Carlyle Stem

Some of my fondest childhood days were spent in the leafy deciduous forests of the southern U.S. My family spent most weekends traipsing through the woods, catching tadpoles, looking for woodland wildflowers, and spotting migrating birds. I didn’t realize just how much at home I felt spending time outdoors until later in life at the end of a two-month long rugged, no-glamping, overland camping trip I took in Africa. The day I was scheduled to return home, my flight out of Zimbabwe was delayed…by twelve hours. While others in my group despaired of that much longer until a good shower, familiar food, clean clothes, and soft bed, I was thrilled. I was very happy to take every extra minute spending one more day out in the bush. I went to a nearby national park and wished the delay was longer.

“One more day” took on new meaning after moving to Colorado and completing a year and a half of thankfully successful cancer treatments. The world looked different, in an even greater brand new way. Details in nature, colors and light, took center stage. How beautiful it is here in Colorado!  After a career working for conservation causes, I slowed down more just to admire this beautiful world around me. Then I picked up a paint brush. With the help of a few art workshops and some outstanding art teachers, I became an artist, painting details and colors from nature.

Each of my paintings is inspired by the natural world around me. I find myself lost for hours in finding the right color combinations and seek to illuminate details that are most striking to me. I’m not a fast painter. For me, painting is a series of stops and starts, lots of thinking about it, looking at it from different perspectives, starting over, and repeat. I usually paint a painting several times. It is fun. And it is a pleasure to share my art with you. Thank you for taking a look.