Episode #12 Carol Walthers: Illustrative Narratives Colouring Her World

Carol Walthers knew how she felt about colour and form, before she ventured into education on the matter. Her views didn't change much over the years. Only her yearning to create more and more subjects that gave her the creative spark to be dissected and made whole again within her creative practice.

Join me as we uncover her imagination and how it guides her.  What was her initial inspiration to take this path as an Artist? What changed when she went from Graphic Arts to Visual Arts? Her ideas come flooding into her mind on environmental issues, democracy, and more.

Discover how Walthers moves among her mediums. Why is watercolour her favorite? What are the reasons she chooses watercolour over oil? How does her ingenuity unfold when she wants to communicate a message?

Connect with Carol Walthers: 

https://www.carolwalthers.com/

Podcast Interview Credits
Sound Effects from Pixby
Audio Links from https://freemusicarchive.org/
Podcast by Carolyn Botelho

Transcript

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Creatively Thinking podcast. Join Carolyn Botelho as she uncovers the inspirations behind some incredibly creative minds that are orbiting our local communities. Carol Walsers.
 
 Let's briefly introduce you to our audience. You are a multidisciplinary, award-winning artist working primarily in watercolor. How did you find your focus on human dynamics as your primary subject? Was it from exploring subjects as an artist when you were younger, or was it something you discovered in school, or something else that gave you this theme? I would say that my interest in portraiture and figure drawing started while studying at the Ontario College of Art.
 
 For me, it's a lifelong study of the human form. My inspiration for projects that involve social themes, such as how we care for natural resources and the state of democracy, this has been a reaction to the issues that have had an impact on my personal experiences recently. What would you say was what drove you into painting with watercolors? Because it is one of the hardest mediums, did you not find it difficult to master? Did this medium give you more range than others did? Please expand on how you developed your chosen medium.
 
 Watercolor paints can be worked with transparently or opaquely. For this reason, I find them more versatile. I was unhappy with the dull appearance that went applying the paint on traditional watercolor paper, so when I was introduced to a method of using watercolor on Asian mulberry paper, I found that it worked better for me.
 
 Watercolor spreads over the surface, so in using a wax resist method to inhibit the paint from spreading, it opened up a world of possibilities. In this way, I can manipulate the intensity of the colors with washes and the opacity of the paint. But it is still difficult to predict exactly what will happen, and that is the fun of it.
 
 Imperfections have to be embraced. In your credentials, you had a career in graphic arts. How did you find the transition from graphics to portraiture? Was it easy to simply switch mediums and subjects? Do you find these fields are really more similar than people realize? They're kind of two different things, but when painting and creating composition is a key ingredient.
 
 In graphic arts, composition is pared down to its purest form, so I lean on my experience in graphic arts when composing, and it is so natural and instinctive that I don't have to think about it. Graphic art is more structured and serves a different purpose. The designer already has the answer to a question, and he delivers that message.
 
 In portraiture, the questions are posed to the artist, as who is this person, and what are their unique characteristics? Because you have had quite a vast experience with juried art exhibitions, is there something that you didn't expect that it taught you, or has the experience increased your knowledge in the art exhibition circuit, as well as introducing you to more peers in your field? Well, like them or not, juried exhibitions are a way of displaying your art without the huge expense of a solo exhibition. It's always nice to be juried into a show, but being rejected teaches you how to deal with rejection, and the lesson is to believe in yourself. It's a good way to meet people who are associated with the gallery, as well as meeting other artists.
 
 Have you found this route to expanding your artistic vision with pastels and watercolor a complete change from your experience with a graphic design career you had previously? What led you down this dramatic medium change? Well, the difference for me now is that since retiring, I'm able to devote more hours to my artwork. I'm able to work on my own vision at my own pace, and I'm creating my own personal work, and that's nothing like working for a client. I celebrate each day that I'm not tied to a computer for eight hours.
 
