‘ the birds drew the doorways, and we walked through’

~9’ x 60’ Latex on CMU, Painted for the South Salt Lake Mural Festival and the City of South Salt Lake

Once upon a time, I was walking in the foothills and stopped on a ridge all by myself, to look around & go wow. A few steps in front of me, magpies began shooting in an arc from one side of the ridge to the other, one by one. I watched, and I watched for longer, and they kept coming, a clockwork parade & me the onliest witness. Perhaps 15 magpies later I wondered whether I should do it, whether I should walk forward beneath the doorway they seemed to be drawing. I felt almost hesitant! What does it mean! What portal am I entering into!
&& suddenly, I walked through. Stopped again. Looked around. After walking through the magpie door I thought, the world MUST be different on the other side. Shinier, full of mystery and colors so bright they hurt your eyes. I looked around expecting the world to suddenly be magic and then it WAS.
The doors of perception I suppose! Occasionally we realize we can open our eyes all the way, the world is changed into magic just because of NOTICING. What a gift, the birds bring to us. Here we all are. May we choose to walk through the doors as they present themselves.

Caro’s dream-like, impressionistic landscapes pull the viewer into a specific place that feels outside of time. Gestural marks eddy beneath swaths of color-shift or tactile embroidery thread. Her paintings straddle the line between real and imaginary- understanding the notion that everything is always both. Caro paints primarily from memory, focusing more on the way a place felt than the facts of how it looked. In this way, memory morphs and heightens the shapes, shadows and colors of her landscape- blurring the facts in a way that feels more honest and true to the experience that it came from. At its heart, Caro’s work is about a personal relationship with landscapes, and all of the human and non-human influences and presences within them.

Rooted in traditions of impressionism, Caro’s paintings depict worlds in which the act of observation (beyond just that of sight) plays a role in their creation. By simply noticing magic within the mundane, the world that we live in becomes full of mystery and excitement, a world of hidden stories, meant to be uncovered by those who take the time to listen.

currently on view //

Caro’s work is currently on display at the following locations:

Salt Lake Community College, Eccles Art Gallery - Smoke Portal Project, Spring 2024

Stockists //

Atelier Salt Lake City, UT

Moab Made Moab, UT

Red Canyon Co Hurricane, UT