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Artist Carol-Anne Michaelson photo

Carol-Anne Michaelson

I have had formal training in both education and art.  Art won out, although I do love to teach art. I travel as much and as often as I can.  I delight in finding beautiful and unusual places and to let them wash over me. I bring these impressions to my work.  

 

Perhaps even more importantly, I live beside a wooded conservation area and spend a great deal of time in nature, there.  It is these daily experiences that I am bringing back to my studio, as I work on my new series.

 

Texture was important to me in my ceramic work and continues to be in my paintings.  It is a major reason why I work with oil and cold wax medium.  My tools - squeegees, palette knives and brayers, help me to create these surfaces. This combination of materials allows me to build up layers of thick paint and scrape back through the colour and juicy surfaces.  Whether painting abstracted landscapes or non representational pieces, I am excited to get in my studio and work.  It is my challenging and happy place.

Biography      

 

Growing up in northern Quebec, she was daughter to an engineer and a painter.  Having the the freedom to explore the wild north and play in her mother’s studio was a great start, for an artist. 

 

Art school in Montreal, was followed by over 25 rewarding years as a professional ceramist.  Carol-Ann has taught and has been invited as a presenter in Asia, Europe, the USA and Canada.  

 

Residencies and the opportunities to work around the world have also informed her work.  She has won awards and grants, and has been recognized in publications and books.

 

Her work is in collections and museums in Canada and around the world. 

She has sat on many boards and continues to volunteer in numerous art organizations.  Currently, she is on the Board of The Artists Network in Toronto and is co-chair of the Leslie Grove Gallery.

 

Since 2012, her energies have been spent painting atmospheric, abstracted, and intuitive pieces using oil paint and cold wax medium. This thick and juicy material allows her to build texture and depth and create translucent and luminous, atmospheric paintings.

 

The multiple layers have tiny details which invite the viewer to come closer to engage intimately with the work and to also enjoy the piece from afar.  

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Website:  carolannmichaelson.com

 

Sample Artwork

Oil Painting Techniques Using Cold Wax

Date:      Sunday, May 25, 2025
Time:      10 am to 3 pm
Where:  Tim Horton Studio, FirstOntario Arts Centre Milton (2nd floor)
Fee:         Members: $100; Non-Members: $120

Workshop Description

This workshop will give the participants the opportunity to explore the many different ways to use cold wax in a painting.  We will each have the opportunity to work on two paintings using brayers, palette knives, squeegees, and a multitude of textural materials and stencils.  This will be a hands-on-workshop using Arches oil paper that will then be attached to a wooden gallery panel.

 

This is an opportunity to try some unique, and playful  techniques scraping back into layers and working wet on wet.  Prepare to have some fun!!

 

I will supply many of the unique materials that wouldn’t normally be in an artist's supplies.  Each artist will be responsible for bringing their own oil paints and if you have favourite stencils, Palette knives, or textures, feel free to bring them along.

 

There will be a materials fee to cover the cost of the cold wax medium, the gallery panels, and any other essential tools that I will  bring along.

 

As the date gets closer, I will send out a more specific list.

Materials List

  • Everyone must bring their own oil paints: at least five or six colours of varied hues.

  • Any rollers or squeegees

  • Brayers, if you have them (I have a few I will bring to share)

  • Wooden barbecue skewers

  • Fork

  • Palette knives

  • Stencils you like

  • Tissue paper

  • A roll of blue workshop towels preferred but paper towels can also work

  • Any catalyst tools they might have

  • Old credit cards or similar

  • Bowl scrapers

  • Any interesting mark-making tools you might have... this is a course about moving, adding, removing, texturing, so if you have a favourite tool or tools for this, bring them along

  • Any magazine images that you might like to incorporate to use for mixed media

  • Pencils, oil sticks, or markers... NO OIL PASTELS, THEY NEVER DRY WITH COLD WAX

  • Pan pastels

  • Coconut oil is great for cleaning up or soaps for oil paints

  • Everyone needs a piece of glass or palette paper or whatever they use to put your paints on.​

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