Living in the woods at the edge of a lake surrounded by nature for most of her life has imbued in Carole a love of her surroundings and a deep desire to protect them. She is drawn to landscapes that bespeak the wild power of nature in the rocks, water, and trees and in the might of the animals that inhabit these places. Energy that emanates from these landscapes connects profoundly with her soul and drives her to translate them into a visual language. By doing so she hopes to inspire people to look deeper into the world that surrounds them.
It was an experience in a wild place that drew her back to making art. She was walking a path on the Western shore of Vancouver Island when a huge wave came crashing upon the shore; licking at the enormous, twisted trees on the water’s edge. The connection happened. Her work had to try to capture this force, motion and awesome beauty.
To capture the vision and the emotion of the moment, she takes many pictures as photo documentation. In her studio, using multiple digital images as her source, she creates her personal interpretation of an area and its majesty onto many large canvases. The works are always done in a series to give a sense of following a path or taking a journey. The intended impact on the audience is the visual equivalent of listening to a reading of an epic poem. The viewer is brought into the passion of the painted landscapes and carried along on the journey with her. Through vigorous brush strokes, bold colour with hints of the under-painting, impressionistic shapes and strong contrasts, Carole tells the story of the wild natural landscape. Her aim is to offer a compelling intersection between the literal landscape and the landscape of the heart.
“I first got interested in the work of Pacific Wild when “Spoiled” was released. This was at the time when I was starting to paint full time. I was turned on by the message of the movie and the need to preserve the Great Bear Rainforest intact and as a National preserve for Canada. To further explore and develop my painting ideas I took a trip on the Maple Leaf with Kevin Smith and Maureen Gordon. I fell in love with the area. While the beauty of the vast mountains and inlets is awe-inspiring I decided to paint the animals there in a way that would present them with the appeal of habits and lifestyle to which humans could relate-family, motherhood, telling a story through eye contact. Through my paintings I hope I can accomplish the same goals as Pacific Wild tries to do in video and photography. Painting can do it very powerfully ny manipulation with the brush.”
©2021 Friends of Pacific Wild