Interview With Carolyn Hancock Fine Art

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Carolyn Hancock
Fine Art

https://www.carolynhancock.com

www.facebook.com/CarolynHancockFineArt/

https://twitter.com/cbhancock

https://www.pinterest.com/pastelartist/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynhancockart

https://www.instagram.com/carolynhancockportraits/

https://www.youtube.com/user/carohancock

Women of the Times

The Power of ...
Pastel on Uart Sanded Paper 12 x 16
$2,000.00 USD

She Couldn't Sleep
Pastel on Sanded Paper 24 x 30
$3,500.00 USD

Waiting for Diego
Pastel on Uart Sanded Paper 24 x 18
Sold

This Meeting Is Over, Boys
Pastel on Sanded Paper 24 x 18
$2,500.00 USD

What do you think, Mr. Gable?
Pastel on Uart Sanded Paper 24 x 18
$2,500.00 USD

Portraits

Wishing, Waiting
Pastel on Uart Sanded Paper 16 x 12
Available
$1,000.00 USD

She Knows the Score
Pastel on Uart Sanded Paper 16 x 12
Available
$1,000.00 USD

Sadness of the Lie
Pastel on Uart Sanded Paper 16 x 12
Available
$1,000.00 USD

Portraits that tell a story

Commissions or questions? Call me at 281.382.6683 or email [email protected]
Want to see my work in person? Call to visit my home studio in Richmond TX (the greater Houston area)
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My StoryDid I always think of myself as an artist? No, but the yellowed drawings from grammar school stayed through every move. A new life found me at the age of 47, and I found art. My passion for it began with Bill, who framed my first very awkward attempt at painting. He thought it was pretty good and has encouraged and supported me every step of the way (from being a standin model to my roadie!)

The question, "what will I do with my time" started this wonderful art journey. When Bill’s job took us out of the U.S. , great friends encouraged me, commissioned portraits, and bought my paintings. Even though those early paintings lacked many elements of the professional, I loved painting and learning, creating

Six years later we moved back to the States, to a small town in Texas. The paintings of the Maasai and Samburu tribes of Kenya struck a happy note with everyone. The rich ochres and browns of the people and dusty greens of the dry landscape let me relive the memories. Maybe they also took a bit of adventure to everyone else!

The challenge of finding a market for my “people paintings” made me rethink subject matter. A friend/mentor suggested I paint flowers using imagined colors, steering me away from what I really saw into what could be. Another big hit! I learned that colors don't matter if values are right. What fun I had with flowers, huge close up blooms, dancing colors across the petals.

That Sunny Day When We Laughed
Pastel on Sanded Paper 16 x 12
Available
$1,000.00 USD

I have pursued many other interests and activities along the way. I have skied and scuba dived exotic locations, hiked and biked many tangled trails, and tackled that awesome game of golf.

What has not changed or wavered is my commitment to painting and learning, to giving value to my Collectors. My work is classic yet always evolving. I paint from my heart, looking for that fleeting connection that makes me want to paint someone. I believe that the finished painting will talk to you from across the room, inviting you into the emotion that I felt as I painted.

The George Ranch Fiddler
Pastel on Uart Sanded Paper 12 x 16
Sold

Interview With Carolyn Hancock

TNYO: Hello Carolyn, We are thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with you in this interview.
Your story is interesting and inspirational!

It tells us that you can do anything which coincides with our concept of Optimism. Although I have to say there was always a natural predilection and specific talent for the art that you make. In your bio you mention that you did not start painting seriously till the age of 51, My first question would be what other careers did you pursue previous to your art career?

Carolyn Hancock: Behind a desk as a secretary, from the ancient days of teletype, punch cards, shorthand and dictating machines and finally to computers. I was coordinator of secretarial services in a law firm with a staff of 15 secretaries when my husband and I moved to Los Angeles. That’s when my art journey started!

TNYO: Your subject matter has a bright and vivid life force how do you go about choosing your subjects?

Carolyn Hancock: I paint only two subjects, which are surprisingly so much alike: the face and the ocean. They constantly move, change personality, and make you long for something more. I find characteristics of joy, mystery, fury, and an awesome beauty in both. They will have one fleeting moment that captures light, emotion and movement at just the right time. When I see that moment, either in person or via photograph, I know that’s the moment to paint.

TNYO: What was your first step when deciding that you would become a full time Painter?

Carolyn Hancock: Education! I was living in Los Angeles and looked into every resource available to learn portraiture. Learning to draw was the most important, so I took private and group lessons and classes at UCLA and Pasadena City College. When I was ready to learn pastel, the renaissance of pastel was just beginning and resources were limited. We moved to Japan with books by Alan Flattmann and Daniel Greene and Greene’s videos safely packed; they became my pastel teacher.

TNYO: Your Palette, Materials, Canvas, Linen, Paper, Brushes, What are the tools in your art studio and how do you use them and why have you chosen them ?

Carolyn Hancock: I am a pastel only artist. I love that the colors are already mixed in the dry stick form, ready to pick up and a total treat to the eyes. Every pastel maker has a different formula, and each one has a place in my palette. The degree of soft/hard as well as its ingredients determines what kind of mark and texture I can make. For instance, Diane Townsend Pastels and Paul Rubens Pastels have a gritty feel; seascapes love them. Blue Earth, Schmincke and Sennelier Pastels have a lovely softness that enhance face and skin textures; Unison Pastels are versatile for everything.

