Carroll Swayze's Artist Statement

  "As a confirmed Environmentalist, the world around me has always been my source of inspiration. Never a day breaks that I don't feel lucky to be here on planet Earth creating art. Whether I am drifting in my boat, sailing in the Gulf of Mexico or fishing with my three sons, I am awestruck by the beauty that surrounds us. My work is simply a reflection of that..."

 


Birth to Present Day

     Born in Toronto, Canada on November 2, 1955. Began oil painting at 8 years old. At 14 exhibited in her first art festival, the Allentown Outdoor Art Festival in Buffalo, NY. Majored in Painting & Printmaking at York University in Toronto, Ontario with extended studies at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida after relocating to Florida in 1977. The search for the perfect palm tree brought Swayze south permanently in 1978.
     Carroll Swayze lives and works in the the town of Englewood, a small beach community on the Gulf of Mexico in south Florida. Visitors are always welcome in her back woods studio near the beach. When she is not fishing or exploring tropical islands she splits her time creating original art in her studio in Florida, her small summer gallery in Brethren, Michigan and teaching art to children and adults at the Englewood Art Center, Boca Grande Art Alliance and other art centers around the country. Her popular Children’s Art Camps, held each summer are always one of the highlights of the community calendar.


Exhibitions

       Carroll Swayze has exhibited in every major Fine Arts Festival in the US & Canada. Her Limited Edition Hand Colored Etchings and Original Acrylic Paintings are in public and private collections worldwide and she is represented by over forty galleries.


Memberships

Englewood Art Center
Boca Grande Art Alliance
Venice Art Center
Charter Member Florida Printmakers Society
National Association of Independent Artists
Steering Committee Hermatage Artists Retreat Project
Englewood/Cape Haze Chamber of Commerce
Boca Grande Chamber of Commerce

 


Private & Public Collections

Florida International University, Miami, Florida
Walt Disney Corporation, Orlando, Florida
Steven Simoni Collection, Dallas, Texas
Margaret Adorjan & Associates, Englewood, Florida
Debbie Weston Collection, Englewood, Florida
Donald & Sharon Shaffett, Englewood, Florida
Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, Cortez, Florida

 


Honors

 The Carroll Swayze Art Scholarship was established by the Englewood Rotary Club in 1996. This ongoing yearly scholarship is given to one or two Lemon Bay High School art students to help them pursue their artistic endeavors.

 


A Few Galleries

Ashland Gallery, Mobile, Alabama
Autumn's Whims, Anna Maria Island, Florida
Frog's Landing Gallery, Cedar Key, Florida
Fisheads Gallery, Brant Beach, New Jersey
Pea Island Gallery, Pea Island, North Carolina
Frame Gallery, Hood River, Oregon
Island Style Gallery, Key West, Florida
Island Style Gallery, Sanibel Island, Florida
Koucky Gallery, Pine Island, Florida
Lemon Tree Gallery, Englewood, Florida
Lyons Share Gallery, Fairhope, Alabama
Mermaids Gallery, Little Cayman Island
Nancy Markoe Gallery, St Pete Beach, Florida
Nomads Gallery, Tallahasee, Florida
Paradise Gallery, Boca Grande, Florida
Ocean Traders, Lighthouse Point, Florida
Old Opera House Gallery, Sebastion, Florida
Rubini Gallery, Benzonia, Michigan
Suitable For Framing, Richmond, Virginia
The Banana Cabana, West Palm Beach, Florida
Wild Women Gallery, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida