Lillian Carleton
1918 - 2014
Versatile artist Lillian Carleton was born in Ryley Alberta in 1918 and lived her entire life in Alberta. After joining Studio 71 Art Club in Bon Accord (1972), she devoted herself to drawing and painting, drawing upon a lifetime of observing the rural Alberta landscape. In 2002, at the age of 83, she received her Fine Arts certificate from the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension.
While creating landscapes, portraits, and still lifes in her preferred media of pencil, oil, and pastel, she drew inspiration from other artists to experiment widely in watercolour, wood cut, and prints (including monotypes, collages, ink, and wash). Commenting on her inspiration, she wrote that experimentation gave her “insight and appreciation into the hard work of other artists in their endeavours. It excites me to draw and paint beautiful landscapes [that] Mother Nature has provided for everyone to enjoy.”
A member and treasurer of the Alberta Community Art Clubs Association (ACACA), Profiles Gallery in St. Albert, and Studio 71 Art Club, Carleton was also a member of the Visual Arts Alberta Association. She received the Constance McFarland scholarship twice and the Lillian Nunn scholarship several times, and won the Margaret Seelye Award from the ACACA at an Alberta-wide exhibition.
Carleton mounted a solo exhibition of oils and pastels in the Dining Room Gallery at Stony Plain’s Multicultural Centre, and participated in shows at Profiles Gallery in St. Alberta, Red Deer and District Museum and Gallery, and ACACA juried exhibitions. Her work lives in several permanent collections including those of the City of St. Albert, the Faculty of Extension of the University of Alberta, and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
While creating landscapes, portraits, and still lifes in her preferred media of pencil, oil, and pastel, she drew inspiration from other artists to experiment widely in watercolour, wood cut, and prints (including monotypes, collages, ink, and wash). Commenting on her inspiration, she wrote that experimentation gave her “insight and appreciation into the hard work of other artists in their endeavours. It excites me to draw and paint beautiful landscapes [that] Mother Nature has provided for everyone to enjoy.”
A member and treasurer of the Alberta Community Art Clubs Association (ACACA), Profiles Gallery in St. Albert, and Studio 71 Art Club, Carleton was also a member of the Visual Arts Alberta Association. She received the Constance McFarland scholarship twice and the Lillian Nunn scholarship several times, and won the Margaret Seelye Award from the ACACA at an Alberta-wide exhibition.
Carleton mounted a solo exhibition of oils and pastels in the Dining Room Gallery at Stony Plain’s Multicultural Centre, and participated in shows at Profiles Gallery in St. Alberta, Red Deer and District Museum and Gallery, and ACACA juried exhibitions. Her work lives in several permanent collections including those of the City of St. Albert, the Faculty of Extension of the University of Alberta, and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.