Caroline Reid — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Biography

Caroline Reid is an emerging contemporary landscape artist who lives and works in Canberra, Australia, a rugged semi-alpine area hemmed in by mountain ranges to the west and east, and the Snowy Mountains to the south.

Her love of the landscape surrounding her home where she rambles with her dogs, sometimes painting out of doors when the semi- Alpine climate permits, infuses her paintings with respect, wonder and reverence for the natural world. Caroline has shown her work at a number of local galleries and has recently been selected to take up an artist residency at Chateau Orquevaux in France.
Prizes
Merit award- Canberra Art Workshop 2018
First prize in pastel - Artists Society of Canberra 2020
Third prize in pastel - Queanbeyan Art Society 2020
Exhibitions
"Gaia - The Origin" 2021, MADS Gallery, Milan
‘Les Pastellistes' juried international exhibition 2020
‘Barely There”, Kyeema Gallery, Canberra 2018
’Time and Space’, Fyre Gallery Braidwood, 2019
Queanbeyan Art Society Miniatures, 2020
QPRS Annual Exhibition, Queanbeyan, 2020
‘Grounded’, Helen Stephen’s Gallery, Collector, 2020
‘Terranum’, Kyeema Gallery Braidwood, 2021

Artist Statement

"I create beautiful landscape paintings that bring you feelings of wonder, calm and the joy of seeing the world once again with childlike unquestioning eyes."

What first prompted you to think of becoming an artist?

It all started with ants! At the age of four or five, I clearly remember lying on my belly in hot sandy dirt in the bush up the hill on our property. I was watching with utter fascination and wonder hundreds of red bull ants scurrying around with great determination and concentration working on their underground city. I watched as worker couples met and gesticulated mysteriously with their stick-like legs, others labouring down tunnels carrying twigs and leaf bits in their mouths. Others were lumbering up from below with massive lumps of wet dirt (where did the water come from?) which I imagined was some kind of construction cement. I remember really wanting to know what went on down below in the earth, rudely poking around with a stick to see where the holes went and feeling bad when the ants popped out angrily with concern about damage to their home. Time stopped as I experienced the ant world. I raced home when a bull ant bit my big toe. While Mum patched me up, I could not stop raving excitedly about the ants, and the dirt and the mysterious workings underground. Mum said 'draw it for me to stop me yabbering endlessly. Magic. So I drew a horizontal line, some wriggly tunnels, dozens of stick-like ant people, balls of dirt, eggs and baby ants curled up down the bottom in secret chambers. Ever since I have been fascinated and deeply connected with the land and wanting to paint the feeling of wonder it gives me. Being in the land also makes me feel safe and calm. When I paint, I can continue feeling what I felt when I was out of doors with the land, and I can transmit that feeling of wonder, safety and peace to my collectors.

What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?

I am a landscape artist.

What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer through your work?

My paintings aim to bring the feelings, sensations and memories of cherished natural places into my collectors' lives. I aim to transmit my experience of simple childlike observation and wonder so that the viewer's constant nagging adult fear slips away leaving wonder, safety and peace in its place.

Can you explain the process of creating your work?

My soft pastel paintings are created on Pastelmat archival card, using a watercolour underpainting and two or three layers of pastel, starting from a drawing, establishing the darks, through blocking in the local colours and then finishing with highlights and fresh marks.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?

My favourite part of the creative process is the planning stage, including the taking of sketches and photos in beautiful locations, working out the composition and completing the watercolour underpainting.

Can you give us an insight into current projects and inspiration, or what we can look forward to from you in the near future?

I am currently working on two painting series - imaginary landscapes which are more abstracted for an exhibition called 'Abundance' at Fyre Gallery in Braidwood in October 2021, and regional landscapes for an exhibition called 'Terranum' at Kyeema Gallery, Canberra in December 2021.

Website CarolineReidArtist.com

Instagram @CarolineReidArtist

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CarolineReidArtist