 Yeah, that is good, being more free to make your own choices for a subject. Because your practice focuses on people and places, is your creative intention for likeness or more of an emotional, transcendental feeling with your representation? If it is the latter, what medium do you think conveys this the best? If I can capture an expression, but more importantly an attitude, and then you as an observer are receptive, you will see something that resonates with you. You'll recognize something that you can relate to.
 
 In my opinion, I'm not a big fan of hyperrealism, so an image does not have to be hyperrealistic to succeed in this, and I have simple sketches where a person's character has been revealed through dynamic line work. What medium conveys this the best? I use all sorts of different mediums. It's basically whatever I feel like doing on any given day.
 
 Or whatever you think it would convey the personality of the person the best, I guess, in a way. If I have time to think about it, if I'm in a studio and I'm looking at a model, I'm just going to go with what I feel like using. Being a founding member of Gallery 44, did you experience learning or beginning to understand the inner workings of the gallery system of curatorial practices or marketing? That's a great question, and thanks for bringing that up, because it's fun for me to think back on those days.
 
 Long ago, the early 80s, it was a completely different scene to now. We were on our own. We had no funding.
 
 We really were a bunch of friends just doing what we loved. There was no plan to make a commercial enterprise. It was a space for experimentation and free expression, and there was no social media back then, so posters and mailings were the type of advertising that we used.
 
 It was a completely different scene, and I'm really thrilled that Gallery 44 still exists 40 years later. It's amazing. Yeah, that must be a good feeling.
 
 Gone Forever at the Berlin Tower in Kitchener this past October speaks of your involvement with grassroots organizations to ban mining in the area. How has environmental concerns played a part in your artwork in the past? Is this a new theme to explore? Yeah, it is a new theme to me. The issue of the lack of oversight on gravel extraction is a huge and complicated issue.
 
 The general public is turned off by the details, and so conveying the need to protect our resources is the challenge. I'm showing this project in a number of towns, and I'm still working on having it travel to more locations. The larger issue of protecting our resources resonates in areas all over the province.
 
 As I continue to create works on the theme, it just seems to expand. Back in the 80s, I documented the transition of rural areas to suburban communities. Now I find that I can't get away from the politics, as our government is not doing what their constituents want them to do and pay them to do.
 
 So another theme that is in the back of my mind is the state of democracy itself. Yeah, and that's got to be in some ways hard to really represent, right, as an artist, I would say. I have all kinds of ideas.
 
 It's just getting them down on the canvas. Yeah, oh, that's good. Yeah, I thought that governments were just... Yeah, I don't have a problem with ideas.
 
 They just come spewing out of my head. Oh, good. That's really good.
 
 I just, for some reason, I thought governments just don't seem like visually inspiring, I guess, to represent. Right. I guess that's my job, then.
 
 When your CV says you are exploring pastels and watercolors, are you exploring the medium or the subject you choose, and how can the medium best represent them? In other words, from your experience with these mediums, can you predict how they communicate the message most effectively? Yes, I think that with each subject matter project, I have a good grasp on what medium would be a good way to evoke the message. The abstracted work I do is being successful in watercolor, whereas pastels are quick and vibrant, and I like to use them in the studio or painting in plein air. And oils are slower for me, and they allow reworking until I'm done with it, so it's good if they take longer to dry, you can rework them.
 
 And, yeah, it works great for things that need to take time. Yeah, because you can really tell by, I guess, just the way the mediums need to be handled that that kind of determines what you're trying to express or the representation you're choosing, how it's, it just kind of goes hand in hand kind of thing, right? Like, it just, that's how they get selected. It's just dependent on, yeah, I'm trying to put it into words here, like, the practice of the medium, yeah.
 
 Right, well, okay. Like, I like most of my work to look fresh. You know, I don't steal lives at the moment, for instance, so I like my lines to have a lot of life to them.
 
