Carolyn Lord Biography
Carolyn Lord (1956 - ) Southern California native Carolyn Lord was introduced to the “California Regionalist Watercolor” tradition by James Green in the mid 1970’s while attending Principia College, in Elsah, Illinois. During college she also attended watercolor workshops with Rex Brandt, George Post, and Robert E. Wood.
Two months after college graduation in 1978, Lord had her first solo show at the Maybeck Gallery, Elsah Illinois. The following month, she began exhibiting in Carmel, California, at the Fireside Gallery alongside watercolorists Millard Sheets, Tom Hill, Tom Nicolas, and Gerald Brommer. Lord attended a two week watercolor workshop by Millard Sheets in 1979. In 1983, Millard Sheets recommended Lord’s work to his son David and daughter-in-law, Susan, who were opening the Stary-Sheets Fine Arts, Gualala, California.
Lord’s association with Fireside Gallery and Stary-Sheets Gallery provided the foundation to the relationships that continue to form her career, such as: Paul and Susan Bingham and The Thunderbird Foundation, Micheal and Nick Johnson of California Watercolor, George Stern Fine Arts, Calabi Gallery, Knowlton Gallery, Nancy Dodds Gallery, and the California Art Club.
Extensive travel in college and during Lord’s early-career capitalized on watercolor’s portability. There were road trips in California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado as well as international trips to Brasil, Italy, Denmark, England, US and British Virgin Islands, Mexico, and French Polynesia. Lord’s mid-career work has primarily focused on her home state of California: the landscape, architecture, and gardens.
Watercolor society shows provided opportunities to exhibit throughout the United States. Highlights include: National Watercolor Society; California Watercolor Association; Watercolor West; San Diego Watercolor Society; Arizona Aqueous; Oregon Watercolor Society; Rocky Mountain National; Watercolor USA; Andirondack National Exhibition of American Watercolors; Watercolor Art Society-Houston; Red River Watercolor Society, and others.
Lord’s work was first profiled in 1983 on the ‘Watercolor Page’ in American Artist Magazine, followed by articles in Watercolor Magazine; Watercolor Magic; USArt; Southwest Art; and Plein Air.
Watercolor defines Lord’s professional career while pursuing other aspects of art: Studies at the San Francisco Tapestry Workshop and Bay Area Classic Artists Atelier; oil painting; poster designs for Livermore Valley Opera; Art teacher to middle-school boys at the Pacific Boychoir Academy; hand painted glazed ceramic tiles for kitchen and hearth installations; painted theater stage sets; taught figure drawing fundamentals to adults; quilting and embroidery; and by tending her garden she grows her own subject matter for painting.
Interview with Carolyn Lord, by Savvy Painter
2012
"California Gold Medal Exhibition", Autry Museum, Los Angeles, CA
"California Venacular", "Down by the Bay", "One Random Day" Knowlton Gallery, Lodi, CA
California Art Club Newsletter, article by Molly Siple
Southwest Art Magazine, April issue, Portfolio of Watercolor Artists
2011
"California Light: A Century of Landscapes, Paintings of the California Art Club" Rizzoli International
"Spendor: Paintings of Tejon Ranch", Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA
"Wildflowers", "Classic California Watercolors", Knowlton Gallery, Lodi, CA
"Best of Show", Judge Libby Tolley, San Luis Obispo Plein Air, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
2010
Semi-finalist, American Artist Magazine Cover Competition, summer issue "California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition", Pasadena Museum of California Art Maynard Dixon Country Exhibition, Mount Carmel, UT "A Bevy of Brushes", Artist's Magazine, November issue
2009
"Best of Show", Judge Kevin Macpherson, Santa Cruz Statewide Exhibition, Santa Cruz, CA
"California Landscapes and Legacy", Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT Maynard Dixon Country, Mount Carmel, UT Red River Watercolor Society, Fargo, ND
2008
"Best of Studio", judge Jean Stern,Torrey Pines Plein Air Invitational, La Jolla, CA "California Statewide Painting Exhibition", Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA "Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors", Art Center of Old Forge, Old Forge, NY "Women Artists Paint Yosemite", Knowlton Gallery, Lodi, CA
2007
"Statewide Watercolor Exhibition", "Watercolor: Bay Area Focus", Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA "Northern California Views", Napa Museum, Yountville, CA California Art Club Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, CA National Watercolor Society, Brea, CA, Traveling Exhibition
2006
Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational, Laguna Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA "Composition and Color", Artist's Magazine, July/August issue Maynard Dixon Country, Mount Carmel, UT Watercolor West Open Exhibition, Brea, CA
2005
"Arizona Aqueous", Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ Carmel Plein Air Painting Festival, Carmel, CA Maynard Dixon Country, Mount Carmel, UT "Best Advice", Watercolor Magic Magazine, winter issue
2004
