In Carole Wade’s landscapes, skiers traverse lavender shadows, golden-flanked horses gallop through brightly mottled fields, and splotches of snow and sunlight brighten Main Street shops. At Wade’s nimble hand, Park City scenes vibrate with color and energy, recreating the emotion of experience through the use of light and hue.

Like her brushwork, Carole Wade is accustomed to a bold and adventurous lifestyle. Despite having had a successful and award-winning career as a graphic designer, the desire to paint to won out. First, though, upon retiring from the advertising industry, she gathered up her paints and brushes and set out for a 4-year single-handed circumnavigation of the Atlantic Ocean in her 30-foot Allied Seawind ketch, Italic.

In August of 2011, Wade was awarded Best of Show in the 35th annual Kimball Art Festival. She also won the prestigious Juror’s Choice Award at the 2003 Summer Juried Show and Best of Show in the Autumn Juried Show of the Falmouth (Cape Cod) Artists’ Guild. She won the $1000 prize in a Canary Islands competition in 2002 and First Prize in the Tubac Arizona juried show in the spring of 2004.

The vibrant Park City lifestyle gives rise to Carole Wade’s paintings. She is an avid skier who takes full advantage of the adventure, community, and pleasures Park City living has to offer. Wade is also a passionate traveler, and her journeys further nourish her muse.

Wade begins by laying down a rich underpainting on panel. Then, working from her own photography, she applies a vivacious range of acrylic paints. Large brush strokes help to create the energetic, percussive feel of her scenes. The finishing move of small splatters contributes to the feeling of wild aliveness in her work.

Statement

It takes more courage for me to put brush to canvas than it took to set sail on the ocean alone.