Diamonds on the Water, pastel, 8x16
Portrait, Figurative, and Waterscapes Artist
Carolyn Hancock lives in Richmond TX (Houston area). Colors and cultures of travel continue to influence her love of painting people, waterscapes, and the vibrancy of color. Solo exhibitions in Texas and group exhibitions throughout the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Japan assured her niche as a portrait and waterscapes artist.
Hancock breathes emotion into her paintings, whether in the beauty of faces or the energy of ocean waves. Traveling in different countries, she felt the similarities of all cultures and was always pulled into the eyes of people she met or photographed. In her portraiture, she looks for that same personal connection and builds a storyline into the face and environment.
Growing up with weekend trips to Gulf Coast beaches, she remembers the feel of the push and pull of ocean waves. In travels, she saw how ocean waters change from shocking blues to turquoise greens and how weather and land affect water movement. "Imagine: The sand disappears under your feet and the current tugs you outward, yet the wave magically pushes you back toward shore. That wave might be full of fury or gentle as a rocking chair. For any emotion I want to evoke, I put those memories into strokes of color that build believable energy and movement into the wave."
Hancock's paintings have been awarded in top juried international exhibitions and are in international collections. She is an Associate Member of the Pastel Society of America. She served as President of the Pastel Society of Southeast Texas in 2014 and 2015 and is a member of American Women Artists and an Elected Member of American Artists Professional League. Women of the Times, her expressive portraits inspired by women throughout history, has been exhibited in Texas.
A pastel-only artist, Hancock continues to study and push its boundaries. "My first ever, accidental art class was in portraits and pastel, and I fell in love with both."
Wishing, Waiting, pastel, 16x12
Carolyn Hancock, with the painting Matagorda Swells
My Story
My art story is simply that I paint people. Put me in nature's most beautiful spot, and my camera instead points to the people around me. The face and all that it shows pulls me to see that one fleeting movement of the eyes or change in the lips that reveals something special. As I work a painting, an underlying emotion filters through all the strokes of pastel, the minute flicks of color, until beauty, character, and feeling come to life.
In 2021, with covid's restrictions on in-person photoshoots and model sessions, I had to pivot. I chose the awesome beauty and power of the ocean as a new subject. I grew up around water, had scuba dived its gorgeous depths, and seen much of it around the world. An easy choice for me to learn how to describe its movements and colors in waterscape paintings.
My personal story is the love and support of my husband, always there. He says he's my "roadie," the one who has to pack and transport a car full of paintings, hang them, take care of technology, and assist everyone! My art degree comes not from a university, but from self-study and hours at the easel. Writing, marketing and computer work occupy my leisure time. My career has three distinct directions: exhibitions of my series Women of the Times, commission paintings, and studio paintings of the beauty and energy of people and the sea.
EXHIBITION NEWS
Diamonds on the Water, Second Place, Richeson 75 Landscape, Seascape & Architecture
Wishing, Waiting, Finalist, Boldbrush June 2023 Painting Competition
Diamonds on the Water, Best of Show 2023, Pastel Society of Southeast Texas, Art of the Pastel.
Wishing, Waiting: Third Place Award 2021, Left Coast Pastel Painters Society, Pastels in Paradise.
Painting Myself: Pastel Society of the West Coast. Juried exhibition.
Sadness of the Lie: The Great American Paint In. Online marketplace by Gallery Cero for America's greatest artists to share their 2020 pandemic experience through art. View thegreatpaint-in
Illusive Dreams: MEAM - European Museum of Modern Art. CONFINED, an exhibition of international figurative art. "We wanted to get out, and now that life returns to a supposed normality, we have realized that it costs us. Why are some having a regular time? With this pastel piece by Carolyn Hancock titled Illusive Dreams, we reflect on the shock of misunderstanding." View Confined.
The Model: 33 Contemporary on Artsy. SHELTER, curated by Dr. Samuel Peralta. “There is the one place that we can go, where we can remain ourselves, continue with the lives we’ve made. For each one of us it is different, but for all of us it is the center of our quiet, our calm in the eye of the hurricane, our shelter.” View Shelter.
Waiting for Diego: Central Mass Pastel Society. MARKS OF DISTINCTION, juried by Lyn Asselta and Michael Freeman, 104 selected entries from 437 submissions.
Illusive Dreams: Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod. FOR PASTELS ONLY, juried by Jeri Greenberg. 100 internationally recognized contemporary artists. "Each accepted painting was judged on its merit, its skill level and most importantly, the joy it brought me when I looked at it." View FPO.
Painting Myself: Art Museum of South Texas. CREATIVE DISTANCING. "A new normal where we are apart and yet so connected. Each person has endured new challenges and found new ways to cope. The Art Museum of South Texas is projecting a salon-style presentation of images, in the inclusive tradition of the French salon." View image.
The Center for the Arts and Sciences. CURVES OF EMOTION. "Although women’s rights occupy the news stream, they have been an issue through all history. The Women presents a visual story of this time. It is contemporary in style and relevant today." View Curves.
