As a paper artist, I gather books, magazines, brochures and catalogs to create hand-cut works of art that people often mistake for oil paintings when viewed from a distance. I enjoy the treasure hunt for textures, letters, faces, odds and ends much like a squirrel in a park looking for nuts. My images are full to the brim with color, movement and Easter eggs hidden in plain sight. Although entirely different as a medium, I find much of my inspiration comes from medieval manuscripts like The Book of Kells and The Lindisfarne Gospels. You really cannot overestimate the dedication and love these monks poured into creating each page. I like to think of myself as a monk's apprentice, meditating for months on a single piece to squeeze as much juice out of its potential as possible. By doing so, my hope is to create something the buyer can also meditate on, with all the fresh thoughts and associations that emerge from seeing mismatched splices of history and pop culture wonderfully welded together, creating new pathways in the brain. I work at a snail's pace, lightyears behind AI, working to fashion something special and above all, human.
Solo Exhibitions
2025 Williamson County Library in Franklin, TN
2022 Franklin Theater Art Show at the Franklin Theater in Franklin, TN
2021 “Unprecedented: Franklin in 2020” at The Rutledge in Franklin, TN
2019 “China and Beyond” at Raven and Whale Gallery in Nashville, TN
2016 “Frolics in Italy” at O’More College of Design in Franklin, TN
Group Exhibitions
2023 “C.AU.S.E Fest/Rebels For a Cause” at Liberty Hall in Franklin, TN
2022 Flying Solo Summer Exhibit at BNA in Nashville, TN
2020 “Hindsight is 20/20” Centennial Art Center in Nashville, TN
2017 “Brentwood Academy Art Show” in Brentwood, TN
2015 “Embodiment” at OZ Arts Nashville in Nashville, TN
Selected Press
2023 Franklin Lifestyles Magazine https://citylifestyle.com/nashville-tn/articles/arts-and-culture/more-than-meets-the-eye-2 on 2.1.2023 by Karen Creason
2022 News Channel 5 https://www.newschannel5.com/news/flying-solo-series-summer-installments-now-open-at-nashville-international-airport on 7.10.2022
2022 Brentwood HomePage https://www.williamsonhomepage.com/brentwood/artist-carolyn-beehler-dedicates-new-work-to-franklin-theatre/article_07eb2f52-c28a-11ec-bf4f-cb5490b688d5.html on 4.220.2022
2022 Creative Boom https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/unprecedented for March 2022
2021 The Art List https://www.theartlist.com/featured-artists/2021-carolyn-beehler for July 2021
2017 Artist A Day www.artistaday.com/?p=28446 on 5.17.2017
2017 Supersonic Art www.supersonicart.com/post/160457195983/carolyn-beehler post by Zach Tutor on 5.8.2017
2017 Creative Boom www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/art/ post by Katy Cowan on 4.19.2017
2016 The Williamson Source, williamsonsource.com, article by David Rosen on 1.26.2016
2015 The Tennessean, tennessean.com, Embodiment article by Sara Estes on 7.18.2015
2011 The Patch, patch.com, contributed illustration to Einstein article by Steven Fjeldsted on 10.6.2011
Residencies
2020 Discovery Center Artist Resident in Murfreesboro, TN
Internships
2010 Bilingual print and web designer at twocities Gallery in Shanghai, China
Education
2020 Selected for the Nashville Arts and Business Council’s Periscope program for Artists
2009 BFA in Visual Communications at O’More College of Design in Franklin, TN