PaintingsDIRECT:
Many of your artworks appear to tell of an earlier age, one of elegance in costume, situation and manner. What period does this represent, and how is this special to you?
Carole Orr:
While painting "youthful figures", they seem to have a life of their own as they emerge onto the canvas, as in my work Dreamscape. They can become so real that at times I feel I need to ask permission to put a hat on their head. The "Maternal figure of the Muses" whose name is "Memory" helps along the way triggering ideas of the past and present. I grew up in a home where the creative juices flowed. The painting Radio Days represents how I felt listening to a 1940's story (soap opera) my Mother (the author) had written for radio. Memories intertwined the music and words of poetry she wrote which still influence my compositions on paper and canvas today.
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Two Cups of Tea and One Margarita (1995)
Carole Orr
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Repertoire (1993)
Carole Orr
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PaintingsDIRECT:
There is a musical theme to many of your works. How are you influenced by music and other arts? Are you a musician yourself?
Carole Orr:
In the painting I titled Encore a profile of young girl with violin stands before a door opened to a balcony. As a youth, I would practice the violin next to an open window on the second floor of our home in Indianapolis. The whole neighborhood could hear how bad it must have sounded. But, I knew how it "felt" to play the violin. This painting reminds me of the time when, with my teacher’s advice, I gladly traded my violin for a drawing pad that he gave me. Never really learning to read music, my teacher would hear me play the tune on the white keys of the piano by ear. The drawing A World of Her Own depicts how I felt when alone at the piano doing my thing!
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PaintingsDIRECT: We have quite a number of your studies on PaintingsDIRECT. Do you always begin an artwork in this manner? Please explain the process you use when creating a new work.
Carole Orr:
At times I will use a drawing for inspiration before starting a painting on canvas. The drawing titled Prelude to the Doorway was the study for the finished painting The Doorway, in acrylic with elements of collage. The drawing titled Two Figures among the Waterlilies is another pencil on paper drawing which became a finished painting on canvas.
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Study for 'Spirit of the Hills' (2000)
Carole Orr
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Homage to Degas (2000)
Carole Orr
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PaintingsDIRECT:
You've indicated that you used to work in pastel and oil paint, but now work mostly with acrylic and collage. How has your work changed over time with the use of these different materials?
Carole Orr:
Another approach I use is when I start a composition over an underpainting of colors covering the surface of the canvas. This has become my favorite way of working with acrylics and collage. With the idea of working on the power of the center of the composition I aim to bend the corners to arrive at a feeling of movement and rhythm. Intuitively I let movement of color change and evolve. When I worked with oil paint my palette was usually monochromatic as in the painting The Welcome. I am challenged at times to consider returning to the oils for variety in completing a canvas. As oil will float on water the oil medium will also adhere to acrylic which is water based. This is a future possibility in my mixed-media work.
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Many of your artworks feature women with flowers? What does the combination of these images represent?
Carole Orr:
With my love of Art Nouveau I sometimes work the design of the flower and vines into my compositions. In the painting I titled Our Neighbors Garden I added the shadows to give an atmosphere of a paisley movement. The organic forms and curved lines remind me of the Yin and Yang symbol – harmony with nature.
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It Must Be Spring (1999)
Carole Orr
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Waterlilies Reflection (2004)
Carole Orr
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Of famous artists, living or deceased, who have most influenced your work?
Carole Orr:
In the painting I titled Celestial Magic I recognize the inspiration of one of my favorite famous artists, J. W. Waterhouse. I have always enjoyed looking at his painterly studies with the elements of water and wind. His 'studies' to me as a painter are so much more
inspiring than his finished canvases. This atmosphere is what I tried to bring into my water lily series. Each canvas in this series was painted over an abstract of color and shapes before bringing the lilies into focus. I was also fortunate to study with the great illustrators out of Westport, Connecticut by way of the ‘Famous Artist correspondence course'. Studying with these illustrators of their day greatly influenced my subject matter.
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View more artworks by Carole Orr ...
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