Monday, October 2, 2017

Local Artist, Painting How She Sees it

A series of Still Lifes in Oil

Local artist and Medway resident of 42 years, Karyl Spiller Walsh, shares with me her progression of work over her years as a painter.  From her student work at Mass College of Art, teaching at Art Institute of Boston for 14 years, and more recently taking care of her horses and rescue dogs at home, she still finds time to paint. Her method has been the same. A series of sketches using pencil, pastels,and/or Conté crayon of her subjects prepares herself for a painting. Karyl only uses oil paint on canvas because she loves the way it mixes and blends with the vibrant colors.

Karyl had a very intense art training while attending Mass College of Art. She learned many forms of visual arts, from silk screening, graphic design, photography, as well as the study of art history. She traveled to Italy during graduate school, which had an influence on her art. Following she taught at The Art Institute of Boston, where she became the Chairman of the Design Department and helped to develop their program.
Here in Medway, Karyl has served on the Planning Board and Design Review Committee, where she always fought for the design and build in town keeping with the guidelines of Medway, a small New England town. 

Karyl in her bright, spacious studio

Karyl uses her mind as a reference in her drawings, including horses and chickens. From studying the anatomy, and being around horses her whole life, she can sketch these beautiful animals freehand. Art and horseback riding has always been part of her life. She was a self taught horseback rider and trainer.  She currently has 3 horses, among other animals, including several chickens.


Below is an unfinished painting Karyl is working on. Her composition is often the same in her work, but the subjects change. The painting isn't so much about a painting of a horse or a chicken, but more about whats going on, the story, the everyday movement of life. 




Some of Karyl's past work and her studio:









Karyl's work as a student






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