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Nancy Dodds Gallery 7th and San Carlos P.O. Box 6016 Carmel, CA 93921 831-624-0346 ndg@nancydoddsgallery.com |
Fred Carvel - Fred Carvell Biography: Fred Carvell Although born in Brooklyn, Fred Carvell is a product of the Monterey Peninsula. He is a graduate of Pacific Grove High School and Monterey Peninsula College before taking his Master’s degree from Fresno State University and postgraduate work at Stanford University. He started painting as a young man but postponed art as a fulltime profession until after he had concluded a successful career as a planning consultant, college administrator, and author. His endeavors included being an avid sailor and extensive international travel which added to his perspective as an artist. Fred is a contemporary artist of landscapes, still life and abstract paintings. In addition to canvas, he uses acid free oriental paper to which he applies acrylic paint in primary colors tempered by harmonious earth tones. His alla prima technique rapidly produces representational paintings with a tendency toward the abstract. The results are spontaneous and energetic scenes often thematically emphasizing horizon lines. He currently lives with his wife, Joan, high on a hillside in Carmel Valley over looking the vast Santa Lucia Mountains which provide him with constant inspiration in his life and his art. Artist’s Statement: Fred Carvell My first exposure to creating art was from a loving Franciscan nun in elementary school (San Carlos in Monterey), who admonished me not to place a cow on the skyline of a hill I was trying to paint. Since then I have seen dozens of cattle grazing on the crest of California hills. I did not forget the good sister’s lesson, but I also learned not to take too seriously any strict rules in art when your own intuition tells you otherwise. My evolution as an artist took a long time starting with the seed of interest planted in elementary school. It was fostered by the couple of art classes I took while attending Monterey Peninsula College, but it did not alter the course of my pursuit of education and a multilayered career. But the idea of making art never abandoned me through four decades of making a living for my family. I painted on scraps of lumber using old oil paints that were given to me and house paints left over from home projects. I painted alone and at night when our children were in bed and not sticking their fingers on a wet painting. Eventually, I took up acrylic paints because they were non-toxic, had no odor, dried quickly and could be cleaned up with water. Meanwhile as I traveled I spent time haunting art galleries and museums looking and learning how master painters and contemporary artists went about their craft. I applied what I saw to my own efforts seeking my own voice. Along the way I produced a number of what I call happy accidents as the result of my untutored artistic efforts. An increasing circle of friends showed interest in my work and some even bought a painting. The price was not much, often bartered for dinner out or a decent bottle of wine. But the idea that other people liked my work fed my aspirations. Then I decided that my major task of making a living had to take a back seat to my passion for painting. My wife agreed. Upon retirement I concentrated on learning all I could about art techniques. At this juncture I was befriended and mentored by the local figure painter Rip Matteson who guided me through a disciplined year of study. At the end of my intensive focus on learning to paint, I had an epiphany, I stood alone in my studio facing an empty canvas, turned on a smooth jazz CD, and started to paint without a script. Several hours later I looked at what I had done and knew I had found my own voice. Since then fortune has been good to me. I am not a message painter. I have no particular political or social beliefs I want to impose on anyone. However, philosophically I have the conviction that there is a certain truth to the land and my efforts are directed to finding and conveying it through my work. Beyond the technique and colors I use, my intention is to instill a sense of tranquility and wholeness in my landscapes and other paintings. My artistic efforts are not to convey what I see so much as to express them in a way that does not lose the essence of the subject matter. I paint in strong colors and try to make simple compositions that present beauty and calmness. I invite viewers to finish what I present with their own imagination.
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The Nancy Dodds Gallery
