Join the Bainbridge Public Library for the October 2022 First Friday Art Walk, featuring artist Carol Ann Burns

Margaret Millmore | Posted on October 3, 2022 |

The Bainbridge Public Library is dedicated to spreading the joy of reading and the discovery of ideas with not just our local community, but with visitors from near and afar. In addition, the library is fortunate to house beautiful local works of art both inside and outside the building. Each month the library celebrates a local artist (or artists) with an exhibit, which opens monthly on the Island’s First Friday Art Walk tour, and includes a reception hosted by the featured artist.

The Bainbridge Public Library is proud to present an exhibit by artist Carol Ann Burns

Carol will host a “meet and greet” from 5pm-7pm on Friday, October 7th to open her new exhibits, “Places I’ve Loved” for First Friday Art Walk

Carol Burns grew up in Chicago until she was high school age and her family relocated to Del Mar, north of San Diego, California. As she recalled, “These were the Hippie years where it seemed everyone delved into alternative lifestyles. It was an exciting and mind-expanding time.”

When she turned 30, Carol and several like-minded friends decided to head north to Oregon because they felt California had become too crowded, and they wanted to live off the land so to speak. “These were days of little cash, lots of energy, goats and gardens and love of the land,” she said. Although she did move on to a more suburban lifestyle in Oregon after she married her husband, John and had their daughter.

By the time Carol reached her 40s, her husband’s career had taken them to a place of financial stability and she decided to pursue a dream, learning to paint. She took watercolor and drawing classes from the local community college, as she described it, “I became quickly enthralled, passionate even…Wherever we traveled or lived I focused on painting in watercolor, exhibiting, teaching and selling art through galleries.”

Unfortunately, John was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease eight years ago and Carol put away the brushes and canvases to devote all of her time to his care. By 2018, she realized she needed to be closer to family and they decided to move from the Eugene, Oregon area to the Seattle area where her daughter and son-in-law lived. Not wanting to live in the heart of the big city, they discovered Bainbridge Island and were immediately smitten with it.

Sadly, John has since passed away and Carol is beginning to feel her energy and passion for creating art once again. “I bring to it a continuing love of nature tinged with sadness now as the brevity and sorrow of life are crystal clear,” she said.

Carol prefers to paint on site, capturing vibrant scenery from Bainbridge Island, the Willamette in Oregon, the Finger Lakes of New York, to the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland and memorializing them onto canvas. However, she also enjoys the time she spends in her studio, where she often combines various scenes from her travels, or creates still life paintings of local fruits and flowers.

“While involved in a painting, I find myself deep inside spaces that are otherwise never visited. As I experiment at my easel, this inner vision is what I try to bring to the work,” she explained. “Creativity takes us to unexplored places within; we simply follow along for the exciting, unpredictable ride through life.”

Carol’s exhibit is available for viewing and sale at the Bainbridge Public Library throughout the month of October. The exhibit will be available during regular library hours. For more information, please see the library website, www.bainbridgepubliclibrary.org.

As always, thank you for supporting your Bainbridge Public Library and local artists. If you have interest in exhibiting your work, feel free to contact Linda Meier, art coordinator, at lindameier2000@gmail.com