Artist Statement

I work for a company that takes me to the Arctic every summer. I get to re-experience places I’ve been and discover new places. The grandeur, the colours, the people, the tundra fill me with sights, sounds, and smells to last until the next visit.

I paint in my studio, trying to impress onto the canvas or paper all that captivates me.

The Arctic gives back to me, and I want to share those feelings of joy, awe, peace, and beauty. And I want to urge the world to take heed and take care; we need the Arctic and it needs us.

As I explore Nova Scotia, seaweed is a balm for my soul: orange, purple, and green prevail. I am swaying, moving, and breathing in the salt air. I am alive. As are we all. Some estimates state that seaweed provides 70% more air than land. So begins the quest to paint more and learn about seaweed.

Biography

Carolyn Mallory raised her family in Iqaluit, Nunavut for 12 years from 1999-2011. The Arctic touched her deeply.

Carolyn returns to the Arctic in her capacity as a resource staff person onboard the Ocean Endeavour with Adventure Canada most years. Along with her naturalist duties, she gives watercolour painting workshops.

Since autumn 2019, Carolyn has been part of Tides Contemporary Art Gallery in Kentville, NS. The gallery changes artwork on the walls monthly and this has pushed her to expand her watercolour practice into oils.

Through two solo shows and a Brier Island residency, her love of seaweed has been heightened. Her work has recently been accepted at Teichert Gallery in Halifax.

Carolyn’s work often offers a perspective on a small part of Nature, a flower, a lichen, a bird. But she also showcases larger expanses of Nature; she truly feels it’s in both the largesse and the minutiae we are all connected.