+1 ::: Why are you an artist Caroline?

I have always made images and expressed myself visually, but had no conscious intention of becoming a painter. Then in my early Thirties, I visited a gallery and was angry with myself for the next three weeks. I eventually realized that I would have to paint. I was scared to, because it requires honesty, a loss of control to some degree, and no doubt criticism from within and without.

+2 ::: Could you tell us some more about your paintings?

I love abstract work such as Richard Diebenkorn's but my course seems to revolve around the human form, as the container of the senses and the measure of things. I bring out what is inside and it acts on me in reverse as I'm often not conscious of why a certain image is important to me. I don't work in a trance, I just try to follow an impulse, it's a good sign. I avoid the intellectual component. The writings of C.G.Jung are a good scholarly explanation of what I'm talking about here.

+3 ::: Do you think that not having training as an artist has been an advantage or disadvantage for you?

Who knows? You can't live both ways and then compare which would be better. I suspect that I was better left alone (others have said that!) I suppose we all have to make what we can of ourselves and our work, whatever the circumstances. No one can do it for you.

+4 ::: What artists have influenced you, and how?

I'm not saying it shows, but I love
Susan Rothenberg for her simple emotional impact
Marlene Dumas, again for her powerful simplicity
John Olsen for his playful lyricism
Gary Shead for his figurative poetry
Paul Klee for his simple and strange beauty
Charles Blackman because his works were the first I saw that expressed the inner world.
I wasn't exposed to much art before my Twenties, but now I could make this list very long!

+5 ::: What other interests do you have (besides painting)?

I like to read, be with my family, go for walks, travel (wish I could do more). I have an interest in boats, woodwork, music, animals and Medieval religion and philosophy.

+6 ::: What inspires you to paint and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

I'm not sure what I could accomplish in my life if I did not try to create something concrete. Forming something outside helps form something inside. Like someone said to me recently, "If you are given a gift, however meagre, you don't give it back". I like that. Things are generally tough in the studio, that's why I have to keep at it.

+7 ::: How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

At first I was very naive, but nothing happens fast when you paint, so I had plenty of time to learn. My husband is a big help, he reads all he can on the subject and I've had simple advice from good sources. Of course it's in the lap of the gods in the end.

+8 ::: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I hope I will be traveling,. I also hope to have achieved a visual language that makes direct use of my life's experiences.

+9 ::: Could you talk about your latest series of paintings and what you are trying to achieve with them?

Currently, I'm trying to paint better. Yes! I'm being funny but unfortunately it's true too. I'd like to get a better relationship between my rhythmic line driven sketches, color and paint quality. As well, I am trying to resolve the quandaries of a purely imagined world versus the world I live in right now. Confused? same here.

+10 ::: What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?

That would depend on the aims and abilities the artist. You must ultimately be guided from within. If you are, then a lot of the crap that WILL come your way, will be water off a duck's back.