May Issue 2002
Carolina Creations in New Bern, NC, Features Works by Carol Tokarski
Kinston, NC, painter Carol Tokarski will be the featured artist at Carolina Creations from May 10 through June 30, 2002. Her show entitled Beneath the Leaves will be an exhibit of her recent oil paintings.
Tokarski graduated from Siena Heights University with a BFA in painting and spent the next twenty years working in arts administration in Michigan and the Carolinas, raising awareness for the arts and refining her own work.
In this show you'll see her big, expressive oil paintings of magnolia leaves & blossoms in Kinston, close ups of the gingkoes that surround Christ Episcopal Church in New Bern and palms that line southern shores.
When asked why trees and leaves are her favorite subject to paint she explains, "The one constant in my life has been a continued relationship with the family homeplace in Michigan."
She and her father would take long walks around the acreage always sharing the beauty of the different trees and admiring their individual qualities. Her large oil paintings implore the power and strength of nature, enhanced by expressive brush strokes and vibrant natural colors.
The way light shines through some leaves and doesn't through others, the patterns of the branches and reflections on the leaves all make this subject an endless inspiration for her.
Tokarski constructs her own canvases, building them so that her brush never hits a bar. The large size gives her the ability to move fast across the piece and a freedom of brush stroke that is evident in the finished piece. The sizes of the pieces in this show range from 8" x 22" and 3' x 5 ' to 5' x 6'.
Her love affair with canvas comes from the way it grabs paint off her brush and with oils from the way the paint layers with bits of color peeking from underneath. Through the years Tokarski has worked in other mediums including watercolor, clay, silkscreening and drawing but she always comes back to oils.
Tokarski has been employed as the Executive Director at the Anderson County Arts Council in Anderson, SC, from 1981-1984, the Gallery Director at the Craven County Arts Council and Gallery in New Bern in 1989-1991 then Executive Director at the Community Council for the Arts in Kinston from 1991-1996.
In 1996 she left the community arts scene behind and concentrated on her new marriage, family and the renovation of an 1885 Victorian home in downtown Kinston which once served the community as the library and later the school administration offices. This will be the first show of her work since 1996.
Carolina Creations Fine Art & Contemporary Craft Gallery represents over 200 North Carolina artists along with many nationally known artists.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call 252/633-4369, e-mail (michael@cconnect.net) or at (www.carolinacreationsnewbern.com).
Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer
427, Bonneau, SC 29431
Telephone, Answering Machine and FAX: 843/825-3408
E-Mail: carolinart@aol.com
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Carolina Arts
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