Artist's Bio

Carol has always loved horses, feathers, sunshine and the natural world. It wasn't until she was into her mid-40's, however, that she discovered an artistic talent for expressing the passion she felt for those things. Self taught, she reads art books and experiments with different techniques to express the essence of the subjects she loves. Carol's favorite mediums are watercolor, acrylic and occasionally pencil. The uncertain nature of using a more wet-in-wet watercolor technique makes her art more interesting by letting the pools of color add texture and visual spice. More recently she has expanded her style, using the technique of collaging by painting papers, cutting out shapes and adhering them to canvas to create evocative equine portraits.

Her art, for the most part, is stylized. Carol tries to capture the spirit or essence of the subject instead of trying to be realistic or detailed in her portrayals. For Carol, less is, indeed more. Warm earth tones are the predominant colors she uses because they warm the spirit. At the Mystic Art Association's Member Show in 2002 she won an Honorable Mention for her first piece ever entered in a show. Her art has also been on display at Studio 33 in New London, CT; The Norwich Arts Council Gallery in Norwich, CT; Meiklem Kiln Works Gallery in Bozrah, CT and seen in Horses in Art Magazine. Carol has donated art to Thoroughbred Charities of America in Lexington, KY and Mitchell Farm Equine Retirement in Salem, CT for their fund raising silent auctions.

Working in the naval nuclear industry for 18 years Carol was a manufacturing engineer when she left. Since 1992 she's worked with her husband, Steve, in their street rod and custom car parts business. Although she lives in Bozrah, Connecticut, Carol has intangible roots in the Southwest and Rocky Mountains of Colorado, often visiting those locales with Steve to drink in the subtle beauty of the arid Southwest and majestic and humbling power of the Rockies. Frank Howell, Sarah Rogers, Carrie Fell and William Matthews are artists whose work Carol admires and is especially drawn to because of their subject matter and simplistic yet evocative style. Some of their influence is evident in her art. Being able to express the subjects she is passionate about is a cherished ability. A published writer, Carol also expresses her passion through her writings.

Since 2005 Carol has been a dedicated volunteer at an equine retirement farm. This is the fulfillment of a dream. Although never having owned a horse or really ridden, Carol's undying passion since childhood for the grace, beauty and strength of equines is fulfilled at Mitchell Farm Equine Retirement, Inc. located in Salem, Connecticut. There she mucks stalls, throws bales of hay, leads horses to pasture, grooms them, empties and fills water buckets ... whatever needs to be done. The work is hard yet immensely fulfilling and satisfying and benefits the horses as well as Carol's spirit. The horses retired there are either old or infirm and no longer ridden. They are allowed to graze in ample pastures during the day while getting expert care to enable them to live out their final years in peace in a caring setting with no more human demands. Mitchell Farm Equine Retirement saves the horses from what could have become a less than desirable end.

Please visit Mitchell Farm's web site. As a non-profit organization, they rely on donations, and fund raising events to raise the monies needed to maintain the on-going expense of caring for the 24 horses presently retired there. To that end, 10% of all sales from this website are donated to Mitchell Farm. You can read all of Carol's Horse of the Month columns, which she writes for a local newspaper featuring the retirees, at www.mitchellfarm.org.