York artist stars in major Leeds exhibition

Carol Douglas, a talented York-based artist who only took up painting in her 60s, is currently attracting widespread praise for her work at a major Leeds exhibition.

Carol is taking part in the acclaimed Vessel exhibition at the Sunny Bank Mills Gallery in Farsley.

She has collected art throughout her life and in her mid-60s went to York College to take an Art Foundation course.

Carol explained: “This gave me the confidence to start painting and I was lucky enough to win the Art and Design Lifelong Student of the Year Award 2018.”

Now aged 70, she has work in galleries in York, online galleries in London and is collected by interior designers and collectors.

She commented: “For many years, my artistic expression was channelled into my personal art collection and the aesthetics of my domestic surroundings. I was excited by the work of John Bratby, one of the kitchen sink painters. As the name suggests he would paint images of friends and family surrounded by the detritus of domestic life. This appealed to me.

“I have always admired artists such as Rose Wylie and Philip Guston who produced what appear to be unstructured images, using the flat plane and lack of perspective. My final project at art college was named Domestic Objectivity and this theme has continued throughout my work.

Carol uses acrylic on canvas and paints with small rollers which create the flat surfaces she requires. Even though from time to time she attempts to introduce primary colours in her work she finds she is constantly drawn to a pared back, earthy colour palette. Recently she has enjoyed working on a large scale, painting semi abstract figures in domestic settings.

Jane Kay, the Gallery director and curator of the exhibition, explained: “We are incredibly excited and proud about Vessel exhibition and are honoured to be featuring Carol’s wonderful work.

“The exhibition is an imaginative investigation into the form and function of vessels through 2D and 3D visual art and craft, events and discussion. We are unpacking the notions surrounding these containers; showing a collection of multi-media art works alongside two pop-up exhibitions which invite you to consider ‘vessels’ from a more conceptual viewpoint.”

Vessel runs until Sunday October 30 at the Sunny Bank Mills Art Gallery in Farsley, near Leeds LS28 5UJ