Member & Student Spotlight: Carol Lieberman
Carol Lieberman, working on paper casting tests in the studio
In the beginning…
Carol Lieberman has been a dedicated student in the Studio Practice Classes since 2017 and joined the membership program in September of 2021. Carol describes having no background in what she would consider art-making before she found the studio, and to this day she still says, “I don’t consider myself an artist now, but I do consider myself a maker. I love to make things and I love exploring.”
She became interested in looking at art when she encountered it through traveling and tried a few creative projects in needlework and ceramics when she was younger. One of her friends, a practicing artist who had been taking classes with Bonnie Paisley for a while, urged her to come to check out the student show at the old studio location in SE Portland. Only after she had seen the studio, seen what other people were doing, and noted the laid-back learning atmosphere, did she take the leap and sign up for a class.
A Still Life in Oil
“I was intimidated at the very thought (of beginning), but I had some space in my life to do what I wanted, not what other people wanted me to do. I walked in the first day, and said ‘I don’t have a clue about what to do or how to do it.’” You (Bonnie) said, “How about oil paint?”
Note from Bonnie about this moment: Oil paint comes with a lot of baggage (intimidating traditions and history); however, it is a beautiful medium and many students do not have access to it or think that it is higher on the imaginary rung of the art material ladder (which I do not believe in). Carol began by doing a few simple black & white exercises and moved on from there.
“It was time for me to decide what I wanted to paint. I brought those objects from home and worked on that painting for a long time. I still have it hanging on the wall…The day came when I took it home to (my husband), doing the big reveal. I said to him, ‘This is not bad for a first effort,’ and he could not believe it. The process was a confidence-building thing, I thought, ‘Oh I can actually do this.’”
Becoming a Member…
Image: Painted paper collage with 3-dimensional elements
“I loved my class days, I always wanted to stay a little longer after class. I don’t have a place to work at home. I actually need to take myself out of my home space and into a space that is a studio for me to give myself the freedom just to do that work. Because, if I am at home, there are a million things that are demanding my attention.”
Sustaining a creative practice…
“Looking back on it, if I had been able to be practicing any form of creative work, throughout my life, I would have been a happier and more satisfied person. It’s just so enjoyable for me. At this point, I can’t imagine a life in which I didn’t carve out some space for that, it would not be satisfactory to me. I just want to keep making things, they need to please me, but I don’t much care if they please anyone else. I am not doing this for other people, I am doing this for me.”
Images above are details of some of Carol’s work. She explores many different mediums in the studio today beyond oil paint, including collage, cast paper rocks and styrofoam forms, sand, acrylic, watercolor, and linocut printmaking.
