Carrie Walker Catalogue

Carrie Walker

In my practice, I often use non-human animal imagery as a metaphor for human activities and emotions. On occasion someone will make a comparison between my work and that of Robert Bateman, Canada’s renowned wildlife artist. Although we both paint animals with verisimilitude, I believe our intentions are different and so I have been compelled to ask myself, what specifically distinguishes our work? I decided to engage directly with the work of Robert Bateman in order to answer this question. Referring to his monograph, The Art of Robert Bateman, I selected individual reproductions and copied the animals from each work as meticulously as possible in watercolour on paper.

Huddled in the blowing snow, (Downy Woodpecker) Watercolour on paper 15" x 11" $1300

Where there is cover, watercolour on paper 14" x 24", $1900

I worked in the dimensions of the original as listed in the monograph but omitted the landscape in which each animal was situated. This omission left each creature stranded on a sea of white and led to the title of this project, The Effect of Space; it also rather summarily answered my question. It is the space left empty or the incompleteness of the work that alters its effect. Rather than offering a completed scene, the viewer is provided with a place in which their own imagination may operate.

Wolf, watercolour on paper 22" x 30", $2800

Quick and Bright, watercolour on paper 20 chipmunks (unique), 8” x 13” each shown in a grid, 4 images high and 5 wide, total dimensions approximately 48” x 96” spaced on wall, $650 each

Carrie Walker "My Dog's Followers"

My Dog’s Followers is an art project. For this series, I am painting portraits of dogs that follow my dog, Guess, on Instagram. I post the finished portraits to my Instagram feed, @mydogsfollowers and tag the dog in question. At the same time, I send a message to the dog’s human offering to provide them with a high resolution digital copy of the painting for their own personal use.

The original portraits are for sale. In some cases, the human behind the dog may purchase the original.

"Guess" gouache on paper 12" x 10"

All commissioned portraits are painted in the style and format you see on the opposite page. All portraits are painted with gouache on an 8” x 10” or 10” x 12” sheet of paperboard. You can reach me at hello@carriewalker.ca

© Elissa Cristall Gallery