Carol Hanlin is the Bay Area Artists' Association Featured Artist for April & May 2024. A sampling of her art can be viewed at the Coos Art Museum during this time.
Carol Hanlin has followed artistic pursuits all her life. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area she remembers always drawing and then actively studying art, drama and ballet through her High School years. But classical ballet was her first love and she used an Art Department scholarship to begin advanced studies at the San Francisco Ballet School. This lead to spending the next 36 years as a professional dancer, and with her husband, as teachers/owner’s of a large ballet school just outside of Santa Barbara, CA.
Moving to Vancouver, WA, upon retirement, it was a few more years before she was drawn back to two dimensional art. She enrolled in a Clark College Focus on Mature Learning watercolor class, with Susan Cowan, and was immediately drawn to her style and intense use of color and studied with her until moving to North Bend, in September 2009. She also added classes with Lee Baughman and has attended six, on location, “Art-Adventures” workshops with them. Other
workshops she’s attended include Sally Bailey, Lian Chen, Larry Johnson, Jan Kunz, Wendell Mohr, Judy Morris, Carla O’Conner, and Judy Treman.
In 1999, Carol juried to Active Membership in both the Southwest Washington Watercolor Society (SWWS) and the Oregon Society of Artists (OSA). Her two entries in the Northern Plains Watercolor Society 2000 Exhibition each won an award; She has received two first place awards from OSA; and several first place awards and a Best in Show from SWWS. Carol received two additional Best in Show awards at other Vancouver area shows. (In Coos Bay she has received several awards in BAAA shows, including Best of Show in 2012 and Best of Show In Coos Art Museum’s Sense of Place show.)
Her painting, Northwest Spring, was juried into the Northwest Watercolor Society (NWWS) member’s show in 2006, and Bronze Horse of St. Marks, was juried into the NWWS Open Exhibition in 2007. Her last two years in Vancouver she was a member of Artists Gallery 21.
In 2006 their only child, Professional Chef Shawn Hanlin, moved his family from Vancouver to Coos Bay to accept the Directorship of OCCI. Carol made many trips here to spend time with her grandchildren and soon discovered Coos Art Museum. She was amazed to have such a fine facility in a city of this size and is continually inspired by its wonderful exhibits! The Hanlins became CAM
members before they actually moved here so Carol could make repeated visits whenever she was in town, becoming a weekly volunteer as soon as they moved in. She also had a number of her paintings in CAM’s Rental/Sales Gallery, until she joined The Artist Loft Gallery in 2014.
Shortly after moving to North Bend, Carol joined the Bay Area Artists Association (BAAA) to become more acquainted with other artists. She served as their Treasurer for several years as they were preparing to apply for their non-profit status. Carol was also an active member of The Artist Loft Gallery from 2014, serving as Board President the past three years, until they lost their building in
January 2024!
Carol still works in watercolor but has added acrylics, often combined with
watercolor, and would like to add ink and colored pencil. She has also just
started working on abstract style paintings.