My love of the landscape and the natural environment are so imprinted on my subconscious that I am hardly aware of it most of the time. Having grown up on a farm and having studied the natural sciences in college, I guess it is not surprising that my love for the landscape and environment runs deep. And it comes out clearly in my art.  I am continually inspired by the age and complexity of the world and the interrelationship between elements in the landscape. I think about these relationships in both a compositional sense – how the shapes and colors interact- as well as in a natural sense – how the elements might depend on one another for their sustenance and survival.

As a surrealist, I allow my paintings to evolve. I begin by getting something onto the blank surface that can eventually be composed into a picture.  Sometimes I work entirely from my imagination, sometimes from an actual site, a farm for instance, inspires me, and I will take the essence of the view, if not the details, and create a painting.  The first concrete element in most of my compositions will be a horizon line and from there anything can happen.  Colors will change, shapes will be embellished, texture will be brought in, until each element in the painting has individual depth and character and the real world is left behind.

This painting, Cooper Barn, is of the farm in the Berkshires where Carrie grew up.

“As I paint, I find I am pulled more to the surreal and imaginary and am less interested in representing the world as we actually see it.  I find there is humor, wonder and hopefulness in our natural world and those things are more likely to rise to the surface the less I try to paint what is obvious to the eye.”

To visit the farm where Carrie grew up visit the
To learn more about visiting Holiday Farm, the farm where Carrie grew up, click here. web site.