Art & Life with Carolina McCall

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolina McCall.

Carolina, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I have always drawn and painted, depicting people in their various situations and activities. Today I work primarily in oils. I love the quality of oils, the vivid colors and sensuous and pliable aspects of oil paints. I have been painting in oils since I was ten. I characterize myself as a figurative oil painter. For my art, I acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, University of Texas at Austin, 1968.

I also study peoples and cultures. I am a Sociologist with a Ph.D. in Human Service Studies from Cornell University (1985). Loving different cultures so much, I have traveled extensively, especially in Latin America (Mexico and Guatemala) and in Europe (Spain, France and Morocco). Lately I have been painting a series of oils about Maya peoples, primarily in Guatemala. I am loving painting with the vivid palette of their weavings and embroidery.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am a figure painter who works in oils. I love to paint people in their natural situations, such as in their families, works and community activities. I love to depict the interactions among people. Sometimes they might be related in a family and sometimes united in a unique culture or particular activity.

I like to visit different peoples in their own places. While I am there I draw and take lots of reference photographs (to remember details of their cultures and lives). I paint my pictures in my studio. There I use all the drawings and photos I have collected to construct scenes that I believe portray well my subjects.

I hope viewers become fascinated by the peoples and cultures that I paint. Our world is so varied and truly wonderful, I want my art to inspire people to live deeply in our world and enjoy its vivid colors and peoples.

How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
I define my success with how I feel painting and celebrating the peoples that have fascinated me. I feel wonderful in this type of painting. When I do it well, I feel great happiness and, I suppose, success. That degree of involvement and ultimate satisfaction from doing good art work is, to me, the ultimate reward. It is also, of course, wonderful to have others view my work and tell me about how it affects them and helps them to feel,

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
People can best see my work on my website: www.carolinamccall.com. Sometimes I participate in exhibitions, solo or group ones, here in Santa Cruz. I have a large painting of Maya hanging now in the Children’s Hospital in Fresno, CA, and I have a large painting that I am finishing now, that is slated to be hung when finished in the new Lucile Packard Hospital in Palo Alto CA.

Contact Info:

• Address: Santa Cruz CA
• Website: www.carolinamccall.com
• Phone: 408-458-0615
• Email: caro@jeffnet.org
• Facebook: Carolina McCall, and Carolina McCall Fine Art, on Facebook
• Twitter: carolinamccall

24 x 30 inches, in oil, titled: Going to Market at Zuni

Image Credit:
Main photo: Sharon Hall

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