Keep going by Carol Covert on Louise's ARTiculations
Keep Going

Carol sees faces in the most mundane places…

All my life I have been fascinated by faces. Even as a child, I would look through National Geographic magazines and marvel at the many different faces from around the world.

I see faces in everything from flowered curtains, to trees, to shadows, to linoleum floors.

Carol’s roundabout path to painting faces

When I graduated from high school I went overseas to Denmark to visit my mother’s family and stayed a year. What a wonderful experience that was! I was 17 but I can still clearly remember the faces of many people that I met and sometimes I see hints of them in my paintings.

When I came home, I decided to go to nursing school, graduated, and worked as a nurse for a few years. In that time I met my husband. We got married, bought a home, and started a family.

I wanted to be a stay at home mom and needed to earn extra income, so I started making Christmas ornaments and Santa Clauses, lots of them! Christmas became my specialty and I worked with wood and acrylic paints. I participated in many art shows and did quite well for years.

Eventually though, the art shows became less popular, and I decided to stop doing that artwork altogether, much to the disappointment of the people who collected my ornaments and Santas.

Instagram challenge is a great motivator

Fast forward to about five years ago - after suffering some great losses in my life, I picked up a paintbrush and paper, dipped into some watercolors, and joined a challenge I saw on Instagram: 100 faces in 100 days.

I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to come up with 100 faces, and then beyond that, share them on social media sites with people I didn’t even know! I remember expressing all those doubts to my husband, “Should I do it? Will I be able to make up 100 faces?”

Well, once I got started, I really was on a roll and even to this day, I haven't stopped!  Since that day five years ago, I have painted and published thousands of whimsical faces of all kinds. As you can guess, I’m having a great time!

My quirky characters are usually not planned out; they just show up and I go along with it. They come as they are.

Carol's process for painting her faces

My process is quite simple: I usually use watercolor paper and wet the paper to just put down two dots for eyes and  mark where the nose and mouth go. From there, sometimes I add pencil sketching. Another alternative is to start with a blind contour of the face then embellish that as I go.
Most often I have no forethought as to what I’m going to do -  my work just evolves as I continue to paint. However, I do have some favorites, and most of those are somehow connected to memories of my family growing up.
While I use a variety of mediums my preferences include watercolor, colored pencils, and ink. For added interest, I will sometimes use a bit of collage or simple stitching. Lately I’ve been experimenting with embroidery, developing faces on fabric. I’ve been known to paint on used coffee filters, teabags, leaves, fabric, and rocks...

 

Thank you Louise for pushing me out of my comfort zone, for I am not fond of writing, especially about myself.

You can find me on Instagram @senecalake2.

Do stop in for a visit and leave a comment there or below in the box after this post!  I look forward to hearing from you!

 

If you are a creative and would like to share your work with others, please contact me here.  I am accepting submissions for November.

 

Read about all the other fabulous guests I have featured in 2018-2019.

25 Responses

  • As soon as I saw this face, I knew I met a like minded person. I see faces everywhere myself and this is my favourite subject in art. Carol’s art is vibrant and touching. I started to follow her on Instagram . Thank you for introducing Carol to me, Louise.

    • Carol is an amazing artist! I have had the pleasure of her company and she cared for my mom for a time! Her faces are amazing! Sometimes surprising, some sad, all unique and so interesting! Thanks for sharing her on your IG!

      • Hi Debbie, thank you for leaving such a nice comment, loved your mom❤️ And miss seeing you!

      • Carol, I adore following your Instagram account. Your faces are a delight. So much expression. Such a unique style. Loved reading about the background and process. Go you!

    • Thanks Eleanora , I started following you on IG too, it’s fun to see faces in just about everything isn’t it?

  • What a talented artist Carol is, haven’t come across her before but her work reminds me of someone I follow who manages to do the same thing with birds. I will be happy to also connect with Instagram so I can continue to see Carol’s work. 🤗

    • Carol will be pleased to gain new followers I am sure! I think I know who you mean for birds too…I am following her as well!😉

  • Love it! I follow Carol on IG as well. Thanks for sharing a little bit of insight on what you do creatively. I also see faces everywhere, makes life interesting.

  • So nice to read about Carol here. Love her work and she also is a very kind person. I only know her from Instagram. But she is part of my every day life.
    I’m gonna check out your site and gallery on insta as well. 😊
    Kind regards, Annelies from the Netherlands.
    (@blossom1975 on insta)

    • Hi Annelies,

      Carol might be surprised at how many of her IG friends are connected to each other in various ways. While in Spain last year, I met one of my IG friends and we started talking about the artists we were following and found out we both followed Carol. Her art speaks to many of us. Cheers!

    • Hi Annalies, thank you so much for following me on IG , such a supportive community isn’t it? Loved your Gelli art!

    • Thank you so much Judy. I have been following her for several years as well and I am thrilled that she wanted to share her wonderful, quirky faces and other art with all my friends and followers. Cheers!

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