Painter Carol Spaulding opens at Lake Street Studios

By Corin Blust
Sun contributor
Even though local oil and pastel painter Carol Spaulding has traveled all over, she still finds the rolling hills, sparkling water and colorful gardens of Leelanau County most intriguing. Spaulding is devoting her show at the Lake Street Studio’s Center Gallery from July 28-August 3 to the water, land and gardens of our local areas.
“The landscape is just so beautiful around here. I won’t be showing my out west Sierra Mountain paintings because I think they are not quite as interesting [to my local audience],” said Spaulding.

Most of the work that Spaulding plans to show at her upcoming opening is based on local landscapes or “more universal subjects like gardens.”
Spaulding’s passion truly is painting. After taking art classes in high school, Spaulding went on to study ceramics with a minor in fiber arts from Syracuse University. She has continued practicing art over the years despite becoming a busy mom and business owner. Carol and her husband Joe recently sold their business, Peace Pole Makers, and their children are now grown and out of the house.
“A lot of why I’ve been able to do this is because my children have grown up now, and we have passed on our business, so I have more time to focus on painting,” said Spaulding.
Having ample time to sketch and play with color has made Spaulding more enthusiastic about her art. Right now, she feels confident about the direction that her work is going and satisfied with the element of creativity that she is able to work into her natural scenes.
“I feel very psyched about painting. I know that this feeling of being inspired doesn’t last forever, there are transitions, but right now I feel like I’m doing good work. I’m not just doing the same thing over and over again. There’s some variety there,” she said.
Spaulding’s pastels dance with vibrant contrasts and interesting compositions while her oils are meditative and ethereal, though both use color to achieve their mood. Both media impart an emotional as well as visual impression on the viewer.
“I’m more interested in expressing a feeling than recording something and having it look like what it is,” said Spaulding. “I really love working with color and not sticking with just trying to put down the color that I was really seeing, to be a little more imaginative.”
As an artist, Spaulding observes the world around her with painting in mind, even when she isn’t directly in front of her easel. That way, she can draw her colors and moods from several different sources instead of just what is in front of her.
“I think that being an artist really tweaks one’s powers of observation. I feel like I’m looking at things more intensely, and sort of with a purpose, because I’m always thinking about responding and expressing something from what I’m seeing,” she said.
Despite the beauty and poignancy of her work, Spaulding is humble. She says it isn’t something that happens without a little elbow grease.
“I think it takes showing up at the page pretty regularly — there’s a lot of practice that goes into art making, at least for me,” she said.
Finding the time to practice is sometimes a difficult thing to master. Spaulding had a lot of fun with her series of garden scapes, evidenced by the bright colors and lively arrangement of the works. These paintings were inspired by Spaulding’s own garden. After becoming frustrated with not having enough time to pack up her supplies and go somewhere else to paint in un plein air, Spaulding decided to simply do it at her home.
“I try to be really efficient with getting my chores done, and last summer I didn’t have time to pack up and go somewhere and set up, so I just started working in the garden. And really, I’ve had such a great time,” she said.
Building on this spirit of multitasking, Spaulding’s Maple City home also includes a small gallery that can be visited by appointment. Call (231) 334-3377 for more information, or email her at ccspaulding@centurytel.net.