Carolyn Hardy’s lifelong passion for art began as a child when she watched her artist mother paint. She tapped into her creative passion and imagination to embrace Surrealism early on, selling her artwork in high school and holding her first exhibit, “Carolyn Hardy Surrealist Artist,” at age 18.
Carolyn explains that Surrealism “speaks using the symbolic language of the subconscious and dreams…capturing the spiritual and underlying emotional currents that flow through waking life.” She said she paints the soul and surrounding life-forces of her subjects.
Known for her whimsical, dynamic, and adventurous creations in several mediums, especially acrylic, Carolyn is a true artistic inventor. She allows stream on consciousness to guide her paintings, often working on as many as 20 paintings at once! Carolyn notes, “I simply paint whatever I feel like painting.”
Her studio painting involves involves building up paint layers from expressive backgrounds to small finishing details that let the underlying colours shine through. On any day in Carolyn’s studio, every available surface may be covered with paintings of all shapes and sizes, in various stages of layering.
More recently, Carolyn has added Plein Air Painting (painting outside as the light evolves). Ever the surrealist inventor, she explains, “[My work is] slightly different from a picture perfect replica; the energy of the day and the soul of the image shines through.”
She continues, “I usually do three consecutive paintings in a sitting. I switch angles to capture different views, usually focusing in on a particular image for each different painting.”
Carolyn estimates she has sold more than 700 paintings, and her inventive Surrealism thrills patrons across North America. Her work in public and private venues includes murals in Essex County and Pelee Island, Ontario.
(Check out the Butterfly Bench on Queen Street in Kingsville, Ontario, and “Welcome to the Heart of Lake Erie” on the West Dock, Pelee Island.)
She is an active member of the Arts Society of Kingsville where she has delighted in interacting with other local artists.
Carolyn’s overall wish is that “[Each of you] find some artwork to enlighten your space and remind you of the magic of life!”
To learn more about Carolyn’s body of work, contact her at www.carolynhardysurrealism.com or search Carolyn Hardy Surrealist Artist on Facebook.
Photos provided by Carolyn Hardy