About the Artist
The complexity of nature is what draws me to be outside. When I am hiking a trail or canoeing in a swamp or marsh, I want to remember how my senses react to moments where forms, light and colors of a place work together to suggest a memorable composition. I often work plein air, where colors and compositions come directly from nature. These are often later expanded on in studio paintings.
During my years as an Art Therapist, when I helped others express their stories and emotions through their own artwork, my role was as a facilitator and, when needed, interpreter. These experiences have greatly sensitized me to my visual perception of landscape and the people around me. Presently in my own work, I am using what I know, what I see and how I feel to compose and paint. I want to be heavily influenced by the landscape and the people around me to create images that speak to others.
Carolyn Thompson Dudley studied painting and printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Printmaking. She continued her studies at Eastern Virginia Medical School where she received a Master of Science degree in Art Psychotherapy. After working six years in private psychiatric hospitals, she began working intensely on her own artwork. Carolyn has also held numerous volunteer positions, including on the Gloucester Montessori School Board, the Gloucester Arts on Main Board, the Arts at Abingdon Committee, the Gloucester Arts Festival Committee, and the Cook Foundation Board.
Carolyn's art, as is her life, is grounded in Virginia. Raised in Southwest Virginia where the landscape of forms and fields, the land itself and its people is imprinted in her memory. Carolyn currently works in her Gloucester, Virginia, studio near the Poropotank Creek and has participated in the following shows;
2013 Art Speaks on the Bay Juried Show; First place –Two-dimensional work
2014 Montpelier Center for the Arts, South Atlantic Juried Show
2014 Art Speaks on the Bay Juried Show
2015 Montpelier Center for the Arts, South Atlantic Juried Show
2015 Art Speaks on the Bay Juried Show
2015 Elizabeth River Project Juried Show; First place
2016 National Juried Art Exhibition, Academy Center for the Arts
2016 37th Annual Virginia Watercolor Society Exhibition
2016 Hampton Art League Member Show
2016 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition
2016 Arts on Main Juried Membership Show; Second place
2017 Hampton Art League Member Show
2017 Arts on Main March Solo Show
2017 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition
2018 "Secret Gardens and Hidden Places", Stewart Gallery
2018 'Taking Notes - A Western Adventure", Arts on Main
2018 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition
2018 "Landscapes, Roads and Blooms", Morning Glory Gallery
2019 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition
2019 Art Speaks on the Bay Juried Show
2019 "Two Views in the Tidelands", Arts on Main
2019 "Shades of Green", Stewart Gallery
2019 "Plein Air", Stewart Gallery
2020 Art Speaks on the Bay Juried Show
2020 Oil Painters of America Salon Show of Traditional Oils
2020 American Impressionist Society Juried Online Exhibition
2021 Gloucester Arts Festival Plein Air (invited guest artist), Best Floral Award
2023 "Into the Marsh", Arts on Main
2023 Arts Speaks on the Bay Juried show
2023 American Impressionist Society Juried Online Exhibition, Honorable Mention
2023 Suffolk Plein Air invited artist
2023 Arts on Main Juried Show
Current Professional Memberships
American Impressionist Society
