Meet Jacqueline Collen-Tarrolly

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacqueline Collen-Tarrolly.

Hi Jacqueline, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started as a fantasy artist painting fairies and so forth and selling mostly at Renaissance Faires. The So Cal Faire was my first big show but by the time I stopped doing that I was doing 45 weekends a year all over the country and various faires. There came a time when being on the road that much got exhausting. I’ve always loved vintage and antiques so I raised some funds and opened a brick and mortar store in Burbank on Magnolia Blvd. I had that for years until the building sold. I have had a web presence and sold online since 2001 so I closed the brick and mortar and went completely online. That has continued to grow ever since and my artwork has evolved as well. Now I’m painting ghosts and other spooky things instead of fairies. About 2.5 years ago we decided to leave the LA area and now live on a farm in the Pacific Northwest. I have an unofficial animal sanctuary here, something I have always wanted to do and have lot of experience in, and we have given a home to over 50 unwanted animals so far. My shop essentially supports them as well as myself and I really love what I do so I’m pretty proud of it.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In some ways yes. In other ways absolutely not. Giving up my dream of the brick and mortar store was a hard crossroads but it was the right one as my ethics just didn’t align with the new landlord’s. Shifting from being an on the road artist to someone who was in one place with a mostly entirely different product line was tough as well, and of course finding ways to blend all the various creative things I love to do has been a challenge. I often say my creativity is like a tornado whirling in my head. Its like the movie Twister, “Oh look there goes a cow…” with the cow being a creative idea and me trying to grab it out of the air and pin it down into something that fits with what I’m already doing. I do feel like since I moved to the farm those things are finally starting to come together. And cashflow is always tight with this many mouths to feed and the economy the way it is, but that’s not unique to just me and we are luckier than many. I can grow a lot of what we eat right here so at least we’re not starving..

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
OK I kinda thought you already knew this and thats why I was asked to interview? But…I own an online vintage shop and I’m an artist. Probably what sets me apart is my aesthetic more than anything else. I am a witch and I bring a witchy moody nature aesthetic to what I do. In a world of all white websites, mine is dark colored and earthy.

What’s next?
Please no big changes right now! We just made the biggest change 2 years ago when we picked up our entire family including a barn full of horses, a pack of dogs and more and moved 1000 miles to a completely different lifestyle in the PNW!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.toadstoolfarmvintage.com
• Instagram: mossandmourning.art
• Facebook: mossandmourning
• Youtube: mossandmourning
• Other: tiktok is also mossandmourning

Image Credits
All my own photos