Carol Carter is an
award-winning established painter from St. Louis, Missouri, United States,
working primarily in watercolors, one of the most intimate art forms, and more
recently, acrylics.  Her large-scale watercolors overflow with light, and display vibrant and vivid
colors that are not only full of life but inspired by life itself.  Carol
says "Having grown up in Florida, my strongest visual impression of an
environment for human activity is water.  In much of my work, water
provides the setting for anonymous figures.  Watercolors of nudes, as well
as black and white nudes are in my portfolio.  The nude swimmer. . .is a signature theme."

Carol received her MFA from Washington
University, St. Louis.  She received an MAA-NEA Fellowship in
Painting and Works on Paper.  Carol was voted the "Best
St. Louis Artist" by the St. Louis "Riverfront Times" in 2000.
  In 2002 her work was chosen for the cover of New American Painting
magazine and in 2003, the U.S. Embassy sponsored a solo exhibition of her
work at the Teatro del Centro de Arte, in Guayaquil, Ecuador.  

Carol's works have been exhibited extensively
over the past 20 years, both regionally and nationally, including 25 one person exhibitions and numerous
invitational and group
exhibitions.  Her work is represented in many public and private art
collections, including those of Blue
Cross/Blue Shield, Boatmen's National Bank, Citicorp, Leonard Slatkin, Price
University, and Utah State University, among others.  

Black & white nude watercolor (1995)  Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Untitled watercolor painting Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

"Black & white nude watercolor
(1995)" presents Carter's technique at its most basic—denuded of color, except
for a few subtle touches of prussian blue.  The entire painting is a mosaic
of washes only—even in the woman's hair there are no brushstrokes or texturing
effects.  Everything is built up from carefully interlocking wash fields
and the liquid variations of value and pigment inside them.  Carter prefers
to work in humid weather, which allows her to extend the time she can coax a
wash, stroking the color and charging it with additional water and pigment to
produce her trademark wash blossoms.  The remarkable aspect of this
technique is its riskiness: the movement of blossoms is very difficult to
anticipate or control, yet Carter uses them sculpturally, in the highlights or
shadows on figures or objects, where the blossom must contour and shade exactly
or the three dimensional illusion will be spoiled.  When they are
successful, they add a unique surface energy to the forms; when they fail, an
entire work may be ruined.  Carter accents these soft water effects by
placing them in a very strong composition: the irregular negative space between
the two faces bounded by the man's dark arm, the woman's arm echoing this
enclosing effect along the space where their bodies touch.  But at the
intimate focus, the two faces, the clarity turns into ambiguity.  The woman
has averted face for reasons we do not understand.

     --- Review written by Bruce MacEvoy 

Untitled watercolor painting by Carol
Carter
Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Untitled watercolor painting by Carol
Carter
Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Untitled watercolor painting by Carol
Carter
Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Watercolor painting entitled
"Christina's World" by Carol Carter
Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Watercolor painting entitled
"Google Me" by Carol Carter
Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Watercolor painting entitled
"Naughty Girl" by Carol Carter
Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Judged "Best in
Show" at St. Louis (MO) Naughti Gras 2009

Go to Carol's blog below (entry posted Feb 16, 2009), for links

Watercolor painting entitled
"Juggling the Divide" by Carol Carter
Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Watercolor painting entitled
"It's Not Who You 
Lie With, It's Who You Lie To," by Carol
Carter
Image Copyright © by Carol Carter

Watercolor painting entitled
"Know Any Good Knock Knock Jokes?" by Carol Carter
Image Copyright ©
by Carol Carter

Watercolor painting entitled
"Everything But the Bullet" by Carol Carter
Image Copyright ©
by Carol Carter

Watercolor painting entitled
"Summer's End" by Carol Carter
Image Copyright ©
by Carol Carter

Self-portrait of artist Carol
Carter entitled "iSelf" 
Watercolor painting Copyright © by Carol Carter

See another exhibit of watercolor paintings by
Carol in Images of Eyes Gallery I.  

Carol's works are featured in the
recently-published "Different Strokes--Watercolor" book from Quarto
Publishing in London.  Several other watercolorists also exhibit their
approach to watercolor.  The book is available at amazon.com and other
sources.

Carol's website is
http://www.carol-carter.com/
.  You will return to it again and again, as you will find yourself
captivated by its dozens of visual delights that cannot be absorbed in a
single visit.  

Carol's art blog is

http://watercolorcarol.blogspot.com/.  Send an email to Carol: 
carol@carol-carter.com

Bruce MacEvoy is the author of
the internet's best and most comprehensive resource for watercolor painters (handprint.com). 
His website is included in our best Art Links list.

Page updated Aug 20, 2009