About Caren Frost Olmsted

“Each day provides a new opportunity to create something that speaks to me & to the people who buy, live with & use my art.”

Caren Frost Olmsted, owner and principal of CFO Design, believes in creating art that is meaningful and heartfelt. She draws inspiration from the luscious little moments of life - cutting open a ripe fruit, watching birds at the feeder, smelling a child's freshly washed hair. She believes that art has the power to transform and heal- not only the life of the maker, but the lives of those who live with art as well.

Caren received a Theatre Design degree from Bates College, as well as a degree in Art Education, from Appalachian State University. She worked for several years in professional theatre as a Set and Lighting Designer, and four years as an Art Educator. With the birth of her first child, she merged her passions for design and art, creating her own company, CFO Design. CFO Design is a full-service art company, specializing in murals, illustrations, fine art, and hand-painted instruments. Caren is a member of the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writer's & Illustrators). Her studio is in Basking Ridge, NJ, where she lives with her husband & two sons (who are her most spectacular creations).

Friends of CFO Design

Check out great independently owned businesses who are friends of CFO Design.

In the News

Bernardsville’s First "Sounds Around Town"

Caren Frost Olmsted created an outline painting of downtown Bernardsville that was then colored in by more than 40 children over the course of two hours. The vibrant mural currently hangs in the E Arts Studio on Claremont Rd., Bernardsville, NJ. Article appeared in the Bernardsville News, May 21, 2009

Caren Frost Olmsted draws out the initial outline for a kid’s mural at the first Bernardsville "Sounds Around Town."

Completed outline by Caren Frost Olmsted for a kid’s mural at the first Bernardsville "Sounds Around Town."

Local kids begin to lay in colors for the mural at the first Bernardsville "Sounds Around Town."

The kids have finished painting in the mural and Caren Frost Olmsted does some finishing touches - at the first Bernardsville "Sounds Around Town."

Completed collaborative mural at the first Bernardsville “Sounds Around Town” by Caren Frost Olmsted and local Bernardsville children.

Women on the Move Panel: Successful Entrepreneurs

Caren Frost Olmsted member of the 6th Annual Women on the Move Panel Discussion, sponsored by Bernardsville Professional Women's Group. Article appeared in the Bernards Ridge Connection, Dec. 2008.