CAROL WAY
4615 Melody Lane
Freeland, WA 98249
(360) 730-1135
cell (425) 359-6983
carol@wayartstudio.com
ARTIST’S STATEMENTS: STONE | WATERCOLOR
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE- Commissions, Contracts & Collaborations
FINE ART
• Seattle Metro Bus Shelter – Bellevue, WA –Worked with a design team to design and sandblast images of wetland insects, reptiles and animals onto double pained glass panels and painted similar images on treated wood panels. {2000,’01}
• Pacific Concrete – Auburn, WA – Created original designs and made molds to be cast in concrete by P. C. for wholesale distribution. Also developed final faux patina. {2000}
• Natural Creations – Seattle, WA – Designed prototype bowls in stone, made molds to be cast in concrete by N.C. for wholesale distribution. Also carved original stone sculpture did final faux patinas on finished reproductions. {1997-’99}
• Caiman Dig – Marshall H.S., Seattle, WA – Assisted design team in the installation of a large Alligator like construction in concrete, that is displayed in front of the school and now contains a garden. {1993}
COMMERCIAL ART
• Ixion Incorporated – Seattle, WA – Sculpted 3 life-sized female figures in clay, to be used as prototypes for medical training models. {1994,‘95}
• Moeller Design and Development – Seattle, WA – Developed and produced a prototype process for sculpting prosthetic feet, based on a life cast application. {1990 -‘91}
• Model and Instrument Development – Seattle, WA – Designed and sculpted models of prosthetic feet. Process included ensuring proper sizing so feet fit into commercially available shoes. Models built to rigid specifications. Product distributed internationally and has been displayed at the Museum of History and Industry in Paris. {1986 -‘90}
• Neo Toy – Kirkland, WA- Sculpt prototype toy models for commercial manufacturing. Work includes graphic layout and the sculpting of small monsters and other toy caricatures, in a variety of mediums. {1989 -’97}
• Dilettante Chocolates – Seattle, WA – Designed patterns for chocolate molds and created graphic work for the acid etched prototypes. {1990}
• Dale Mali & Co. – New York, NY – Helped create a full-sized replica of New York’s Grand Central Station. {1986}
• Manhattan Model Makers – New York, NY – Assisted in the design and fabrication of miniature and oversized props, models, sets, prototypes, three-dimensional logos, graphics, and special effects for use in advertising. Work was published in Time, Newsweek, Scientific American, The New York Times and N.Y.T. Magazine, AT&T Magazine, McGraw-Hill Magazine, Pro Review and The Black Book. {1984 – ‘86}
• Today Video – New York, NY- Created Styrofoam props for Karate Rap video. {1986}
• Hal Seeger Productions – New York, NY – Helped design and paint backgrounds and caricatures for animation in the production of “Cartoon-a-torial,” a nationally syndicated, animated political cartoon short. Series received a Peabody Award and was honored in Variety Magazine. {1978 -‘79 }
TEACHING
Art As A Way – Way Art Studio, Freeland, WA – Art As A Way is a creative commons located in Freeland, Washington at my studio, where students of all ages and abilities come together to create art. Most of our young adult students live their lives through the lens of a disability. They make drawings and ceramic pieces and sometimes custom pinatas for each other’s birthdays. We also do Touch Drawing. All of the students have entered their work in the Island County Fair and have all been awarded blue ribbons. We have also participated in the Second Street Market in Langley { 2012 – 2015}. We displayed and sold the student’s ceramics, cards and prints. We have also demonstrated Touch Drawing there and invited the public to join in. We also participated in the Whidbey Island Festival of the Arts {2012 – 2015}
{2006-present}
• Way Art Studio – Freeland, Whidbey Island, WA – Teaching kids from kindergarten through twelfth grades sculptural skills, using professional tools, with an emphasis on enhancing their intrinsic creativity and self esteem. Also an independent fine art business that involves carving stone sculptures, taking molds from them, then making multiples in ceramics or cement. Other aspects of the business include making models, prototypes and molds on a freelance basis. I also paint realistic watercolors and have limited edition Giclee prints and cards. {2001 -2016}
• South Whidbey School District – Langley, WA – Para-educator in the Special Education Department, specializing in teaching children in SPED how to find success in art classes. {2002 -‘12}
• Artist in Residence at Bagley Elementary School – Taught 200 children to make dimensional clay tiles. Built a wall out of cement and mounted the tiles for an outdoor classroom. {1995}
• Instructional Assistant at Adams Elementary – Developed and taught an after school art program. Assisted the artist in residence on four bus mural projects. {1991,’92,’93}
• Perkins Elementary Day Care Center – Seattle, WA – Taught art too first through fifth graders. {1991,’92}
• Expanding Your Horizons Career Conference – Seattle, WA – volunteer workshop presenter at a conference for sixth to ninth grade girls, put on by the American Association of University Women. {1991,’92}
• NWSSA International Stone Carving Symposium – WA & Vancouver Island British Columbia – Faculty – Taught stone carving, raku, and mold making workshops. {1994 -‘96}
GALLERIES
• Great Western Gallery – Sedona, AZ {2005}
• Artist’s Cooperative – Langley, Whidbey Island, WA – {2004 ‘05}
• Art on the Avenues Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit – Wenatchee, WA – {1997, ’98, ’99}
• Museo Gallery – Langley, WA – {1997,’99}
• Artifacts Gallery – Eastsound, WA – {1997-‘99}
• High Spirits Gallery -Wenatchee, WA – {1996}
• History of the World Gallery – Camano Is., WA – {1997,’98,’99}
• Estate Interiors – Bellevue, WA – {1999}
• The Gallery Mack – Seattle, WA – {1991}
• Sunburst Gallery -Lake Chelan, WA – {1996,’97}
• Gallery One – Ellensberg, WA – {1997}
• Adam East Museum & Art Center – Moses Lake, WA – {1996}
