Artist Bio

Carmen Grier was born and raised in Iowa, earning a degree in music from the University of Iowa. She soon found her way to her true passion: visual art.  She earned an MA in Textile Design from The University of Iowa followed by an MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art. 

In 2018, Carmen Grier redirected her work towards painting with oils. Before her current painting practice, Carmen Grier’s long, sustained career centered on creating and exhibiting functional and art textiles.  She taught and exhibited nationally, been awarded national and international residencies, and has had her work placed in private and public collections. 

Carmen Grier’s studio and home are in rural Mitchell County, NC where she resides with her husband, artist Terry Gess, having met in the mid- 1990’s while each participated in the prestigious 3-year Artist Residency at Penland School of Craft. 

The landscape of Western North Carolina, right outside her studio windows, is a constant inspiration for her work. Her dream day in the studio is having uninterrupted time to get into a flow, responding to the world around her manipulating color, line, and shape with paint.

 About the Process

On a gessoed panel, I first put down a thin layer of acrylic paint. With this first layer of texture and color in place, the piece is ready for oils.

The winter and early spring is an especially fruitful time for me in the studio.It is the perfect time to go inward. When the leaves are down, the stark bare branches create the most engaging shapes as they curve and bend over and under each other. I lay down evocative lines that I derive from these observations. The colors of the landscape are fairly neutral this time of year but the sudden peek of a green water tank, an orange surveyor stick, or a red vine is enough to get me started on a color palette. Once I start working the painting takes on a life of it’s own and I react to what’s before me making moment-to-moment decisions.

I never have a preset outcome for a painting. Each painting comes into being after a series of painting sessions with plenty of time to look and examine what is there already and what might happen next. At certain points, large changes happen and other times, small adjustments can entirely change the character of the piece. When I feel a sense of completeness, I know the painting is done.