In each painting I find the starting point for the next one and the ability to grow my ideas. Starting with spontaneous thumbnail drawings, I enlarge the roughs and add a liberal dose of color. These paintings for me, are a snapshot of my life at the inception of the works. They are a voice I use to communicate. They are my opportunity to be physically silent and shout at the same time.
The Burlington artist’s style is abstract, expressionist, and uniquely his. “I think I’ve only ever painted in this style. I started in high school and then kind of put it away. Eventually I came back to it,” Carlson. As the artist gets older and is exhibiting his work more, he is carving out more time to paint. Most of his works of art take three or four weeks to complete. While a lot of art has social or political meaning, that’s not what Carlson is expressing. “For me I think it’s a way to express my personal feelings, to try to get it out there. I’m kind of a shy person, this might be my only outlet,” Carlson said. His paintings are also imbued with his sense of humor, he said.
Carlson resides in Burlington, Iowa, graduating from Marycrest College in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Graphics. He has exhibited throughout Iowa and Illinois, in one person, group and invitational shows. He has received First Place awards for his paintings in Keokuk, Iowa and Galesburg, Ill. and a special award at an Iowa Artists Exhibition.
