Carol Jenkins

All my life I have loved the out of doors—especially wild places. There is something unpredictable about wild terrain, exciting, a little risky. It is also why I am drawn to abstract painting. It is the unexpected that delights: a wildflower pushing up through decaying leaves, an accidental smear on the canvas that leaves a beautiful mark I did not try to make. These are gifts that satisfy me.

Just like a forest, an abstract painting grows into itself and cannot be known ahead of time: it is a call and response, moment by moment, and can never be replicated (although I have unsuccessfully tried). My painting process starts with spontaneous mark-making, then the laying on of bold shapes, followed by layers of acrylic or oil paint that I draw into and scrape away. Once an interesting line or color pulls the painting in a direction I want to follow, I build the layers of paint more deliberately into a composition that incorporates both the quiet expanse and bountiful energy of the wilderness I love.

The process of naming a painting is also important to me. I want the name to be a window into the painting that also allows the viewer to move anywhere else they want to go. I often spend a lot of time looking at a painting, engaging in an intuitive process of association until a word or idea pulls me toward a name that feels right. Playing with words is similar to exploring with paint: it is the unexpected that moves me.

My work has been shown in galleries across the West Coast and has been collected nationally.

caroljenkinsstudio

Dynamic abstract landscapes. To receive a monthly newsletter with my newest work and special sales, please click on the link below.

Night’s Oracle was just selected by DabArts for

I love mixing luminous colors with opaque paint—

In the Heat of the Moment, 40x40. I’m finally tr

Working on this 36x48 painting. There are so many

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Selected Solo and Two-person Exhibitions

• 2021 Gallery at Wilder, Orinda, CA, solo show

2019 Montclair Gallery, Oakland, CA, solo show
2018 Donkey & Goat Winery, Berkeley, CA, solo show
2017 Siskiyou Art Museum, Dunsmuir, CA, Sinking into Wilderness
2017 Liberty Arts Gallery, Yreka, CA: Places to Go, People to Meet
2016 Taylor Blue Design Showroom, Berkeley, CA
2016 Yves Fine Arts and Jewelry, Berkeley, CA
2013 Marvin Gardens Real Estate Office, Berkeley, CA
2012 Emeryville Public Market, Emeryville, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2021 Turtle Bay West Coast Biennial, Redding, CA juried exhibition
2021 Maude Kerns Art Center, Eugene, OR, juried exhibition
2020 Liberty Arts Gallery, The Lyric juried show
2020 Marin Society of Artists, CA, Celebration of Art 2020 juried show
2020 Danville Theatre Art Gallery, CA, California Dreaming juried show
2020 Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, Small Works-Big Talent juried show
2020 Danville Theatre Art Gallery, Color Play 2 curated show
2019 Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA Small Works juried show
2019 Danville Theatre Art Gallery, Affordable Art juried show
2019 Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Sanctuary juried gallery and online shows
2019 Liberty Arts Gallery, The Shape of Color four person exhibition
2019 JenniferPerlmutter@theBank pop-up exhibition, Lafayette CA, New Currencies juried show
2018 Liberty Arts Gallery, Women’s Work juried show
2018 Jennifer Perlmutter’s Gallery, Lafayette, CA, Small Things juried show
2018 Abrams Claghorn Gallery, Albany, CA, Have You Heard Us Yet juried show
2016 Siskiyou Art Museum, White on White juried show
2010-2019 Berkeley Art Center, CA, Member’s Showcase
2015 Liberty Arts Gallery, 12×12 show
2015 Liberty Arts Gallery, West Meets East juried show
2014 O’Hanlon Gallery, Mill Valley, CA, Water juried show
2014 Siskiyou Art Museum, Botanicals juried show
2009-2013 Mountain Arts Collective, Mt. Shasta, CA, monthly shows
2013 Interfaith Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA, juried auction
2011 Liberty Arts Gallery, Black & White juried show
2010 Siskiyou Arts Council, CA, Portraits juried show