Interview with artist Tram Colwin
Tram Colwin is a Vietnamese American artist living and working in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. She is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a BA in Fine Arts. Tram is a watercolor artist, educator and small business owner who was recently awarded the Community Activator Grant through Mid-American Art Alliance Artists 360. More of Tram’s work can be found at her website tramcolwinstudio.com. (Profile photo by Millie Cooper)
AAS: Tram, where did you grow up and what brought you to Arkansas?
TC: I was born and raised in a small town called Định Quán, in the Đồng Nai Province of Vietnam. My family became refugees after our home was destroyed by the Communist government in 1994. During the Vietnam war, my dad was a helicopter pilot in the South Vietnamese Air Force (trained at Fort Rucker, AL), and my mom worked with US forces. Their history during and after the war led to ongoing tensions that ultimately resulted in our home being torn down. This was the turning moment that led my parents to apply for asylum. Through the International Organization for Migration (IOM), we were resettled in Bentonville, Arkansas, where my maternal grandmother and uncle had already established a home after their own resettlement.
AAS: When did you first realize you had artistic talent?
TC: I grew up watching my mom doodle on notes and receipts, and I was always trying to mimic her. My oldest sister was also very artistic, so I’d say they were both big influences on me. I took every art class I could in grade school, but I don’t think I truly recognized my own artistic talent until later in high school and into college.
Art was a way for me to express myself—especially as someone who didn’t speak English when I first arrived in the U.S. It took nearly two years before I could confidently communicate outside my family. But art didn’t require language. It became a powerful way for me to connect with others and express what I couldn’t yet put into words. It still serves that purpose in many ways today.
AAS: Your work is beautifully imaginative and technically diverse. Where do you get your inspiration?
TC: Thank you so much! I’m deeply inspired by my faith and the world around me, especially nature. I believe we have an incredible Creator, and I’m continually drawn to His handiwork in the natural world. Take a daisy, for example—something seemingly simple—but when you look closely, you notice the variations in color, the tiny hairs on the stem, even the Fibonacci sequence in its center. It’s all mesmerizing to me, and capturing those details is a joy.
When I started college at Oklahoma Baptist University, I was originally a business marketing major—because it felt like the “safe” choice. But I kept a few art classes, including my first and only watercolor class. After a particularly rough accounting course in my sophomore year, I finally embraced my identity as an artist and switched my major to Fine Art. Ironically, I didn’t return to watercolor until ten years later. I did however learn the joy of working with a variety of art media through my professor, Julie Marks Blackstone, who was a prolific artist herself.
AAS: I want to ask you first about your wonderful portraits. Artie is one of my favorites – it is so charming and if a painting could be cuddly, Artie is it! Is Artie your dog?
Artie, 18” x 24”, watercolor on cotton paper
TC: I’m so glad you love Artie’s portrait! He’s not my dog, but I’m a proud pet owner, Finn and Millie! That painting is definitely one of the most “nose-boopable” and favorite pet portraits I’ve been commissioned to do. I absolutely adore painting pet portraits, but I took a big step back from commissions last year. That said, I plan to return to them later this year.
AAS: L & D’s Daughter is another wonderfully executed portrait. Do you especially enjoy doing portraits?
L & D’s Daughter, 10” x 8”, watercolor on cotton paper
TC: That piece was such a meaningful challenge. When I was first commissioned to paint it, I had only done a few human portraits—and all in acrylic, which is more forgiving. This was my first-ever watercolor portrait of a person, and to be honest, I was terrified. On top of that, it was a commission from friends, which raised the emotional stakes even more.
Portraits are not always my favorite to work on because my inner critic tends to be loudest when I’m painting faces. From a technical standpoint, though, I enjoy the challenge. I think it’s part of the pursuit to mastery that keeps me coming back. More importantly, I feel deeply honored when someone entrusts me with creating something so personal and significant.
AAS: You’ve been involved in several theme shows. One of the most ambitious and culturally important is What We Carry. Two of the works in the show, Tram’s Dress and Lemine’s Tea Set are stunning pieces. Tell me about those and the genesis of the exhibition.
Tram’s Dress, 30” x 22”, watercolor on paper
Lemine’s Tea Set, 11” x 14”, watercolor on paper
TC: What We Carry was a dream project for many years. It finally became reality when I received the Community Activator Grant through Artists 360, a program of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, made possible through philanthropic support from the Walton Family Foundation.
The project was inspired by my own experience as a child refugee. I have a vivid memory from when I was seven, right before we left Vietnam, of my family deciding what few possessions we could bring with us. Years later, as a supporter of Canopy NWA, a refugee resettlement organization, I found myself wondering what meaningful objects other refugees had brought with them—and what stories those objects might hold. In recent years, I also saw the concerning rhetoric our country has toward immigrant and refugee communities and felt the importance of bringing these personal experiences to our community through visual storytelling.
In collaboration with Stephen Ironside of Iron Lotus Creative and Canopy NWA, we interviewed 12 individuals from 10 countries, documenting both their stories and their cherished items. The collection consists of still-life watercolor paintings and personal video interviews, which are still available in the virtual gallery on my website: What We Carry Collection.
Tram’s Dress is, of course, a depiction of my own personal item. It was a dress that my mom had commissioned a tailor to make for me prior to leaving my homeland. At the time, it wasn’t that meaningful to me—but now, as an adult, it holds great sentimental weight. It is a reminder of how young I was when we resettled, and that there are roughly 47 million children below the age of 18 who have been forcibly displaced. Additionally, according to the UNHCR, nearly 2 million children have been born as refugees since 2018. On the technical side, it was the first time I’ve painted a single object that has so many patterns. It was a test of skills and patience for me.