• Souvenirs of the Soul Gallery – Stanwood, WA – {1996}
• Sleeping Bear Gallery – Sun Valley, ID- {1996}
• Artisans Resource – Scottsdale, AZ – {1996}
• Moss Bay Gallery – Kirkland, WA – Solo Show {1995}
• Seattle Design Center – Seattle, WA – NWSSA Juried Show {1992}
• The NW Flower & Garden Show – Seattle – NWSSA juried shows, {‘92,’93,’97,’98}
• Fremont Fine Arts Gallery – Seattle, WA – NWSSA group shows {1991,’92}
• Arts Council of Snohomish County – Everett, WA – NWSSA Group show {1990}
CRAFT SHOWS
• Bayview’s Farmers Market – Whidbey Island, WA {2003 -‘04}
• Festival of the Arts – San Jose, CA {1996}
• Sedona Sculpture Walk – Sedona, AZ {1996}
• Anacortes Arts Festival – Anacortes, WA {1996}
• Kirkland Arts Center – Christmas Craft Show – Kirkland ,WA {1994}
• Bellevue Club Bazaar – Bellevue, WA {1995}
• 27th Sun Valley Arts and Crafts Festival – Sun Valley, ID {1995}
• 24th Kirkland Festival of the Arts – Kirkland Parkplace, WA {1995}
• Art Ala Carte – Tacoma, WA {1995}
• Fremont Fair – Seattle, WA {1995}
EDUCATION
• Intro. To Public Art and Design Team – Bellevue Community College – Two-year program designed to prepare artists to work in the public art arena. {1998-‘00}
• NWSSA International Stone Carving Symposium in WA & Vancouver Island British Columbia– Intensive two week stone carving workshops. {1989 -’99}
• Workshops – Brian Goldbloom, Vasily Fedorok, George Pratt, Myrna Orsini, Bill Dilley Foundry – Sculpture workshops in stone, clay and bronze. {1990 – 2004 } Robert Long – Watercolor – {1998 – ‘02}
• Fast Track – Small Business Development – SSCC – Certificated coursework in the development of a business plan. {1994}
• University of Washington – Extension Program and Experimental College- Seattle, WA-coursework in microcomputer skills, graphic design and drawing. {1988 -’90}
• Studio and Forum of Stage Design – New York City, NY – Scenic Design Class {1986}
• Philadelphia College of Art – Philadelphia, PA – B.F.A. in Sculpture – Philadelphia College of Art {1978}
Stone was my food; stone was my fuel; and stone has built the walls of my house.
Launched from a great fine-arts college, Philadelphia College of Art, with a BFA in sculpture, I went to work in the world. I painted animation backgrounds and made props and models for TV ads in New York City. I then moved to Seattle, where I built prosthetic feet and medical models and made prototypes for toys. Next I began carving stone.
Stone will absorb all one can give it, all the intensity, all the emotion and give back beauty. Passion inflicted on a stone reverberates.
I have been carving stone for 15 years. I’m inspired by nature and driven by instinct. From some pieces I take molds and cast them in bronze, concrete, and clay. Some I raku-fire.
In stone I can find expression not available elsewhere. This is particularly true of the fossil corals and brachiopods. These ocean-carved shapes took 450 million years to evolve, moved by tectonic plates and forged under the hammer of nature.
They’re magic lies just beneath the surface. I may live with a stone for many seasons before I see what it wants to be. Then it is like cloud watching, and the stone floats into being on a wave of water, diamonds and grit. The ultimate shape literally moves around inside the stone until it comes into focus.
One of my missions is to find the images I know are in the stone and bring them into being. I want to make them look as though they are just about to move at the slowest, almost imperceptible pace of life. They connect me to my earth and my soul and to the unending layers of life.
“You can see with the eyes of a rock. You first see a cold mist or fog. Then you capture a glimpse. You have to see that glimpse, stop it and then you can see what the rock sees. The eyes of a rock can skip out anywhere. They provide the gateway to the sacred maize. Rocks can show you what they will become…”
(Agnes Whistling Elk)
When I began to draw I was amazed to discover that pure intention focused on an idea, could bring a drawing or painting to life. To bring the present moment to the edge of movement falling into the next step, like tacit walking, gravity balancing presence. As a teenager, I was working on a drawing late one evening. I was so drawn into the creative process that I actually experienced a vision of physical movement by one of the figures in the drawing. She reached for me. Frightened, I pulled back. Stillness regained control, but I knew I’d experienced something different and altered, but very special. The experience had a very seductive, other dimensional quality to it and shook me to the core and had a profound and religious affect on me. It influences me to this day. I feel that I always try to reach that state of consciousness, deep within my creative process. Where there is a suspension of time that reflects the real time beyond the borders of the here and now, to what will be. There is a magic there that I long for. I try to create the fluidity of a suspended movement. When you hold your breath to suspend a moment on an edge. A frozen movement about to be released. If you can lead the mind to complete that motion you’ve succeeded in bringing that image to life. You also have to make sure that there is nothing in the way of that directive, no visual distractions. I always try to push to edge of the light. I clearly feel that I am in place of heightened awareness when I am working.
Robert Long reintroduced me to watercolor, in 1999. I learned about leaving the white of the paper to represent the brightest white light of your image. It always seemed to remind me of the old Quaker adage, “…in remembrance of the light….” That idea connects my Quaker heritage and their search for the light within to my search for the creative light. Leaving the light on creates dimension and depth and a unique reality.
When I carved stone it taught me look harder and see more. Polishing out the finest almost imperceptible scratches. I think that intense process has helped me to see my paintings and drawings more clearly. The paintings became a release for me from the intensity of the stone carving and balances me.