painting art by carol may

One of my early paintings

After graduation I had to spend most of my time earning a living. Art was set aside until my mother retired. 

She took up painting and studied under various art teachers. One of the teachers she studied under was Bill Alexander.

Bill Alexander was Bob Ross's mentor and teacher. My mother became a certified teacher under Bill Alexander just like Bob Ross.

She started teaching art and gave me some painting lessons.

My beginning paintings were in the Bill Alexander (Bob Ross) method. Mountains were the main subject.

"Paddlin' Pelican" waiting to be painted

My husband and I moved to Florida where we had our own business.

The business kept us quite busy, but when there was time, I painted.

Pelicans are an amazing gift of God that I had never seen before. They intrigued me and I started painting them.

I did so many pelican paintings that after a while I vowed, "No more pelican paintings!"

Well that lasted for a while, here is a more recent pelican painting.

Honored with a Best of Show

Artists tend to paint what we see around us. Actually that is the best way to learn painting.

The flora and fauna of Florida put me in awe! Plants and animals had always been a joy for me.

The pelicans, all the other birds and flowers of Florida were all new to me and they are amazing.

First the pelicans and egrets were the subject of my paintings. I painted brown pelicans, white pelicans, flying pelicans, pelicans standing on pilings or on the beach.

Then I started painting the flowers and seascapes of Florida.

This flower painting was privileged to get a best of show ribbon.

"Country Barns"

Since my mom and I lived in different states, I rarely got to paint with her any more.

But one time we went to the New England area and painted on location for two weeks.

It was the first time I had ever seen the beautiful fall colors of New England. That was awesome! We didn't see many fall colors in Florida.

After I got home I continued working on the paintings.

When "Country Barns" was complete, I entered it in a local show. It was privileged to win another best of show award.

Spring Beauty

My goal as an artist is to share the beauty and wonder of God's beautiful creations.

I have always had a love for nature. My first paintings were landscape paintings.

Then some of my favorite subjects were birds, butterflies, hummingbirds and other critters like giraffes and dolphins.

Now I am working on flower paintings. They often will include a butterfly or a hummingbird.

My paintings are signed with my first and middle name - Carol May.

I hope you enjoy my work, as much as I enjoy painting and sharing it.

More Awards "Koi Meeting"

As time permitted, I continued to paint and enter local shows.

This painting "Koi Meeting" won the best of the class award for oil paintings.

It was the largest painting I had ever done to date, four feet wide. A real estate company bought it to hang in their new office. What an honor!

My paintings are smaller now-a-days, but it's still just as much fun.

You can paint, too!

My favorite Florida painting

When the paintings started running out of the spare bedroom, Art by Carol May was born.

In the beginning I put my paintings in galleries.

Then I joined a wonderful art co-op, Island Arts in Cedar Key, Florida. It was fun working with the other artists.

My husband suggested we do some of the street art festivals in Florida.  We did that for a few years.

It was such a joy meeting people and sharing art with them. Now the internet reaches many more people than the street festivals.

"Born Free"

I taught the Bill Alexander (Bob Ross) method of oil painting to students in Florida.

About the turn of the century I started painting with watercolor. I taught myself to paint watercolor using the basic art principles.

These principles of art apply to all types of paintings no matter what medium you use.

People started asking me to teach my watercolor methods, so I taught aspiring students.

We painted things like the Florida Bottlenose Dolphins.

A quick, fun painting

In the past I would only paint when there was a full day or maybe a week to devote to painting.

It takes discipline to make painting a regular habit.

Now my goal is to make painting a regular habit.

I am working on this situation by painting smaller. I am doing a series of small 8x8" paintings.

You will find some of these paintings on the Painting Daily page.

There are many beautiful saltwater fish. This butterfly fish is found more in the Pacific.

It was fun to paint and made a nice little painting in one day.

"Courage" a prophetic painting

I keep learning and growing but, it's time to pass it on.

Now after retirement, my home is in a small town in horse and cattle country. Horses are a joy to paint.

When I moved here I had the aspirations of selling paintings like I did in Florida and giving painting lessons.

But the painting market is not as lively here, as it was in Florida. And my house is not big enough to have students.

My desire is to share my years of experience with budding artists to advance their artistic journey.

So, I needed to change horses in the middle of the stream. Art by Carol May needed to expand.