Carolyn Inman: Life-long Artist, Life-long Learner
by Ann Marie Dalis

On a beautiful November morning I arrive at Ella Cart’s St. Simons Island home to visit with the painting group that gathers each week in her studio. The artists are spread throughout the light-filled studio, each with their easel or table. They are waiting for their sage, Carolyn Inman. She arrives, places a few new magazines and a book on the table for all to enjoy, and shares her latest art experiment from her small black portfolio. Everyone comments on her latest artistic adventure.

Carolyn Inman is one of those life-long learners who loves creating and sharing her knowledge. A celebration of Carolyn’s art is featured through January at the Glynn Art Gallery, 319 Mallery Street, in the Village on St. Simons Island. The opening reception is Thursday January 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. And for those who may have never seen her work, this is an eye-popping art experience! Typically, only one or two of Carolyn’s works appear in a show; however the Glynn Art Gallery is exhibiting a body of artwork spanning more than 70 years and bearing witness to the evolution of this spontaneous and extraordinary artist.

In 1936, Carolyn lived with her family in Providence, R.I., and because of the Depression decided to attend her hometown art school: Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Her talent enabled her to win a scholarship at the prestigious school and she graduated in 1940 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in interior architecture. During her senior year at RISD, Carolyn entered a General Electric furniture design contest, drafting plans for a cabinet to house a phonograph and a radio. Her innovative design won first place. Yet when the cabinet came out on the market several years later, Carolyn and her husband couldn’t afford to purchase an example of her winning design.

The love of Carolyn’s life was Robert A.
Inman. They met while both worked at a posh Maine resort one summer. He, the dashing bellhop who attended Bowdoin College and she, the hotel floral designer who created nosegays for breakfast trays, fell in love. Their romance was put on hold by World War II, during which Carolyn taught at RISD in the interior architecture department. After the war they married. In 1976, the family moved to St. Simons Island and opened a bookstore on Frederica Road where Carolyn first displayed her work here.

Throughout her marriage and the raising of three children, Carolyn created art and experimented endlessly with new materials. Art classes at the Universities of Michigan, Illinois, and Illinois State, and workshops with highly respected artists around the country expanded her design knowledge and artistic reach. One year she tried haute couture classes in dressmaking and another year, felt hat-making. When acrylics arrived to the artists’ market Carolyn took the first classes learning how to use this new medium and the products associated with it, including acrylic medium and gel.

It wasn’t merely art materials that energized her. When Styrofoam packing peanuts came into use, she saved them and used them in her assemblages. (One hangs in her dining room today.) Trendy techniques like macramé enthralled her; combination pieces on display in her home merge macramé and a hand-weaving technique called needle weaving. A mola (an intricately stitched cloth panel) from South America inspired several of Carolyn’s pieces and continues to influences her color palette.

Fellow artist and art group member, Ella Cart, says Carolyn’s openness to new materials and techniques is the most incredible aspect of her long career. “She always shares her knowledge, which is boundless; she gives us the best critiques; she broadens our horizons,” Ella states as she turns to her canvas using dumped charcoal and poured Rit dye–a technique Carolyn shared with the group.

Leaving the studio that sunny November morning I asked group member Judy Clifton how Carolyn has influenced her art: “It takes someone like Carolyn to help you see. When she compliments your art, you glow.” And in the background Donna Snyder added, “She’s fearless; she tries everything!”

What a spectacular way to live!