 I want my colors to really, you know, sing, and sometimes if you're slow and methodical, you lose the freshness, and it becomes dull and not so interesting. Yeah, yeah, I guess, yeah, too methodical, then that just becomes, becomes almost lifeless because you're too, too slow with the process, right? Right, that's, that's my own opinion. Of course, there are a lot of people who would not agree with that.
 
 But that's, you know, how I approach things. Yes, exactly. Very similar.
 
 And we'll be right back. Being experienced in graphic design, and a range of other mediums, have you been able to incorporate their best properties together into any of your artwork? Or are they separate mediums? Have these mediums been able to combine or complement each other? So, I've begun to have results combining watercolors, monogel prints from acrylic paint together, as well as using patterned paper and cold wax and oil paintings. There are some mediums that just will not combine at all.
 
 Yeah, understandable. Yeah, they just, they just won't work together. Right.
 
 They're just not compatible. Have you found with your Gone Forever exhibition, where your work speaks of the destructive forces at play with mismanagement of resources, specifically mining, what was the impact you received? Did you create the conversations you were hoping for? Were there any positive results you saw directly? Well, that's a good question. You always want your artwork to have some impact.
 
 I had a very good response to it. People have told me that they were moved by it, which was really nice. Made me feel good, because that's really what you want to happen.
 
 When I was accepted to the show, the work in Kitchener, I've had an extremely good response to it. People have told me that they were moved by it. And what more could you want? For me, that's really all I'm after.
 
 When I was accepted to show the work in Kitchener, I realized then that people would be interested in it, just by virtue of the fact that they had selected it. It really was a thrill for me to see the initial 18 paintings hung in Kitchener at the Berlin Tower Art Space. It was the culmination of over a year's work at the time.
 
 And now after two years, I'm still working on it. Well, that must feel good to be continuing to work on a show that has lasted more than one year. Yeah, I'm still getting inspiration on the topic, and people are still encouraging me to continue.
 
 And it just seems to be a good fit for me right now. That's good. That is really good to hear that.
 
 Has there actually made any concrete impact, beyond just positive responses? That's really hard to measure. I mean, of course, it's not going to make any political impact. It has caught the attention of some of the mayors in the area.
 
 And the groups, the community groups, I don't know if you want me to name them, but there are a number of community groups that have helped me promote it. And some want to get it into their areas. So I've had some discussions.
 
 So yeah, that's all I can do. I can't expect to see any real political results. No, exactly right.
 
 But just having it out there gets people talking, and that's exactly what you want, right? Yeah. So if you did want to share those groups, because then it's advertising for them, right? Or if you want to, or if it's too many to list, that's also something else. The Reformed Mining Gravel Coalition is the place that sort of has all the other groups listed, too, and a whole ton of information on the issue itself.
 
 It's a very misunderstood issue. And there are two opinions, for and against, obviously, like everything else. But really, the people who are for need to get more information on the topic to understand why people are against it.
 
 Well, could you expand on what exactly this... The details of the points on the issue? Okay. So for many of the people in our area, there are far too many gravel pits, and there are health issues associated with it. Dust carries carcinogenic particles, very hazardous, the noise, the traffic, the threats to nature, and filling in little ponds that we need for our ecosystem.
 
 We need the rocks in the soil and not out of the soil to help filter pollutants that can drain into groundwater. When they take it out, there's no filter. It is the reason why the soil in our area is Prime A farmland, and only 5% of Ontario has usable farmland.
 
 And so if you keep digging that up, our food supply goes with it. And the soil will never return to Prime A farmland again. It's gone.
 
 So we really need to manage this resource better and understand that we have enough gravel. We already have enough gravel for many, many, many, many years to go. So the reason why all these applications are being put through, it's a rapid pace.
 
 It's not a slow pace. They're chewing up the area here at a ridiculous rate. They don't need to do that now.
 
 But it's all about greed. And you know, this is what it is. These corporations are foreign corporations, and they're just eating up our land.
 
