person. Last Feburary, they hosted a Valentine’s Day pop-up where students could purchase cards from Donfris and posters, crochet flowers, jewelry and more by other student artists. Muse has allowed Donfris to continue making art to sell, a passion of hers that began years before stepping onto Colgate’s campus.
“I did art in high school, and we did fairs, so I started making stuff to sell things during junior year,” Donfris said. “I love it. When I sit down to make a bunch of watercolors in the weeks leading up to a pop-up, it doesn’t really feel like I’m even working. It’s just really enjoyable.”
Colgate’s academic rigor in social sciences and STEM can sometimes steal the attention away from more artistic endeavors on campus, but many students keep their passion alive through creating their art outside of classes. Having the opportunity to make a little bit of money off of it, too, is a great motivator.
“I feel like Colgate isn’t an art-focused school. I’m in the art department and it’s really small, but then there are all these people who are [computer science] major[s], but then they do the fair, which is really cool,” Donfris said.
Donfris has experimented with various designs and inspirations for her work, noting her favorite series she has ever done.
“When I first joined Muse sophomore year, I did a set of Colgate watercolors, and those are my favorites. I just did different buildings on campus, like the chapel and some of the sorority houses. They were some of my better pieces because a lot of the cards I make are really simple and cute, and these were more technical. So that was really fun,” Donfris said. “I ended up getting a lot of orders on those, too. People really liked them, but they’re really time-consuming to make, so I don’t make them as much anymore.”
Over the years, Donfris has sold her work to many of her peers and gotten the chance to see how her art has traveled to unexpected places.
“This might be an ego thing, but I’ve walked into people’s rooms and seen my art on the wall that either they bought or someone bought for them, and that’s just a really cool feeling. It makes me proud,” Donfris said.
If you would like to purchase from Donfris, you can reach out to her Instagram account @addisynart or check out the Colgate Muse instagram page, @colgatemuse, for updates on future pop-up sales to support her and other artists on campus.
