ArtistsNetwork.com 59FOR CAROLYN MARSHALL WRIGHT, few things kill
a painting’s potential quicker than a formulated plan
or concrete goals. “Aside from wanting to create a suc-
cessful painting, I’m not setting up a specific outcome,”
she says. “Instead, by working the way I do and getting
caught up in the process of creating, I frequently end
up with something that’s more—and better—than
I could’ve ever imagined.”Inspired by Abstraction
Wright was a human resources executive in Virginia
when she began taking watercolor classes in the ’80s.
When she took a hiatus from the corporate world for
a decade to focus on motherhood, she kept up with her
painting. “I don’t have an art degree, but over the years
I’ve come to terms with that,” Wright says. “So many
times I meet lawyers or corporate executives who
earned art degrees and somehow got ‘art’ out of their
system. They didn’t seem to remain hungry to make it,
whereas I’ve pushed and pushed to be able to pursue
this love of mine.”
After becoming proficient in watercolor, a workshop
she took with contemporary artist Virginia Cobb
changed the direction of Wright’s art. “It was my first
exposure to acrylics and to working abstractly,” she
says. A formal mentorship and classes with artist Joyce
McCarten further influenced her. “I think the draw was
to be able to paint abstractly, which is extremely diffi-
cult to do in watercolor,” Wright says. “I wanted to
delve into abstraction as a subject matter, and acrylics
enabled me to do so.”Finding
Spontaneity
in Still Life
A setup is just a suggestion for
Carolyn Marshall Wright as
she embraces an unpredictable
approach to bring her vibrant
fl orals to life.
by Stefanie Laufersweiler