About Caroline

Biography

I was born and raised in Cape Town, Johannesburg and on a yacht my parents built.  Our parents  abandoned convention, home ownership, jobs and our schooling, for a life of exploring  the Indian Ocean islands, the Atlantic and the Caribbean. I qualified as a Royal Town Planning Institute Chartered Town Planner/Urban Designer and worked for a city corporation,  architects and engineering firms in South Africa and Australia.  Town planning  has now given way to my passion for art.

Currently I have just completed the requirements for my Bachelor of Visual Art,  at the Adelaide Central School of Art.

My Art Practice

My paintings are related to my engagement with and, solace in the natural world both as a food gardener and an alla prima painter. My still lives or landscapes are mostly painted from direct observation. My final year at Adelaide Central School of Art (2021) was a deeper exploration of my two passions: growing food and alla prima oil painting.

I am also interested in how I can personally reduce my carbon footprint by growing our food. My previous employer, Sophie Thomson claims that gardening can save the world. I have come to believe this:  that many of us can honestly make a difference by growing food and disengaging, where possible, from the international food system that generates about 35% of our greenhouse gasses.

My paintings are also reflections of the instances of awe that punctuate my life…fleeting moments when something catches my eye and lifts me out of the everyday. It might be the early sun sparkling the dew on my home grown vegetables, or the first glimpse of a distant mountain.

I want to share the enchantment and endless beauty of natural systems. I will leave the other media to deal with the suffering environment. I have a deep seated belief that there are implications for humans if we do not consider ourselves a part of nature, rather than apart from nature. This underlies my art. Author Giovanni Aloi’s writing is close to my heart.

I live in the enchanting Adelaide Hills 25 minutes from the centre of Adelaide.  Here my garden, vegetables, sheep, chickens, husband, children and “other animals” have served as a constant inspiration for, and distraction from, my painting! I vote with my paring knife and garden fork for Slow Food and our Small Planet!