Carol Mell - I grew up in wild Oregon, descended from 49ers, schoolteachers, engineers, painters and photographers. My summers were spent by the ocean and in a gold mining ghost town where trees, sturgeon, squirrels, and whales all spoke to me about belonging and connection.
I still like to play outside where nature finds its way into my paintings. Working in beeswax and oils, I build up texture and material until figures and forms emerge, drawn out by touch and intuition. It’s a physical practice, full of scraping, layering, hiding and revealing, always in search of the place where spirit and nature meet.
I have sojourned for decades in the Southwest as my creative path wandered through choreography, writing, and photography before settling into painting — though I think of them all as the same conversation, just spoken in different languages usually with a touch of humor for spice.