For Lemine’s Tea Set, capturing the light and colors as they dance on the glass is one of my favorite parts of creating that piece. It’s also one of those pieces where the object may be simple, but the story and meaning behind it are where the heart of the piece truly lies. Of all the stories I expected to have in my project, Lemine’s was one of the more surprising ones.
AAS: Another exhibition you curated is Women of the Ozarks. Tell me about that exhibition and your painting She Is Resilient. I just love it!
She is Resilient, 20” x 16”, watercolor and gouache on cotton paper
TC: Women of the Ozarks (WOTO) began as a conversation over coffee between me and my friend Claire Pongonis. We both wanted more opportunities to share our art with the community, and we realized there weren’t any exhibitions specifically highlighting female or femme-identifying artists in our region. So, at Pour Jon’s Coffee shop, we decided to create one ourselves. We then reached out to our other artist friends to see if they would be willing to come for the ride with us. Thankfully, they did!
The 2024 show was our inaugural year, and we structured it as a traveling exhibition that would meet communities where they already gather. We featured six artists working in various media and at different points in their creative journeys. The theme was “Feminine Nature.” My own series for the show was inspired by the characteristics I admire in women, paired with the folk symbolism of native Ozark plants. She Is Resilient honors the women in my life whose inner strength and perseverance have been a source of inspiration. It includes St. John’s Wort, Wild Geranium, and Purple Coneflower—plants associated with healing, strength, and determination. Each one also plays an important role in our regional ecosystem, making them the perfect symbols of resilience.
AAS: You work primarily in watercolor, but I admire that you explore different media and techniques in your art. You did a series of cyanotypes, which I love, especially Solar Essence No. 4. What inspired that series?
Solar Essence No. 4, 14” x 11”, cyanotype with photo, watercolor, hand-dried pressed flowers on cotton paper
TC: Thank you! Like many creatives, I have a lot of interests outside of my main medium. I say this as my 5-foot weaving loom is still waiting for me to finally use it, haha! Exploring new media helps me stay creatively engaged, and pushes me to think differently about watercolor, too.
I first encountered cyanotype through a workshop at Hillfolk in Bentonville a few years ago and immediately fell in love with the process. That experience sparked the idea of using the cyanotype solution not just for printing but as a painting medium itself. I even harvested and pressed some of the flowers that were eventually used in the series.
The idea was tucked away until after the Women of the Ozark’s show. Claire Pongonis had created a beautiful series using cyanotype on fabric with her fiber works and the interest was reignited. This series was to test out that idea I had long ago with a few new techniques I learned since that first encounter.
9. AAS: You are well known and in demand for your illustrations, especially commercial illustrations. Tell me about that business.
Hillfold Tea Towel
As an artist who graduated with a Fine Arts degree, I was taught that the primary way to share your work was through exhibitions and galleries. But the reality is, very few artists are able to sustain their livelihoods solely through that route. When I made the leap to pursue art full-time, it was commercial work that laid the foundation for my career. I’m truly thankful for the opportunities I’ve had, and for the clients and collaborators—like Hillfolk—who trust my work. I feel privileged to move between both the commercial and fine art spaces. Each informs the other and keeps my practice dynamic.
“When I create, it feels like an act of worship. I’m not just capturing something beautiful—I’m trying to reflect the divine design I see in the world.”
AAS: You mentioned earlier being fascinated by the complexities and simplicities of nature and wanting to try to capture that in your art. Do you consider yourself that much of a detail person outside of art?
TC: I’d say I’m a very detail-oriented person when it comes to the things that truly matter to me. It’s hard to fully describe this love for detail, but for me, it’s tied to the joy of discovery—the process of slowing down, digging deeper, and noticing the things that are often overlooked. I carry that mindset both in my art and in my life. A painting—or even a person—is never just what’s on the surface. When you really spend time with it, there’s always more to uncover.
Ultimately, this way of seeing and creating is deeply connected to my faith. When I create, it feels like an act of worship. I’m not just capturing something beautiful—I’m trying to reflect the divine design I see in the world. In the quiet space between brush and paper, my mind finds room to reflect, process, and dream. It’s one of the most sacred and life-giving places for me to be.
AAS: Congratulations on your recently awarded 2025 Artist Award from the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. What does that award mean to you?
TC: Thank you so much! I’m so grateful for the time and effort the committee put in to review all the applications, and to be named the recipient of this year’s award is an immense honor. This award means many things to me—most of all, it means support. And by “support,” I don’t just mean the financial aspect, though that absolutely helps me create more sustainably. I mean the kind of support that says, “We see you. Your work matters”.
The Arkansas committee is one of just sixteen across the country connected to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and having such a committee based here makes a real difference. It creates opportunities for women artists and amplifies the cultural impact of our work both locally and nationally.
On a personal level, as a Vietnamese refugee who made a life here in Arkansas and has chosen art as a career, receiving this award fills me with gratitude. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but even with everything going on in our country, I still have hope in the idea of America as a land of opportunity—especially when there are people and institutions who continue to fight for and invest in the arts.
I’m deeply thankful to my community, my mentors, and the organizations who have encouraged and believed in me. This award energizes me for what’s next, and I’m excited to keep creating, collaborating, and telling stories that reflect the complexity and beauty of our shared experiences.
As for what’s next: I’m dreaming and planning a new series, and I’m excited to explore more mixed media work. And soon, we’ll be launching the 2025 Women of the Ozarks exhibition! We have an all-new cohort of six incredible artists creating works in response to the theme “Unbound Spectrum.” I’m so proud of what they’ve individually and collectively created, and I can’t wait for the community to experience the full collection on our four-city tour across Northwest Arkansas over the next 8 months!
