Carol Nelson VL Feature January 2014 Vol 3 No 1

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January 2014 Volume 3 No. 1

VISUAL LANGUAGE contemporary fine art

Carol Nelson

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CAROL NELSON

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Carol Nelson Colorado Fine Artist

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Contemporary Original Oil and Acrylic Paintings

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Carol Nelson

Denver, CO

I wasn’t always an “artist.” I put that word in quotes because, to me, an artist is one who works at his or her craft diligently every day. Besides spending time at the easel, in today’s times, being an artist also involves networking, researching, marketing, and spending a great deal of time on the computer.

It is far more involved than sitting at your kitchen table and painting a pretty picture once in a while.

Going way back in my art career, I can see the embryonic form of the artist I have become. I’ve always been attracted to vibrant color, and my earliest memory of anything artistic is that extra-large box of Crayola crayons I treasured. When I colored a page, I put on LOTS of color, pushing the crayon deeply into the paper for a saturated color.

In high school, my favorite subject was art. I loved everything we did in class, and it was a straightA subject for me. As a college freshman, it was natural for me to declare an art major. However, sometime during that freshman year – maybe during a biology class or chemistry 101 – it dawned on me that perhaps I should think about how I would support myself when I graduated. My right and left brains were in a battle for dominance. The left brain won, and I graduated with a scientific degree and a profession (medical technology) that would prove to be both satisfying and supportive.

So my artistic side was buried for several years. Actually, I “dabbled” a bit with artsy endeavors.

When my children were small, I had a stained glass business out of my basement. I made custom stained glass windows for homeowners. Although stained glass is one of the most beautiful mediums there is, it is also very expensive to produce. When I figured out I was making less than $1/hour, I decided it was time to find a different outlet for my creative tendencies.

The momentous day that propelled me into a serious art career came in 1998, when I happened to be looking through the art book section at a Hobby Lobby store. I picked up a copy of Maxine Masterfield’s, Painting the Spirit of Nature, and was instantly smitten with the images inside. Looking at the beautiful poured ink abstract compositions, I KNEW I could do this. I bought all the stuff and went home to start creating.

Thus started a new passion. I soon became aware of how much I didn’t know. They say you don’t know what you don’t know, but at least I knew I had just scratched the surface of something huge and wonderful.

Fast forward 15 years to where I am now. I’ve taken many workshops in various painting media – from watercolor to oils and acrylics – and slowly my true love has emerged. Although I can certainly appreciate the beauty of rich oils and the flowing transparency of watercolor, it’s that “texture thing” with acrylics and all the acrylic mediums that pulls me back time and time again.

My studio, as you can see from the photo, is always in a state of chaos. When your medium is mixed media, you have to save everything that might somehow end up in a painting. I’m not above dumpster diving and picking up ephemera and junk off the streets.

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Canyon Colors

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Carol Nelson

Denver, CO

I love experimenting with new paints, materials and techniques. Since I work in acrylic, the vast number of mediums available gives me unlimited options in how I create. Many of the techniques I’ve developed or practiced in my own work are of interest to other mixed media artists. I love traveling around the country giving mixed media workshops – I meet the nicest artists! I love their enthusiasm and delight at the things I present to them.

Last October, I completed a week of training with Golden Artist Colors. Golden chose 18 artists from around the country for advanced study in their Golden Art Educator Program. Since I already was using Golden Fluid Acrylics in my work, the additional training with Golden’s many pastes, gels, and grits, was like a huge flood of information that I’m beginning to incorporate into my painting process.

Life as traveling artist is sometimes hectic – like when my plane is delayed by a blizzard – but the rewards of meeting and working with other artists makes it all worth it.

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VL Carol Nelson

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Denver, CO

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