Artist's Profile

Carolyn Francis, born in a small town in the Midwest, experienced a picturesque childhood. Summer days were filled with joyful activities including swimming in the Misissippi River, running through cornfields, and chasing fireflies after dusk. On rainy days, she loved to sketch and not surprisingly, art was her favorite high school class.

Upon graduation, events catapulted her to New York City where she enjoyed a successful modeling career with the Ford and Elite agencies. Extensive travel through Europe awakened her to the beauty of historic cultures. After returning to America, she pursued another childhood dream and subsequently performed as an actress in many television shows and commercials. But art was always a passion. Mostly self-taught, she studied at Santa Monica College, Pratt Institute, and the Woodstock School of Art.

Carolyn's style comes from the embattled artistic tradition known as realism. The realist looks at the ordinary world around him and records it. He does so out of the philosophic conviction that goodness, beauty, and interest are in the world as it is. This must not be confused with the very different notion that everything in life is good, beautiful or interesting. Realist choose those things, people, and events that they find sufficiently compelling to share with others. In short, Carolyn's work will remind us that the world we live in is more compelling than any human redesign or reinvention.

Mission Statement

I live to paint and paint to live. Being passionately devoted to my craft, it enables me to create a lasting image that has an energetic allure all its own. I relish the state when I am so immersed in the canvas before me, that I lose all track of time...