I am an obsessive stitcher, hoarder of thread and chaser of light. I have led several lives, each with strings attached — avid art student, art teacher, university instructor, dollmaker, and designer. I developed many skills, but it was not until I was in my mid-fifties that I found my voice as an artist.
Growing up in Eastern North Carolina, the flat land and rural fields held no appeal to me. The women in my family, by necessity, were skilled seamstresses. Needle, thread and fabric were familiar comforts in my hands from an early age and became a means of grounding myself as an adult. The bones of my art were there from my beginning, unnoticed and unappreciated.
As an adult, I hovered around art, working in professions that touched on art and design that paid the bills. I lived in a state with a rich fine crafts heritage, sophisticated art venues, and excellent craft schools. I took opportunities to study, to create and to hone my skills, but still, I found no “voice,” no direction or vision.
And then one day…
I was standing on the edge of a wheat field in rural France. I stood still. I asked for nothing, strove for nothing, thought of nothing. It came unexpectedly — a joyous call that was both loud and quiet, in an unfamiliar place that was deeply familiar, a feeling intensely mysterious but that I clearly understood. It was everything and its opposite. I felt myself launch. I soared. I heard myself. On that day in July, 2004, I became an artist.
My work continues to involve aspects of that field, through pattern, repetition, detail, openness, expanse. In 2018, I moved to Colorado to be with my family and my beloved granddaughter. I had expected to find inspiration in the majestic mountains and moody skies. But so far, I find them unapproachable, harsh and hard. Instead, my spirit has attached itself with familiar intimacy to the wetlands of the San Luis Valley, where the earth is flat and the marsh is lush, green and infinitely stitchable. I am at home.
Champtoce-sur-Loire, France
Russell Lakes, Colorado
Carolyn Nelson | Resumé
Education:
BFA in Art Education, UNC-G, 1969
Master’s of Product Design/Visual Design, NCSU School of Design, 1973
Penland School of Crafts, 1979, 1987, 2002, 2011, 2013
Arrowmont School, 2015:
Director of Publications Design, Elon University (1987-2013)
Recipient of numerous Southeastern Regional and National CASE awards for excellence in design
Visual Design Instructor:
NCSU School of Design, 1974-76
UNC-Greensboro, 1977-79
A&T State University 1980
Visiting Artist:
Penland School of Crafts, Spring Concentration, March/April 2006
Juried member:
Artspace, Raleigh, NC
Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc , Winston Salem, NC
Southern Highlands Handicraft Guild 1980-1987, Asheville, NC.
Carolina Designer Craftsmen 1980-1987,
Exhibited:
ChaffeeArts Open Show, Buena Vista, CO 2019
Recipient first place fiber division
Recipient of business award
Salida Steam Plant, Salida, CO
Fiber Festival Art Exhibition, group show, 2018
Recipient first place People’s Choice award
Art Light & Design, Carrboro, NC
Stitch, group show, 2013
Grow, group show, 2014
Soft, 4-person show, 2015
Four Directions, 4-person show 2016
Metal, 2017
Greenhill Center for North Carolina Arts, Greensboro, NC
Wintershow, group show, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2016
It’s all about the Hue, 3-person show, 2016
Durham Arts Guild, Durham, NC
Annual Juried exhibition, 2015
National Center for the Humanities, Chapel Hill, NC.
Two-person show, 2014
Elon University. Elon, NC
Fabulous Fibers Biennial, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012
Time/Travel, three-person show 2014
Alamance Arts Council, Burlington, NC
Contemporary Textiles, 2007
Two-person show, 2014
Piedmont Craftsmen, Winston-Salem, NC
New Members Show, 2011
Global, 2012
Two-person show, 2013
Artspace, Raleigh, NC
New Works Show 2010
Embedded, Solo show 2011
Marked, Biennial three-person show 2011-12
Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, N.C.
Re-Constructed, three-person show, 2012
Gallery 115, Greensboro, NC
Two-person show, 2005
Three-person show, 2006
December Show 2007
December Show 2009
December Show 2011
Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC
Clay, Fiber, Wood, three-person show, 2008
Solo Show 2010
Wachovia, Greensboro, NC
Fiber show, 2008
Upstairs Gallery, Tryon, NC
Artists of the Cloth, 2006