‘Art and nature are so intrinsic in my life that the two just come together’ Caroline tells me. There is a clear passion in her voice here as we sit and discuss her art works over video chat (I used to hate Microsoft Teams meetings when I worked in an office, though now that it allows me to connect with artists across the country, I don’t think it’s that bad after all!). For growing up in Birmingham as a child, Caroline had little access to the countryside and would often relish summer weekends away with her family when she could escape the noise and cluster of the city. Yet these childhood feelings still underlie the very ethos of her art today; constituting a therapeutic remedy which is conveyed through each of her Cyanotype works – a peaceful escape.
It’s easy to think of an artist as someone who found a passion for say sculpting or pottery from a young age and then proceeded to continue upon that course. Yet as Art Etcetera opens its tenth edition, and after interviewing a great variety of artists, this mag believes that this perception is far too simplistic. This is because an artist’s chosen art form is nearly always just the tip the iceberg for what is often a plethora of different interests, passions, and other art forms; something which primarily stems from the fact that so many artists find themselves doing different things before then returning to the subject. As touched upon in the last edition and as expressed by the interviewees themselves for instance; the bulk of artists aren’t encouraged to be full-time artists once they enter the world of work, nor do they think such a career path is even feasible or perhaps even a ‘career’ at all. Such was the case for Caroline, who, whilst she was an aspiring artist, felt that she needed a ‘real’ back-up degree and so decided to study Psychology as well as Art at University. Whilst there, like most art students, she tried her hand at a few mediums, such as painting and photography, yet she soon found that her artistic path was being directed by that of another interest she harnessed – botany.
