Artist Biography
Blending of colourful brushstrokes delicately applied to canvas or paper gives an insight to the inspirations of the works by Carla James.
An artist inspired by nature and her surroundings as well as background identity.
Working in oils, acrylics and watercolors enables Carla to express strong and colorful emotion in a delicate way.
Carla’s journey as an artist began at an early age. She grew up in a small village in the English countryside. The village sits on the top of a hill with magnificent views of a city on one side and rolling hills, valleys and lakes on the other side. Spending time within these environments had a huge influence.
Carla also has influences from the Caribbean island of Trinidad where her Mother's side of the family are from, with ancestry originating in India.
Carla spends time in Trinidad once a year enjoying Caribbean and Indian cultural influences in a rural and tropical village setting. The village is surrounded with an abundance of vegetation including tropical trees, flowers and wildlife with luminous colors and sounds of the rainforest.
Throughout her school years Carla attended classes within the English countryside setting and excelled in Art.
Art was always her focus and passion.
In secondary school she began to develop her artistic skills further and tailored her studies towards a career in art.
Carla went on to study Art at the University of the West of England, graduating with a BA(hons) in Drawing and Applied Art.
During this period at university Carla attended many workshops to practice and develop her skills. Some of these included; painting, drawing, print design, photography, fashion and textiles.
Within her time at university and the next few years Carla traveled around the U.S, Canada, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean, soaking up cultures and experiences.
One thing that resonated with her the most during traveling was the lustre of nature. She was particularly interested in plants, flowers, bold colors and the freeness.
These influences shine through in Carla’s work.
After a few years working and traveling Carla began dedicating more time to Art and decided to start selling work.
Carla loves to paint and draw in a style that is bold but captures the delicate quality of nature as well as her personality. Soft flowing brush strokes are like a transfer of her natural movements as she glides the brush across a surface blending colours to create light and form.
Nature, flowers, plants and landscapes allow Carla to express style, travel and cultural influence within her work.
When she paints these subject matters from locations of meaning and influence she can convey her identity.
Carla especially paints typically English or tropical flora and fauna for this reason, sometimes with the accent of gold leafing or intricate patterns as a hint of her Indian ancestry.
Seeing a painting develop as it is worked on is something quite meaningful to Carla. She sometimes likes to indicate an unfinished ‘non finito’ style, as she wants to get the viewers thinking, imagining and using their own creativity to wonder what could be next? This is also a reference that she continues to grow and develop personally and as an artist.
Carla continues to develop as an artist and has expanded her business with an online shop. This has enabled buyers and collectors to purchase work worldwide.
Art work can be found for sale online on Etsy, Folksy and the Studio shop here on this site.
There are also a range of printed items available online at Contrado, Society6, RedBubble and Casetify.
A selection of prints, limited edition prints and some originals are exhibited and for sale in a small selection of shops in Bristol, listed below.
Room212 Gallery
Bristol Tourist Information centre
Blaze
The Little Shop
Clifton Suspension Bridge Visitor Center
Glass Designs Gallery
Please feel free to contact me for any enquiries, custom made orders, or informaton using the contact page and links provided.
