THE REGISTER CITIZEN
Torrington, Connecticut
By Matt Antonacci
Register Citizen Correspondent
Sunday, December 15, 1996

Making A Difference

Barkhamsted artist depicts regional culture

Local artist Carol Wallace believes "art preserves yesterday for tomorrow."

Gallery exhibits, one-woman shows, a variety of nationally distributed greeting card lines and exhaustive commissions from corporations, universities and art collectors have forced the introspective artist to maintain a globe-trotting schedule that ranges from Maine to the Azores.

Wallace's art reflects a first-person familiarity with life's autumnal side streets. Her representational creations depict an unrequited romanticism that has found an international audience.

The nationally respected watercolorist has also launched award-winning ad campaigns that included the wildly successful "Better Yet Connecticut" tourist promotion.

The Lenox Gallery of Fine Art (Lenox, Massachusetts), Michelyn Galleries (Doylestown, Pennsylvania), Pope Gallery (Charlotte, North Carolina) and Atelier International of Stratford-upon-Avon in England represent a sampling of venues that regularly showcase Wallace's work.

Rural landscapes, Victorian architecture, colonial buildings, elegantly lit gardens and gentle villages are the common currency of a Wallace work.

"Childhood memories have shaped my artistic style," she said. "The memories I have of my Bucks County, Pennsylvania hometown have given shape and scope to my work."

Wallace has launched greeting card lines for a variety of cities from Shelburne, Vermont to Cape May, New Jersey. "I love painting regional culture," she said. "I've created works for things that have included everything from historical associations to travel councils."

The Maine Wilderness Watershed Trust, the Heublein Corporation, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History and Acadia National Park, among others, have also spotlighted Wallace's heartfelt art.

An increasing demand for watercolors has kept the respected artist busy seeking sights to preserve on canvas. Wallace's pristine use of color and composition provide her paintings with a perfect charm art aficionados of all persuasions find appealing.

Wallace's travel schedule now encompasses an increasing number of foreign lands. "Each regional landscape has its own personality," she said. "Capturing the atmosphere of that personality is one of the reasons I paint."

Wallace's affinity for rural history is the catalyst for her creativity. "Lots of things are reflected in weathered barns, sunlit inns or muted seascapes," she said. "Capturing the atmosphere of that personality is one of the reasons I paint."

Wallace affinity for rural history is the catalyst for her creativity. "Lots of things are reflected in weathered barns," she said. "Capturing the fragrance of the breeze or the romance of a country road are what my work is all about.