Oil 8 x 10, Overcast in Galesteo by Carole Belliveau was awarded 3rd Place in the July 2024 BoldBrush Art Contest & Exhibit.

Biography

My parents nurtured my passion for art. They took me to the Metropolitan Opera House, Broadway Theater, and gave me exposure to art museums and the culture of New York City. Drawing became my favorite activity. I entered Parson's School of Design's Graphic Arts Department because it was the closest thing to Fine Art that I could afford at the time.

Later I moved to Boston where I was exposed to the Fine Art Doll world. I found artists there that created miniature people in doll form so I decided to try my hand at sculpture. That led to a twenty-five year career designing one-of-a-kind and limited edition dolls for the collector's market which at that time was the most popular hobby in America. Dollmaker, The Eyelight and the Shadow was published by Scribner's (ISBN: 0-684-17170-8) and focused on my creation of a portrait doll of my son. I was not trained in sculpture or pattern design yet I developed a distinctive style and experimented with diverse mediums that led to many awards. Each year I introduced a new doll collection at the American International Toy Fair in New York City. I also designed toy concepts for notable firms like Marie Osmond Dolls, Hasbro, Coleco, Tyco and others.

In 1996, I moved to California where I found a new inspiration in a countryside of unlimited vistas, incandescent color, and an ocean full of drama and light. I was attracted to landscape and it changed everything. I entered The Academy of Art University to pursue a BFA. During this time I went back to oils and painted both the figure and landscapes with passion. After graduating, I joined several artist groups including as a Signature Member of Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association (MBPAPA) where I served on the board and as President. I was featured in the North Light publication Incite, Dreams Realized, The Best of Mixed Media.

In 2018 I moved to beautiful and still wild Santa Fe, NM where I paint "en plein air" using a palette knife. In 2019 I won the Grand Prize in TRAC 2019. I am grateful many awards have followed. I became a Signature Member of American Women Artists (AWA), a member of American Impressionist Society, Oil Painters of America (OPA) and a Signature Member and Vice President of Plein Air Painters of New Mexico of Santa Fe. Experiments in diverse materials have fueled my inspiration and enabled me to stay open to potential visual options. My passion for art has led to a life filled with possibilities.

Learn More About Carole Belliveau

Personal Note: Carole has been a friend (full disclosure), fellow painter and colleague in the administration of the PAPNM. I have been happy to follow her for the years I have known her. In particular, I attended her one-person retrospective at the Step-Up Gallery in Los Alamos a few years ago and saw in person some of her beautiful dolls. And I also attended the eye-opening and inspiriting workshop she gave in Los Alamos last year, when she was the judge of the Paint Out and Show. As a mentor, she often suggests new artists to study and she has been a big proponent of my own new style of painting, using my mathematical background to inform my painting in a different way. I am happy that Bold Brush has recognized Carole with this article.