Wyoming artist Carol Swinney paints with a palette knife instead of a brush for many reasons. “I love texture, and love to see a lot of paint on the canvas. A painting knife gives rich colors and amazing depth, like you’re sculpting a painting”, she says. “Contrast, composition and lighting capture my attention while on location so I paint when colors are rich and light is more dramatic.” Swinney prefers to paint on location at such places as
The well-traveled artist has won numerous awards and honors for her work as well as many solo shows and group exhibitions over the past several years. Carol has received over 18 awards from 2005 to 2009 including 2 Best in Shows, 4 People’s Choice awards, Best Landscape at the 2005 National Oil Painters of America Show, the Award of Excellence at the 2008 OPA Western Regional Show and the 2009 Nomadas Del Arte Show. She has had numerous one woman shows and museum exhibitions including the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Gilcrease Museum, the Briscoe Museum of Western Art, the CM Russell Museum and the Desert Caballeros Western Museum. She has been a consistent exhibitor in the California Art Club’s Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibitions held at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.
Carol was featured in the May/June 2006 issue of Art of the West magazine as well as write-ups in past issues of The Artist’s Magazine and Art Talk. She was on the cover of the March/April 2004 Sky West Magazine and the 2005 cover of “Landscape Highlights” by American Artist with a re-printing of her 2003 feature story. Wildlife Art News featured her in an article titled “Expressions of the American Landscape” in the May/June 2004 issue and she was included in the book “How did you paint that? 100 ways to paint landscapes” published by International Artist with an 8 page feature article in the June/July 2007, issue number 55. She was included in the January 2009 issue of Western Art Collector in an article titled “Power of Nature” and most recently was featured in the January 2010 issue of Southwest Art Magazine with a six page article titled “A Feel for the Land.”
Carol is an Artist Member of the California Art Club, Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters, a Signature Member of the Tucson Plein Air Painters and Oil Painters of America and is a Master Signature Member of American Woman Artists.
"My paintings are meant to be shared with the viewer and reflect my love and deep concern for the welfare of our wildlife and the beauty of the landscape around me. I believe portraying nature through art is an important way of documenting a vanishing resource for future generations to enjoy".