"Garden to Gallery" Olive Hyde Art Center, Fremont, CA "California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition", Pasadena Museum of CAlifornia Art, Pasadena, CA Maynard Dixon Country, Mount Carmel, UT Carmel Plein Air Painting Festival, Carmel, CA
2003
Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational, Laguna Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA "Watercolor USA", Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, MO Maynard Dixon Country, Mount Carmel, UT Carmel Plein Air Painting Festival, Carmel, CA
2002
San Luis Obispo Plein Air, Inagural year
Expressions West, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR
California Statewide Watercolor Exhibition, Triton Musuem, Santa Clara, CA
Arizona Aqueous, Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ
2001
"The Art of Illusion", Millard Sheets Gallery at the L.A. County Fair Grounds, Pomona, CA
"Masters of Watercolor" Pogan Gallery, Tahoe City, CA
Carmel Plein Air Painting Festival, Carmel, CA
"Spring Salon" California Art Club, West Hollywood
2000
Maynard Dixon Country, Mount Carmel, UT
Watercolor USA Honor Society, AL
Adirondacks National Exhibition American Watercolors, Old Forge, NY
Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Golden CO
1999
Maynard Dixon Country, Mount Carmel, UT; Inagural year
Cover artist, "Special Report: Brushes", Watercolor Magic Magazine, Spring
Adobe Art Center, Castro Valley, CA
"The Green Corner" Thompson Gallery, Livermore, CA
1998
Watercolor West
"Watercolor Biennial", Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Northwest Watercolor Society
1997
Solo Show, Stary-Sheets Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
1996
"Watercolor USA", Springfield Museum, MO
"The Importance of the Figure", Stephen Doherty, Watercolor Magazine, Fall
Watercolor West
"Watercolor Biennial", Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
1995
Solo Show, Banaker Gallery, San Francisco, CA
California Watercolor Association
Watercolor USA Honor Society, Springfield Museum, MO
1994
"Face of America: Contemporary Portraits" Art Center, Old Forge, NY
"Watercolor Biennial", Triton Musuem, Santa Clara, CA
Watercolor Art Society-Houston
Watercolor West
1993
Solo Show, Banaker Gallery, San Francisco, CA
National Watercolor Society
San Diego Watercolor Society
Watercolor USA Honor Society, Salt Lake City, UT
1992
Solo Show, Stary-Sheets Fine Art, Irvine, CA
"Gardens Real and Imagined", Sun Gallery, Hayward, CA
"Earthlings Captured in Art", Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ
"Watercolor Biennial", inagural show, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
1991
Solo Show, Fireside Gallery, Carmel, CA
"Paper, Clay, and Silk" Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, CA
"4 x 4", Larry Evans Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
"21 Women Artists", Principia College, Elsah, IL
1990
Solo Show, Stary Sheets Fine Art, Irvine, CA
Solo Show, Ojai Gallery and Design Studio, Ojai, CA
Solo Show, Northeastern Nevada Musuem, Elko, NV
Adirondack National Exhibition of American Watercolors
1989
Solo Show, Fireside Gallery, Carmel, CA
Cover article "U.S.Art Magazine", Jan/Feb issue
Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Art Center at Old Forge, NY
California Watercolor Association
1988
Northern California Plein Air, San Jose Musuem of Art
Solo Show, Stary-Sheets Fine Art, Gualala, CA
"Watercolor USA", Springfield Museum, MO, juror Keith Crown
National Watercolor Society
1987
Solo Show, Fireside Gallery, Carmel, CA
Solo Show, Amador-Livermore Historical Society Museum, Pleasanton, CA
National Watercolor Society
Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Art Center at Old Forge, NY
1986
Solo Show, Stary-Sheets Fine Art, Gualala, CA
Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Art Center at Old Forge, NY
Midwest Watercolor Society
Semi-finalist, Floral Competition, The Artist's Magazine, December issue
1985
Solo Show, Fireside Gallery, Carmel, CA
Solo Show, Northeastern Nevada Musuem, Elko, NV
"Art and the Law", West Publishing Group, St Paul, MN
Watercolor Art Society-Houston, TX
1984
Solo Show, Stary-Sheets Fine Art, Gualala, CA
Solo Show, Fireside Gallery, Carmel, CA
San Diego Watercolor Society
Midwest Watercolor Society
1983
Solo Show, Fireside Gallery, Carmel, CA
"Watercolor Page", American Artist Magazine, October issue
National Watercolor Society, Palm Springs, Traveling Exhibition
Rocky Mountain National Watercolor, Golden, CO
1982
Brand Watermedia, Glendale, CA
West Coast Watercolor Society
Allied Artists of America, Merit Award
Catherine Lorrilard Wolfe, Merit Award
1981
Solo Show, Fireside Gallery, Carmel, CA
Watercolor West, Strathmore Paper Award
California Watercolor Association
1980
Solo Show, Fireside Gallery, Carmel, CA
San Bernardino Fine Art Institute, Honorable Mention
Watercolor West, Second Place
California Watercolor Association
1979
Watercolor West, Riverside, CA, Caro Eaton Award
Brand Watermedia, Glendale, CA, judges Millard Sheets, Gerald Brommer
San Bernardino Fine Art Institute, CA
Santa Paula, CA
1978
Principa College, BA in Studio Arts, Elsah, IL
Solo Show, Maybeck Gallery, Elsah, IL
San Bernardino Fine Art Institute, CA
Long Beach Art Association, Honorable Mention
1977
Malibu Arts Festival, Malibu, CA
Biographical information:
Interview with Carolyn Lord, 2012
California Watercolor