Carole Hawthorne is an abstract painter based in Nottingham UK, at Backlit Studios in 

central Nottingham.

 

Her paintings are developed from a keen interest in systems and structures, layers and patterns often 

found in the urban landscape.

She makes paintings on canvas and paper, these involve layering and masking to create a visual field

 and surface texture.

 

Two years ago her work took a new direction, working with 3 dimensions. 

These pieces are constructed in wood and painted with acrylic paint. 

There is an investigation into how colour behaves when it moves over a 3 dimensional surface and  

the way it creates optical illusion and shadows.

Sometimes there is a subtle interplay of colour and sometimes a sharp contrast and movement.

These pieces are concerned with the ‘object’ rather than the picture plane and are intended 

to create visual interest when seen from different viewpoints.

 

Carole is rigorous in her process, making and often discarding judgements made within a painting.

She makes colour swatches which are referred to in order to search for values, weight and tension.

Her palette changes frequently to allow her to explore the infinite possibilities colour offers.

There is an intense meeting of colour , light and shadow which creates an experience, not a 

depiction of something.

 

She observes that colour and music have an affinity and utilises the unlimited variations of 

colour chords.

The work aims to engage the viewer, stimulate the senses and act as a vehicle for contemplation.

Hopefully it will provoke potential conversations about abstract painting and the emotional and

mental effect colour has.

Carole believes in the discipline of intensive observation as an underpinning of her abstract work and 

draws from the life model weekly.

 

After living in London Carole moved to Nottingham where she did an MA in Fine Art at 

Nottingham Trent University.

She has exhibited widely, most recently at the Saint Louis Gallery, Oxford, the the Platforms Project

in Athens, the Fronteer Gallery in Sheffield, the Cupola Gallery in Sheffield,

in the Tarpey Gallery, Castle Donnington, the Lancaster Music and Arts Festival

and the Harley Gallery, Welbeck.

 

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