Retrospective: 60 years Painting
When she was 10 years old, Carole Knudson Tinsley won a blue ribbon at the Sangamon (Illinois) County Fair for an ink drawing of a little girl. Six decades later, her artwork has developed from that “realistic” work to expressionistic to “imaginative abstraction.”
The public can follow that journey when they visit her latest exhibition, “Past to Present: Retrospective: 60 years Painting,” March 8 through April 30 in the Solomon Gallery of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg. An artist’s talk will be held on March 17 and a gallery reception will be held April 21.
The exhibition relates to Tinsley’s paintings from when she became a “serious painter” to the present, with examples of studies and paintings expressing her development through the years. “Interests earlier were of more realistic subjects, but later I became interested in abstracting my compositions,” she says. “Many works will reflect my interest in ancient cultures, especially Native Americans characteristics of their dwellings. One will observe earlier works
were created with oils, then went to watercolors. Presently I paint with acrylics and mixed media collage.”
Tinsley continues, “I paint in an impressionistic, expressionistic or abstract manner. I strive to be a good shape-maker of whatever subject I am interpreting. The subject could be reactions and feelings that I may have at a particular time. I am most often inspired by the mysteries and spirits of ancient cultures and their surroundings that influenced their lives. If so, the images may offer only fragments of those subjects or cultures. My creative journey, while painting rhythmically with values of color and textures, involves many layers before the finished painting finally emerges.
“I hope to draw the viewers’ imaginations and interpretations closer to these works and instill a continuing spiritual experience,” she adds. “I hope the public can relate or reminisce with some of the works. For example, my farmhouse where I grew up in the Midwest. I hope to draw the viewers imagination in – to interpret these works and instill in them a meaningful experience.”
The more than 45 pieces in the exhibition will be offered for sale, with prices ranging from $300 to $2,800; several paintings are owned by a collector or are in the artist’s collection and will not be for sale.
Tinsley, who has a degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, has done post-graduate studies in art in Michigan, Virginia and South Carolina. She also has attended many workshops with nationally known artists. Tinsley taught art at Seneca (S.C.) Junior High School as well as privately in Pendleton, S.C. She is a member in excellence in the South Carolina Watermedia Society. She has exhibited widely in juried shows and other shows regionally and nationally, winning many awards. She has been featured in numerous publications. Some of her paintings have been purchased by the University of South Carolina Medical College-Greenville Campus and some pieces are included in collections of Pickens County Museum, Blue Ridge Arts Council and Tri-County Tech College. Her works are in private and corporate collections around the U.S. and a number of other countries.
