Caro Woods MA, (born 1954). Aged 18, Caro studied at the Sir John Cass School of Art, London before gaining her MA in ‘Contemporary Visual Practice’ at Falmouth School of Art in 2003. Caro currently lives and works in a converted Methodist chapel on Dartmoor, having moved from her tiny cottage in West Penwith, Cornwall in 2017.
Widowed shortly after her first marriage at the age of 24, a move to the Channel Islands in 1989, re-marriage and the birth of her two children, Caro began to find her visual ‘voice’ when she started to tramp the cliff paths of Jersey, recording the landscape in pocket-sized sketch books. This obsession with walking in the landscape in search of the perfect light or the perfect composition, resulted in a practice that was as much about walking in nature as it was about painting, becoming increasingly fascinated by the land as a multi-faceted mass of geology, archeology, energetic forces, pathways and tangible ley lines that echo down through the ages.
“In fact, everything that has been imprinted onto our landscape, including mythological archetypes and folklore, as well as pagan rituals that embrace the rhythmic cycles of life and death in nature. I feel a natural gravitation towards the places that still show traces of where our ancestors would have lived, worked, walked their paths and practiced their rituals at stone circles, menhirs, sacred groves, and ancient burial mounds. And by ‘tuning in’ to my surroundings, it also seems a natural progression for me to use my understanding of the healing power of nature and the environment to work with the earth energies, ley lines and chakras of the earth’s body, applied via vibrations of my own internal chakras, footsteps and reflective thoughts. I have come to understand this as a form of embodied spiritualism”
Recognising the paths we follow are loaded with metaphors for life and pursuing her deep interest in spirituality, Caro’s practice evolved into a search for an aesthetic that mirrors her own spiritual journey. Learning to deepen her shamanic connections to nature where she reaches out to the otherworld for guidance, she began to see herself as an Artist as Pilgrim and her work increasingly concerned with concepts surrounding the ideas and practice of pilgrimage. (November, 2017)
Caro, I am delighted to have found your blog and have so enjoyed reading your archive posts. Look forward to the next instalment! Jane
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jane, thank you for your comments, and really pleased you enjoy my blog. I feel like I am just beginning to get into my stride!
LikeLike
Wonderful spirit in your intentions – I wish you well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much bussokuseki!
Being true to yourself is often the hardest thing to do. It is a refinement that I am constantly practicing. Thank you for your good wishes. x
LikeLike
So pleased to have found you Caro – gutted that I missed that film workshop – I’m in the first year of a 3 year part time MA contemporary art practice at Plymouth Uni – best Rosie
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t worry Rosie, there are sure to be many more to come – by popular demand! I expect you have already signed up to their newsletters? What about suggesting they run a workshop as part of your MA and invite James? (Although, I know certain uni’s are averse to ‘older’ technologies). Anyway, enjoy your studies. Caro
LikeLike
Hi Caro, thank you for leaving your spider blog post reference in your comment. I read your ABOUT face and very much like and agree with your approach to life and spirituality. Our paths are indeed lined with all kinds of symbols and metaphors and all we need to do is tune in and gather what we need to know. I need to follow you.
LikeLike
Annette, I’m really pleased you have decided to follow my blog….many thanks. (I have followed you for some time now!) It is very satisfying when we make these sort of connections. The web and car thing…..you’ve got me thinking about that one.
LikeLike
my pleasure, Caro.
LikeLike
This is really a beautiful concept!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Marso, and thank you for dropping into my blog. I like your hand image. I have a similar one I use as my computer identity image.
LikeLike
what a wonderful, inspiring blog.
Many congratulations
Alastair Best (stuck in Jersey)
LikeLiked by 1 person
what a wonderful, inspiring blog.
Many congratulations
Alastair Best
LikeLike
Thank you Alistair! And thanks for taking the time to have a look at my blog. I had a look at your website and enjoyed reminiscing over those lovely Green Island landscapes. Your portraits are wonderful too and I did scan them to see if I recognised anyone! Loving your work. x
LikeLike
Caro
do you have a website of finished paintings, drawings &tc?
I’d love to see more of/buy some of your lovely mono prints.
All well here in Jersey – but distinct shortage of inspiring painters.
Don’t blame you, and Sarah Adams for emigrating to Cornwall …
all the same , lots to focus on here, as you’ll remember
Happy Christmas and very best wishes for 2015
Alastair Best
LikeLike