Carrie Stinson is a visual artist based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Paint, Paper, Metal, Wood. These are a few of my favorite materials. Add to these, a camera that works when I need it. Painting, Photography, Drawing, Printmaking - I love all of these methods of creating an image.
Lake Erie, the Great Lakes Region, and nature in general, are my muses.
Carrie Stinson - Visual Artist.
Paint, Paper, Metal, Wood.
These are a few of my favorite materials. Add to these, a camera that works when I need it. Painting, Photography, Drawing, Printmaking - I love all of these methods of creating an image.
Lake Erie and Nature
Lake Erie, the Great Lakes Region, and nature in general, are my muses. Cloudland is my nickname for Cleveland, and the “Lake Effect”* weather experienced here.
The lake is a “weather wildcard”. It can be unpredictable, resulting in skies with tempermental moods. Since childhood, I’ve been drawn to this phenomenon and inspired by the light and colors of the weather.
“Lake Erie Devotional” is an ongoing project that celebrates my love of our Great Lake.
*Lake Effect: ”A meteorological phenomenon in which warm moist air rising from a body of water mixes with cold dry air overhead resulting in precipitation especially downwind”. (Merriam-Webster).
The Birds
Birds saved me. I lost my job at the start of the pandemic. For the first week, I did not want to wake up. Yet, I was kept awake by a backyard bird singing his heart out every morning. He convinced me to get up and keep living. I vowed to find out who this bird was. (It was a Black-Capped Chickadee). Since then, I have been on many walks, exploring and observing birds, and learning as much as I can about them.
In March 2021, I observed Spring migration murmurations for the first time. Each year, migrating birds need to stop when they reach Lake Erie, before moving west and flying around the lake. It is a massive “traffic jam” of birds. I am unable to find the right words to describe the experience of witnessing this firsthand. Clouds of birds, swirling and forming patterns in the sky. Experiencing this for the first time felt like a “conversion” - a spiritual conversion.