If You Had Everything, Where Would You Put It?
By Steve Scanlon

Dryer fluff, carpet samples, computer chips, door handles, keys, playing cards, marbles, stamps, figurines, sponges, twine, dolls, bottle caps, belt buckles, puzzle pieces, typewriter parts, hinges, bed knobs and broomsticks. Pick a letter of the alphabet, think of an object that begins with that letter, and Carol Lee Riley has probably used it in her artwork. Remember the old joke, "if you had everything, where would you put it?" Apparently you could store it in Carol Lee's studio.

Approaching her studio is like walking into a fairy tale. Set deep in the woods, it is surrounded by whimsical stone wind chimes, sculptures of broom people, towering metal sentinels, fanciful figures, sculptures and displays. This is just the prequel to the main event, waiting over the threshold of her studio. Carol Lee describes it as her dream studio because her partner Larry ("an excellent carpenter"), built it and it suits her perfectly. I would describe it as a dream studio for different reasons. Every wall is covered with art. Every nook and cranny is taken up with materials. One wall is reserved for masks: a collection of faces of differing sizes, shapes and colours gazing down from above. Another wall holds Carol Lee's paintings: some dark and mysterious, others bright and cheerful. Yet another wall holds her current work, what she refers to as "Trashformations" - collages, assemblages and constructions designed using recycled materials.

To say that Carol Lee recycles is like saying water is wet; she lives and breathes recycling, she is a self-professed "junk junky." What is amazing is the transformation from "junk" to jewel. There is an appropriately named piece, Netscape, assembled using netting and computer parts. Caught Up features a figure struggling to untangle itself from a web. Names like We'd Sing, Traveling Dream or simply Red Box are all typical of the work produced by an artist who is anything but.

In talking about her background, Carol Lee recalls her childhood "walking along the road in spring looking for shiny items" she'd collect and use to decorate bushes. Decorating her small bedroom as a teenager may have been Carol Lee's first collage; however, it would be years before she realized that it was art she was creating and that art could be a profession. She always thought of it as more of a compulsion until, as a young adult, she began larger creations and discovered "all the media out there to play with." She spent several years doing zinc plate etching, then focused on tonal painting. In one incarnation she worked solely on masks, and at another point studied tin work in Mexico. With a few courses here and there to improve certain aspects of her work, Carol Lee relies on trial and error and experimentation to hone her skills, jumping into new media with both feet, bending the rules, then adding them to her repertoire.

Carol Lee's artwork will make you think, it will make you look at it sideways, and it will make you smile. It is bright, colourful, playful and fanciful. The recipe calls for a little nostalgia, a cup or two of clever and a pinch of quirky, but like Mom's Irish stew it's never the same meal twice. Carol Lee says; "It's not your average, conservative art that you hang above your couch in your living room. It takes a certain type of person (to appreciate the work)."

As a multimedia artist with an extensive and varied background Carol Lee feels that "not taking a regimented course of study gave me the freedom to choose my own path." She has the luxury of non-conformity supplemented by a non-traditional approach to her art. She has worked in paint, papier-mâché, hand made papers, tinwork, sculpture, drawing, needlework, pastels… the list goes on. Currently she is collecting bottle openers. She has no idea what the result of this collection will be, but it's sure to be unique and inspired.

Carol Lee collects her unusual material from unusual places like the village dump, or from garage sales and friends who hang on to the weird and wacky for her (although event the mundane has surprising potential!). The materials she collects and her surroundings inspire her. As Carol Lee sees it, living near Westport she is surrounded by many talented artists in the area, "not just visual arts - there's music and theatre, there are lots of very creative people in the area." If she lived in the city she would have to pay rent on a residence and studio, which would mean working 9 to 5. This would leave her with less time to work on her artwork, and without the space or time to devote to collecting materials. As it is, she lives a little off the beaten path, in the woods, in a solar powered home next to her studio. She has space in the studio for her materials and a venue for her workshops. Carol Lee offers a series of mixed media workshops throughout the year. It is a good combination of inspiration and practicality.

This year Carol Lee has had a solo show at the Upstairs Gallery in Kingston, she has won one of three "Best of Show" awards at the Springer Lounge, and has shown her work at the RiverEdge Art Show in Almonte, Art in the Park in Ottawa, and the Dandelion Gardens Studio Tour in Westport. She has a number of shows coming up this year including the McAndrews Road Open Studios (Carol Lee's studio along with The Enchanted Forest Studio and Dragon Ridge Studio - all on McAndrews Road - will be open to the public on August 13 & 14), the Kingston Women's Art Festival (August 21 at Kingston City Park, visit <www.womensartfestivalkingston.ca> for more information), The Blue Skies Music Festival (in Clarendon on July 30), The Rideau Valley Arts Festival (August 26-28), and The Westport and Area Fall Colours Studio Tour (October 8-10, <www.artatwork.ca/westport_studiotours>).

Carol Lee also has a five workshops planned for July and August including Face to Face - embellished masks molded from your face (July 9), and Trashformations and the Creative Process (August 6 & 7). For more information on these workshops and individual tutorials or to book an appointment to view Carol Lee's work call 530-1117 or visit her web page at www.artatwork.ca/carol_lee. As her studio motto states: "Discover something different in the woods!"