Carol Bicknell

Contemporary Art

I have always had a keen interest in Art.  As a young girl, I loved visiting our local library to peruse the art books showing the works of all the great Masters.  In particular, I was drawn to and inspired by the Impressionists. I still am.  I am basically a self-taught artist. I have had the good fortune to be influenced by many gifted teachers starting in high school and continuing through several professional workshops over the years. I took a long rest from painting while raising my children. But my passion for art never waned.

During the 2020 pandemic the urge to paint was renewed. My preferred media had always been watercolors, but now I enjoy exploring many different media such as charcoal, watercolor, acrylics, acrylic ink, pen and ink, oil pastel, and soft pastel. I like to work with these media separately and combined. I often use many layers of paint with collage papers that I have found or created myself. I use varied surfaces for my work including watercolor paper, mineral paper, and oil paper as well as cradled wood panels and canvas.  I work intuitively resulting in what I call abstract impressions informed by a lifetime of visual experiences. I generally don’t set out with a result in mind. I like to have a “conversation” with the media and see where it leads.

My work has been shown at the Monmouth Museum International Juried Art Show, Lincroft, NJ; The Powell Lane Gallery, Collingswood, NJ; The Oceanic Free Library, Rumson, NJ; The Ocean County Public Library (Toms River and Manchester branches); Art on the Porch, Ocean Grove, NJ; The Ocean Grove Historical Society; The Summer Stroll, Ocean Grove, NJ; The TRAC Gallery, Toms River, NJ; The Brielle Library, Brielle, NJ; and The Ocean County Artists’ Guild, Island Heights, NJ.  My work has received recognition in the Ocean County and NJ State Senior Citizens Art Shows for 3 years receiving Honorable Mention, Second Prize, and First Prize in the Mixed-Media: Professional category.