Carolyn Egeli is a painter’s painter. As the daughter of two successful artists, she was classically trained at home from a young age, as were her four siblings. But Egeli notes that for her, “Art is not in the techniques and principles alone. Observation is at the heart of what I do.”
In Waiting for the Signal, Egeli shows us just how attentive an observer she is. Before she begins a painting like this one, Egeli goes into the woods with the logging team and forester and familiarizes herself with the horses and the work at hand. She draws and studies the physiognomy of the animals and observes how they interact with each other. The success of the logging work depends on a balanced relationship between the horses, and Egeli aptly conveys this important dynamic.
Waiting for the Signal is a tour de force. The painting is infused with equine strength and mass. When Egeli starts a painting she “exaggerates the feeling of movement at the beginning. Without attention to movement, the painting falters, the passion fails.” Egeli’s empathic painting is full of passion and conveys the patience and warmth of these horses in the cold winter air. We can feel their anticipation of the signal and their readiness for the strong, steady pull forward.
Carolyn Egeli may be reached through her website. She welcomes visitors to her Vermont studio with advance notice. A solo show of her work at the Chandler Music Hall gallery in Randolph, Vermont, is planned for September/October 2023.