34 Artists Magazine December 2019
OO
il painter Carole Rabe spent her childhood
roaming the woods in her small central
Massachusetts town, watching the way
the sun reflected on and between the trees.
“I think that’s where I first developed my
love for light and how we perceive things,” she says.
“I knew right from the start that I wanted to be an artist.”
After earning her BFA from Hartford Art School, at the
University of Hartford, Rabe worked as a graphic designer
for 14 years, painting intermittently during that period. It
was within that time period that she decided to return to
school and earn her MFA at Boston University. “I landed
a really wonderful job at Pine Manor College and ran its art
program and directed the Hess Gallery,” she says.Now a full-time artist, Rabe spends
her time working on several series in
one day, watching the light move in
and out of her home. The light inspires
interiors that evoke feelings of nostal-
gia and a sense of longing in the way
that only home sweet home can.THE TRUTH
IN THE PAINT
Rabe paints with oils, a medium she
relies on for several reasons. “I’ve
used acrylic paint,” she says, “and it
just doesn’t have the qualities or ver-
satility I find when using oils, which
enable me to paint thin, thick or wet-
into-wet. I can manipulate it in so
many ways. The color is true, and so
is its value. What I put down stays
when it dries.”
This is an important quality for
Rabe, as one of the major agents in
her work is value. “I love the subtle
value changes in things,” she says.
“I can achieve amazing transitional
value changes in oil paint. That, for
me, is huge.”CLOCKWISE
FROM BELOW
Open Doors
oil on canvas, 30x24Quilt
oil on canvas, 18x36Sleeping Cat
oil on canvas, 12x9