 And so that's it in a nutshell. Yeah, yeah, well, I understand that. I mean, I hear about that everywhere.
 
 You know, it's just there's so much building happening because of all the promises that the government has made to the residents and constituents of, you know, how much housing they have to build in so much time. And well, to do that, they're going to be taking over a lot of green space that we do need for farming. Right.
 
 So it's like it's understandable that both sides have points. And I know I know I don't I don't like all the building happening, but it's kind of like all these all these new residents that are coming into Canada through immigration and through other means, they all need somewhere to live. Right.
 
 So but then again, we do need the green space because we do need the food. You know, like there's this there's points on both sides. Right.
 
 It's all about careful management. And what people are seeing is that not being managed. But unfortunately, the government makes it so hard to oppose what they're doing that the democratic system is it's a farce.
 
 It really is. People are given no method to protect the area and to help the government make smart choices. Well, I know exactly.
 
 Right. Because they they wash their hands of everything they think it's so it's not my responsibility or it's not it's not it's not within my my ability to change make cause change to happen when they just put it in somebody else's hands when it's it's it should be something that we can be responsible for it as it is our land. It is something we need to protect.
 
 We need to protect it for generations. And there's just no forward thinking. It's just for right now.
 
 And it's like, no, we need to think think for our children, for our grandchildren, for future generations. Right. So when I began this whole project, it was do I do this? Should I do this? Is it going to make any difference whether I do this or not? It became very cathartic for me.
 
 It came to the point where I had to do it to get this, you know, almost rage out. Yeah, I could totally see that. When something becomes so intrinsic to your being because of your work and what you're trying to say, it's just, yeah, I can.
 
 It can be maddening, I can imagine, especially. Well, no, you said you didn't really you realize that you weren't going to be able to have truly sort of political impact, but. But just just doing the work is cathartic and that that is reaching some of the people that you want anyway.
 
 So, yeah. Well, I can't believe we're already at the end. Is there any anything else you you would like to discuss about your artwork? No, that's a huge question.
 
 I don't know. OK, well, I you know, my the way that I approach things is I don't I don't want to stay put. I want to keep moving and I want to keep changing and I keep experimenting and I will try this and I'll do it for a while and I'll change something else.
 
 And unfortunately, that's not the way that galleries want to see you. They want to see you just do one thing. And, you know, after a while, though, they do say, OK, well, can't you do something else? But which is another frustrating thing for the artists who are trying to do what they tell them.
 
 Anyway. Yeah. For me, no, I don't like to be pigeonholed.
 
 I want to keep evolving. And then, you know, I can feel sort of gradual sliding into a little nice, comfortable niche that, you know, is maybe recognizable because if you keep changing, your artwork isn't always recognizable and it would be nice to have your own kind of, you know, recognition. So.
 
 I'm just I just don't want to be pigeonholed and I want to I hope that people are more excited by that. Yeah. The gradual changing of your style.
 
 Yeah. For me, it's my art is about finding my own path. And so rather than emulate other people, I observe other artists' methods and influences.
 
 And I think once that you hit your stride, you don't need as much encouragement from outside of you. It starts to flow from within you. Yeah.
 
 That's nice. I'm going to write that one down. Yeah.
 
 That's a nice way to end the interview. I like that. Yeah.
 
 Definitely write that one down. All right. It was great talking with you, Carol.
 
 And we can touch base. Thank you very much. Yeah.
 
 And maybe we can touch base in the future and see where you're at creatively. That would be wonderful. Thank you so much.
 
 Yeah, no problem. So thank you so much, Carol, for the interview. And we'll talk soon.
 
 OK. Yeah, it was good. It was good.
 
 All right. So we'll talk soon. OK.
 
 Thank you very much. Take care. OK.
 
 OK. Bye. OK.
 
 Bye. Join me next time as I go down another rabbit hole with another creative professional on their insights, their inspirations, and their ingenuity.