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April Issue 2004
Piazza Gallery in Mt. Pleasant, SC, Features Works by Nancy Carlson
The Piazza Gallery Art & Framing in Mt.
Pleasant, SC, will feature the original oils of Nancy Carlson,
a Mount Pleasant resident, from Apr. 1 - 30, 2004.
In 1975, Carlson took up painting as a way to maintain her sanity.
She had two teenage daughters at home, a full time job, and the
care of her ailing husband, who was afflicted with cancer and
spending his last days at home. Carlson had always wanted to paint
and set up a small studio on the back porch. While her daughters
cared for their father, she escaped for a few hours each weekend
to paint.
Many years later, Carlson attended a Kiwanis Convention in New
Orleans with her second husband. She wandered into an art gallery
exhibiting works by an artist who worked only with palette knife.
"It was like Saul on the road to Damascus. I knew I wanted
to paint with palette knives! It was an epiphany for me,"
says Carlson. A few years ago, her husband Gilbert Carlson gave
her a set of palette knives for Christmas. Says Carlson, "I
never needed anything, so buying a gift for me was a real chore.
Those palette knives are my most prized possession. They range
in size from four inches wide down to a piece of wire. I can paint
anything with them."
Carlson has never taken art lessons and is entirely self-taught.
"I work from photographs, often combining the colors and
subjects of two or three photographs to get just the picture I
want on canvas. I work exclusively in oils, with palette knives
and with my colors straight from the tube. I never dilute my colors
and only blend colors directly on the canvas. It gives my pictures
the vibrancy and intensity that I am striving for," says
Carlson. "The most interesting subject I ever painted was
of Natural Bridge, Virginia. My husband had taken a photo of the
bridge and I was able to improvise and get just the look I wanted
for this rather unique rock formation. It was certainly the biggest
picture I had painted up to that point. It proved to be quite
a challenge to turn a small photo into a large canvas."
"I love to paint landscapes and occasionally,
I'll paint a still life. I just love nature and it is great to
get out and photograph the world and really appreciate all the
natural beauty around us. I tried painting outdoors, but it never
worked out. Either I had sand blowing onto the canvas, or it would
rain or people would come by and make uninvited, critical comments.
Now I just take all my photos, create a picture in my head, and
put it on canvas. It brings me great joy," says Carlson.
Carlson is the recipient of various awards, and has shown her
work in Illinois and Tennessee. She won best of show at the County
Fair in Newport, TN.
For further info check our SC Commercial Gallery listings,
call the gallery at 843/971-5005 or at (www.pizzagallery.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.