About the Artist

Carol McGill  

Born in Georgetown, Washington DC; Grew up on active farm Culpeper, VA; Educated at Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA; Lived in Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, Florida.  A direct descendent of Lafayette, and great great granddaughter of French pie makers in DC - no wonder I love pastry!

Knew at 16 I wanted to be an artist - a long road to get to my dream, that my daughters enabled!

 "Painting in the Spirit"

Going outside to begin a plein air piece is still a time of excitement and enchantment for me.  Seeing God’s beauty bloom daily invites me to come and sit with my greatest teacher – and learn to see:  the color, the contrast, the light, the fleeting moment.  Thin layers join thick quick strokes of a palette knife.  I tone the canvas while creating a tonal under painting.  This is a quick approach to block in the shapes and values and speed me along as I "capture the moment".   I am ever learning what the paint can do, and what I, the artist can learn to do.

Recently, I discovered a new approach to quick studies through wind, rain, bugs, heat - Florida elements!

 Exhibitions & Juried Show Competitions:

2026 - Venice Art Center Satellite Gallery, Venice Airport:  Take Flight!

2025 - Collectors Gallery, Venice, FL:  One Woman Show

2024 - Venice Art Center:  Merit Award

2018 - Island Eye, Sullivan's Island, SC:  One Woman Show

2015 - Coco Vivo Gallery, Charleston, SC:  One Woman Show

2013 & 2014
-ArtFields juried inaugural show, Lake City, SC
-Charleston Symphony Designer Showhouse, featured artist, “Artist’s Studio”

2010 - Piccolo Spoleto one woman show: RHYTHMS of LIFE

          - Bookfest, Columbia, SC, Feb 2010. Selected Artist

2008 - Winner of the prestigious “Best in Show” prize of Piccolo Spoleto

2005 -  Juried, Artist 12th Annual Carmel Plein Air Arts Festival.

           - Participant, Exhibition at Gallery Elite, Carmel, CA.

           -  “Charleston’s Wild Ride,” solo exhibition by Carol McGill.

           -  Featured Artist, Kidney Foundation Wine & Art Auction, Charlotte, NC.

Teaching adult workshops and art classes in plein air, abstraction, and figure drawing

2014 - Juried into ArtFields, 2013 & 2014

2012 - Seacoast Church one woman show: “And It Was So,” story of creation.

            "Vanishing Landscapes", Charleston, SC

2006 - Three One Woman Shows: Pacific Coast; Retro; Elements

2005
- Winner From the Mountains to the Sea, SC Aquarium, September 2005.

- Winner & Featured Artist Cooper River Bridge Competition, April 2005.
- Featured Artist, Better Homes & Garden Special Edition, Spring 2005.
- First Place, Oils, Folly Beach. Festival of the Arts,
2003
- Featured Artist, Atlanta Home Magazine, March 2003.
- Cover Artist, Skirt Magazine, Charleston, SC June 2002.

Education and Workshops:

 2020 - VAC: Portraits, Figure Drawing
2005 - Workshops: Camille Przewodek “Seeing Color”
2004 - Manning Williams, “Large Scale Paintings”
2002 - Martin Ahrens, “Making it all Connect”
1998 - The Art Students League of New York

Mary Washington College, University of Virginia, BA. Major: Studio Art.

Her work has been featured in galleries from SC to Naples, FL. Her paintings hang in prominent personal collections from coast to coast. Her work is on permanent exhibition in:  Charleston Mayor's office, Roper Hospital , Bon Secour St. Francis Hospital, Roper Mount Pleasant, the Cancer Center and Mamie Whitesides Elementary School. .

[email protected] www.CarolMcGill.com