Watercolor artist Carol Carter is returning to the Margaret Harwell Art Museum for her “Journey Back” exhibit, beginning with a reception 6-8 p.m. Saturday. An artist’s talk will be held around 6:45 p.m. The show runs through Oct. 30.
Museum director Steve Whitworth said Carter is an old friend of the museum. Her last exhibit there was 32 years ago and she is eager to return.
“She’s had fans here at the art museum ever since because she was really a quite an outstanding career in art, and it’s called ‘Carol Carter: Journey Back’ because she’s created a lot of artwork over the years and has grown as an artist, and she is excited to return here and exhibit all-new stuff,” Whitworth explained.
Carter paints in several different themes and watercolor styles. Her subjects include figures, botanicals and animals — this show includes 35 dog and cat portraits called “The Puppy Project.”
“It’s going to be a really wonderful exhibit,” Whitworth said.
Carol Carter lives in St. Louis. She is an internationally recognized artist whose career has spanned more than 35 years, according to information provided on the artist’s website. Carter has taught workshops for over 30 years, as well as in university. She is the recent recipient of 2020 Snehil Lifetime Achievement Award, Snehilsrijan, India. She has exhibited her work in Europe, China, Hong Kong, USVI, Morocco and throughout the United States.
“My painting contains duality: clarity and ambiguity; sanctuary and threat; pleasure and pain,” Carter has said in her artist’s statement. “The use of vibrant, saturated colors--beautiful, but confrontational in their intensity--contributes to the tension between these extremes. The large scale of the watercolor and acrylic pieces is also confrontational. The resulting images are seductive, powerful, and strangely disquieting.”
Carter worked in watercolor exclusively for the first 10 years of her career, but now works in both watercolor and acrylic.
“My goal is to create work that has an intimacy, mysteriousness and sensuality,” she said. “At its best, my work also has an edge; something in it that takes a moment, a second look, an effort to comprehend.”