Welcome to the art of Carol Thompson.

My art is my life -- my avocation -- my occupation -- my living -- my overwhelming addiction.

I've been painting for over 40 years, always looking forward to enhancing my ability as an artist. I am primarily self taught using my skills of observation and experimentation to develop the styles that please me. With help from artists I admire, including the masters, and extensive study and investigation, I continue to grow in knowledge and proficiency. .

Even though my specialty is seascapes, I paint many other subjects in different syles using several media on several different substrates. With oil, pastel, gouache, and watercolor on canvas and paper (and sometimes other things), in realistic, impressionistic, luministic, and semi-abstract styles, I paint everything around me that grabs my attention. .

I study my subjects thoroughly to insure accuracy. With sketch pad and camera, my husband Ed and I visit interesting sites and subjects. Ed has an eye for the photography and I the expertise with a pencil and pad, so when we leave a subject it is well researched. I use the photographs to help remember the details, but my sketch pad and memory are my most used tools to develop a composition and interpret it onto the canvas. .

Ed, is my techy. With 50+ years as a 'computer guy', having started in the Air Force, working for AEC and DOD near Las Vegas, Nevada, and with the State of Washington, his skills have been invaluable to me as an artist. He keeps track of everything and manages my website. We do all of our own printing using a Hasselblad 50 mega-pixel camera to digitize the images, Photoshop CS4 to color correct and prepare the images for printing, high end Epson printers (13", 17", and 44") and high quality papers and canvas for printing. There are a muriad of other computer programs, framing tools and materials, shipping materials, photographic lighting, and more that are employed to make everything work. .

We live near the beach in a little city at the southwest tip of Washington state called Klipsan Beach. It's just north of Long Beach, Washington. At the drop of a pin, we will hop in the big white 4 wheel drive Suburban and head for the beach. We always have bread from the day old bread store for the seagulls and crows. Sometimes we fly kites, as we are avid flyers (having flown up and down the West coast, and in Florida, Nevada, and Hawaii). Sometimes we haunt the waterfront harbors or the lighthouses. Sometimes we visit the 'no kill' animal shelter to pet the kitties. Sometimes the ocean, a seagull or crow, a boat or a kitty will show up in a painting. A few minutes out and about brings our psychi's back to normal, then it's back to painting and doing techy things. .

Ed left his employment in 1989 with the state of Washington, withdrew his retirement, invested in my career, and we have made 100% of our living from my painting, with no government benefits or other retirement plans. We are constantly working (playing) and are well motivated, as the bills must be paid. I love to paint and Ed loves to play with his toys (as he calls them) but I think having to make a living at this causes us to have a much more realistic perspective on art. I pretty much paint what I want to paint in the manner I want to paint it but even though my paintings must please me, I want them to please the public as well. I want my products (paintings and prints on paper and canvas) to be the very best that can be produced, so quality in the equipment, the materials we use, and our knowledge and understanding of our avocation/occupation is in the forefront of our daily activity. .

My artwork, originals and prints, are sold all over the world and have been published in many magazines and books as articles and advertisements. I have been on the 6 o'clock news painting a mural and interviewed on public television and radio stations in several states. I've been on boards, a member of art groups and service clubs, and a docent. My work has hung in a US Senator's office in Washington D.C., state office buildings, and galleries (many one person shows). I have given demonstrations and lectures, consulted on art hangings and purchases, chaired art shows, volunteered as an art teacher, and adjudicated juried art exhibits. I have participated in prestigious art shows in 5 states throughout the West plus Florida. I have won numerous awards. I have been interviewed, photographed, written about, signed autographs, signed books and booklets, given a free lunch, and embarrassed on many occasions by adoring fans. And after all of this, I just want to be an artist! .

I am an artist through and through. My art is my life. I will paint until my last breath. .

For more information, please visit my website at www.carolthompson.com.