Running through the forests, splashing in streams, and frolicking on the plains of Montana was where self-taught artist, Carrie Kohles spent her childhood and first discovered the magic of the horse and the land and her desire to capture them on paper. Following a career in Interior Design, Carrie left her field to pursue the arts. She is best known for her large-scale works on paper in acrylic and Chinese ink involving a mounting and varnishing process that she has developed and refined throughout the years. Carrie’s work has won awards in national and international art shows, was featured in two solo shows, and been included in several museum exhibits. She is currently represented in Austin, TX. She lives with her husband and two children in a house along the Sun River just outside of Great Falls, Montana where she still frolics and splashes when she’s not in her studio or messing around with her horses.
Statement
As an artist living in Montana, I have never had a shortage of inspiration, because, as most Montanans already know, Montana is pure magic, so there is no shortage of stunning views and, my first love, horses. Horses, like Montana, are in some ways, mystical and unknowable. They are soft, fierce, beautiful, and rough all at the same time. Both have taught me how to be still but mostly they’ve taught me that there is an elusive magic to life that sits just below the surface, a balance between random chance and grand design. It can only be seen when the mind is quiet and at peace. It is the essence of this magic that resides at the core of my work, and the spirit of the horse or landscape that defines the brush strokes and colors I use.