Welcome!

"Gnome's Homes" The shy gnomes are all scrambling to hide from you, except for Freddy who has flowers to greet you with! I was just painting along, and the next thing you know my tree had a door painted on it. Freddy couldn't live there all alone, so it became a whole gnome forest! This one was sold some time ago - probably one of the first 5 that I sold.

My name is Carolyn Caton, a self-taught, maybe "naive", "primitive", "folk artist" or "outsider" too - I'll leave that part up to you!

I guess to start out, a little background information would be in order. I'll give you just a quick rundown -

I was born in 1966 and grew up in a suburb of Kansas City. This was back in the 1970's, and homeowner's associations were the exception rather than the rule back then. Which was fortunate, because as long as I can remember I've had the overwhelming urge to plant things. Such crops as corn and pumpkins were memorable plantings from my younger days. I was in the first grade when I secretly planted my first crop of pumpkins, much to my mother's dismay. She was not a very happy camper when my pumpkins took over half of the yard, but all-in-all, she tolerated my gardening fairly well.

Fast forward to 2004 - I finally arrived to my long awaited country home! I got busy right away, planting to my heart's content - everything from pine trees to rose bushes, to wildflowers, to - of course, corn and pumpkins!

From 2005 on, it's been bitter-sweet, my country life. It seems as though one tragedy after another has befallen my family since then, and planting things more often than not seems to take a backseat to other, more pressing matters. I'll spare you all of the gory details.

And then, in 2007 or 2008 (can't exactly remember), my teenagers left their art supplies out one night. There were only 4 colored pencils and a pad of paper, but for some reason that night I decided to "give it a go" instead of merely putting them away as I normally would have. The next thing I knew, it was 4 in the morning and I was totally hooked!

I decided that I needed my own art supplies, and so I started out with some watercolors and some Derwent Watercolor and Inktense Pencils.

Christmas of 2010 brought me a new set of acrylic paints, and that's when I really started painting a lot. My favorite things to paint - country scenes, trees, wildflowers, sometimes a rough, raw, prehistoric landscape comes across my canvas. I quickly figured out that if I was going to keep painting, then I really needed to start selling some of them or be buried up to the rafters with them.

So, in 2011, I began selling them regularly.  It was kind of hard to do at first - knowing that you will likely never see your painting again - but the first one that I sold went to someone who really wanted that particular painting, and I really was happy for them to have it, knowing that they would enjoy it. After that, they sold fairly quickly and easily, and though this shocked me more than a little bit, it also pleased me a great deal. I really was flabbergasted to find that I'd sold nearly every painting that I made in 2011.

People sometimes want to know what drives me to paint. The only way I know of to describe it is this: It is somewhat an escape of sorts for me. Very much like when you are reading a good book and are lost in the story. For a time, it really is almost like I live in the painting. Part of my surprise when I first started selling them, was that it felt like I had "used up" all of the enjoyment from a painting, by the time I finished it. The idea that others could then enjoy them further had not really occurred to me - I know that probably sounds strange - but I really was overjoyed at the thought!

I felt like I had made some awesome new discovery! I hadn't, of course, but it was all new and strange and wonderful to me. People have been painting and enjoying art for eons, but it was something other people did in my world,  up until then.



Me



I suppose that I've rambled on long enough for now - that's pretty much how I got started and where I'm at now. I haven't taken an art class since the seventh grade, never studied art at all, though like most people, I have always enjoyed other people's art. I guess in a nutshell, it was just a happy accident that I ever began painting at all.

I'm going to begin by posting some of my earliest pieces - the watercolors are all some of my first ones. I don't think I've done anymore watercolors since I first got the acrylic paints in December of 2010.