Many mark making techniques can be achieved by using different brands and colors; it’s interesting and challenging. Texture in seascapes - that’s a fun one - a rough bristle brush dragged through layers, fingertips dipped into colorful pastel dust and patted onto the paper, sticks of pastel grated or shaved to drop on the paper for sea foam - we are only stopped by imagination.

I paint on Uart and LuxArchival sanded papers. These grab the dry pastel marks and let me interweave many layers of pastels, optically tricking the eye to see a whole new color or a glowing effect.

Video recording is a really helpful tool. Recording work in progress, I essentially become my own teacher: I can go back to a video to see “how did I do that.” It’s also my marketing tool; I edit some videos into quick time lapse posts and some into long format start to finish instructional demos for my YouTube channel.

TNYO: If you could give any advice to aspiring artists of any age and of any gender what would it be?

Carolyn Hancock: Start early or start now. Educate yourself through classes with the artist you most admire; evolve to another artist, so that you keep growing and improving. Find the light but don’t be timid with the darks. Be curious, be bold. Ask what if. Explore mediums and subjects, but finally focus on one medium and one subject. The business side of art takes as much time as the art: learn how to do it well. And the best advice I was given: always photograph your art.

TNYO: If you were not an artist what would you be?

Carolyn Hancock: I ask questions, enjoy talking one on one, and like to dig deeper into a subject, so I believe I would be a broadcast journalist.

TNYO: Where are you from Carolyn and has your environment and upbringing inspired or influenced your art?

Carolyn Hancock: Mobile, Alabama, with its old southern charm, its Gulf Coast, southern architecture, Mardi Gras and azaleas, is my home town. Living in a city on the bay, with miles of coastline and rivers, Dauphin Island and Gulf Shores, the water has always been a part of my life. Every place I’ve lived or traveled to has been close to water. Memories and great camera technology turned me to painting the energy of ocean waves and seascapes in 2019.

But when I began this art journey, it was the face that I wanted to paint, to capture all of the fleeting emotions that beguile and betray our feelings. We lived out of the country for a few years and traveled a lot; I found that the deep rich colors of other cultures influenced what I took into my work: the rich greens and siennas of Africa, the incomparable blues of mosaics and mosque domes; the subtlety of art of Japan.

Those trips left my easel in series: The Maasai/Samburu; The Gaijen; Uzbek Blues. Those cultures and colors still identify my work,

TNYO: Do you listen to music when you work and if so what music do you like most?

Carolyn Hancock: I’m a quiet painter. No music, podcasts or audio books in the studio. Instead, feelings and words keep my mind busy.

In the zone, there’s no hesitancy; the pastel flows and the painting takes shape like magic. In a difficult section, I talk to the painting, asking it questions and telling it what I need to do.

But in that quiet, most of the time one song that describes all the emotion and gesture of the painting filters through my thoughts; I think that subconsciously the words of the song influence every mark I make until the painting embodies the song. Example is the song “What a Woman Needs” by Tammy Wynette and Elton John for the painting “She Couldn’t Sleep”

TNYO: Can you pick a favorite song for our readers to listen to ?

Carolyn Hancock: I enjoy the country/western and pop music I heard and danced to in my teens and 20’s. The voices were clear, easy to hear above the music, and they told a story. I don’t have a favorite but believe each painting elicits a song in the viewer’s memory.

One song I do love, however, that eludes me as a painting is “For the Good Times” by Ray Price. Listening to it, maybe 20 years ago, was the first time I thought of how a painting can tell the storyline of a song. Serendipity

Life Knows Her Story
Pastel on Uart Sanded Paper 15 x 18
Available
$1,000.00 USD

That learning thing! Seascapes and water scenes found their way to my easel in 2021. What a challenge learning how water moves and how it looks on that journey. My pastel strokes fly and falter as I make decisions painting that awesome energy and movement, loving every minute of the process. Dip your toes in the water with a quick view here.

Who I am

I don’t exactly drawl anymore, but my slow Southern accent is still with me. Bill and I live in Richmond, TX, with Missy, our rescue cat. Our grandchildren are young adults, and great-grandma is now my other name.
My studio is unique, long and narrow. It surprisingly doesn't take much space to paint. Just enough for a table of pastels, an easel, and step back room. I paint only with pastels; I started with them and have never tried anything else. My belief is study one thing to learn to do it well.
I keep my Facebook and Instagram pages active, but my website is the boss. I think of it as my always open gallery. Find your favorite painting, click through to PayPal, and I’ll ship. Easy.
My favorite foods? Haven’t found the best fried catfish in Houston area yet, but there are lots of great barbeque restaurants – and Tex-Mex.
The biggest chunk of my day is making art. Squeezed in during downtime are the study of art, current technology, and the business side of art.
My newsletter, appropriately but mistakenly spelled Scrumble, is a great read, always an interesting story or parallel on life. I write for art lovers and would love for you to join my exclusive group, by clicking here.