This week we are featuring Carol Cavalaris, a  nature and wildlife artist living in the high country of Colorado. Painting wildlife and nature is her passion, and her forested surroundings inspire her work. Within her collection you'll find beautiful portraits and scenes of the natural world expressing love, peace and beauty. 

What is your creative process like? Could you share the story of how you made something?

My creative process is always an adventure and often a mystery. I begin with a concept in mind and work to make my vision a reality, however in the process of creating the art has a mind of its own. This usually happens about halfway into the work, and I feel a little lost, because the idea isn’t quite working. And then I just let my subconscious guide me and keep working until the concept clarifies or even changes. I’ve been doing art long enough to trust the process and let the work emerge out of the shadows and follow my instinct.

One example is an alcohol ink painting I was doing called ‘Rainbow Tree’ I was painting this tree filled with rainbow-colored leaves, painting each leaf in great detail. I was working in my studio on my solarium, and it was a very windy day, so the windows were shaking with the hard gusts. That’s when I sprinkled the alcohol over my painting to get the organic textures I wanted, and the inks began to run together, destroying my work. I was horrified and picked the paper up, trying to save the image. I heard and felt the wind blowing and suddenly got the idea of the wind blowing my rainbow leaves. So I tilted the paper to the side, letting the inks run as if windblown, and blew it dry with a hairdryer. The result was a very happy accident and turned out to be one of my favorite alcohol ink paintings.

What is your favorite medium?

I’ve been an artist my entire life, so I’ve explored and enjoyed many mediums, including oils and acrylics, but in the last twelve years I’ve really loved the digital medium of painting in Photoshop. You can’t smell the paint, and it’s not messy, but I’ve found it to be a very intimate experience. When I am working on an animal, or a flower, I can get very close and personal, enlarging the image so I can paint every feather of an eagle, or hair of a leopard’s coat, or get into the intense colors and glow in the eye of a wolf, or lion, or go into the colorful heart of an iris. I have often thought I could live inside an iris and be quite content, and painting digitally allows me to go places and explore things I could not see and experience any other way. And because it’s digital, I love being able to make changes and try new ideas and colors while I’m working on something without destroying what I have already created, which really opens up the creative possibilities.

Fire Goddess

My other favorite medium is alcohol inks, which I’ve been exploring the last couple of years. It is the exact opposite of digital painting. Fast, messy and organic, and almost impossible to control. It is a process of working with alcohol-based ink on yupo paper, which is plastic non-porus paper. The inks are very brilliant colors and are either poured on or applied to the paper with a brush, or sponge. And then alcohol is put on the ink and that’s when the magic and madness begins. The alcohol interacting with the ink creates wild organic shapes and textures. I never know what will happen and it dries very quickly, so I have to think and work fast. It’s crazy and takes me on a wild ride with every artwork. Once I finish the ink painting I then scan the work and bring it into Photoshop and combine the ink painting with digital painting, and create a mixed medium final work. I have created a fairly large collection of alcohol ink paintings, including my Bloomies Collection, featuring flowers and butterflies and other garden creatures on long stems, designed to brighten the spirit.

What is the best part of working with your genre?

I get to spend my time with wolves and white lions and tigers and dolphins, and irises and rainbow roses and butterflies, paying tribute to and celebrating their healing beauty, and that is a very nice and inspiring place to be.

Dolphin Bubble

What are you most proud of as an artist?

The act of creating something that didn’t exist before. And bringing beauty and healing to others through my art.

What has been a challenge for you in your career? How did you resolve the challenge?

My biggest challenge came when my husband/soulmate suddenly passed away. We had been inseparable for 30 years and had a very strong creative bond. It was a devastating shock and I was not able to go back to painting at an easel as I had done before. I was deeply grieving, but I knew to survive the loss I had to keep creating. I turned to digital art, painting on the computer in Photoshop. We had recently moved to our dream home in the mountains, so I focused on the animals and the beauty of nature, and poured all my feelings into the work and process. I had to learn many new things and techniques, and to re-invent my art. It was a huge challenge but I just kept working and slowly the power of nature, of animals and beauty, began to help me on my journey of grief and healing. I worked 24/7 for three years and created a very large portfolio of new art. The Mountain was my first licensing partner and will always hold a special place in my heart. I'm so proud to be a member of the team. My work went into the world and began to sell and soon took on a life of its own. It has now been 12 years since my husband’s passing, and the art that was born out of pain and loss now brings me and others joy, hope, and healing.

What advice would you give to a young artist?

Create what has meaning to you, what you like, what you feel, what’s fun. Don’t worry about what others will think, just put all your feelings, emotion, effort into the work. Keep creating, because with time comes clarity and vision, and skill and a style and voice, and ultimately passion for what you are doing. It takes courage to create and share who you are with the world. And when the work is done and you’ve given it everything you’ve got, then you must let that ‘baby’, go and let the world have its way with it. Good things, bad things, and things you can’t control will happen to ‘your baby’. Yes, it can hurt, but it can also be exciting and exhilarating , and very rewarding. As an artist you will feel it all. Don’t focus on or try to control the outcome. Move on to your next work, keep creating and learning, and this passion will take you to wherever you need to be, to the next step, the next idea, the next experience, the next adventure. Enjoy the journey, have fun and believe in yourself, and be grateful that you are an artist and have a powerful way to express yourself, a way to share something very special with others. It is a gift that has been given to you and now you are giving that gift to the world.

What design have you created for The Mountain that you would like to be most remembered for?

'Wolf Heart', with two white wolf soul mates within a heart-shaped dream catcher, has special meaning to me. I have always believed in the power of animals and of love to heal our hearts and spirits. To me, ‘Wolf Heart’ celebrates that love, and will live on long after all else has faded.

Wolf Heart

Is there anything in particular that you would want a fan to know about – thoughts, upcoming projects, events, collaborations, etc.

I have hundreds of artworks in various stages of development, with more ideas popping up constantly. I never really know where the creative journey will take me next, but it is always an adventure. I hope to complete my ‘Puppies In The Garden’ Collection soon. I’ve had many requests to do a tutorial showing how I create my alcohol ink paintings, so I am also working on a DVD. I will be exhibiting in several juried art shows this spring and summer in galleries near where I live in Colorado. My art is in private collections, businesses and homes all over the world. Because of my art, I now have close friends in France, and Africa, and have met so many wonderful people worldwide. It has been an awesome experience being an artist for The Mountain. It is always a great thrill to see my art on new products and in places I don't expect. I have often met strangers wearing my art. I was doing a photo shoot at the zoo once and a little boy was wearing my ‘Giraffe Sunset’ tee shirt. I told him I was the artist. He told me he loved to draw animals and we had a fun chat. I have had many young artists contact me about projects they are working on and it is always great to help them. My art has graced the covers of many books, magazines, websites, and album covers, and will soon be in a visual presentation of a musician who does performances worldwide. It is really so rewarding to see my art bringing joy and inspiration to others in ways I never imagined. And because doing my art has healed me, one of my greatest joys is hearing how my art has helped others.It is so rewarding to have people tell me how my art brings them peace, and inspiration, as this is the reason I create. Recently a woman who lost her husband purchased a painting I did of a lioness tenderly kissing her lion mate on the nose, and she told me the art was her forever kiss to her husband. This really touched me because every year I create a special work to honor the love my husband and I shared, and ‘Lion Kiss’, was one of those paintings. So the reason I created the art was the reason she purchased it.

I am very blessed to be an artist and grateful for all the artists who have inspired me, and want to thank all the people who love and support my work.