Offsite Gallery exhibiting artist 2017 “All The People Are You”
Read this interview by Tidewater Parent Magazine with Kacey.
“We need constant reminders that we are all equal. Paintings are my voice.” Kacey Carneal
Kacey Carneal is a self taught artist who lives in Gloucester, VA. She works only in oil on wood or canvas. Characteristic of her work is a distinctive use of the frame. In most of her paintings, the frame acts as a painted extension of the canvas; in others, it acts as an accent. The heart of her work is in the spirit of the painter herself, her vision of what touches her life, and events that haunt her. She paints full time, 8 hours a day, seven days a week listening to the music of Tony Bennett at her studio located on her property on the banks of the creek leading into the Mobjack Bay. Her favorite question came from a 7 yr. old girl who asked “Do you dance while you paint?”
Her work has been in juried shows in 52 cities, 23 states and in the Netherlands.. Photos of her paintings are on file with Abby Aldrich Folk Art Museum and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She’s received numerous top awards and her paintings hang in National Children’s Hospital, Costa Rica, Patient Advocate Foundation, Hampton VA, the VA Breast Cancer Foundation, Richmond, VA, Riverside Walter Reed Hospital, Gloucester, Bubby’s Pie Company, Tokyo, Japan, Battle Building, UVA Children’s Hospital, University of VA Hospital and in many private collections.
Tidewater Women: “Why do you paint?”
Kacey: “I just wanted to paint. I don’t know why. I took one beginner’s class at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) in Richmond to learn the basics of which oil paints to buy. I decided not to take any more classes. Painting is my mission in life. Artists rarely receive feedback about their work, but I recently received a note from a woman whose son was hospitalized … and she was trying to get a copy of a painting hanging in the lounge up there. She said the painting brought her husband a lot of comfort when their son was so sick. That meant more to me than a million dollars. I don’t know which painting she meant, but I never thought my paintings would be hanging in hospitals. 49 are in the KCRC (Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center) and 13 at the hospital of the UVA Medical Center. Some are at the Patient Advocate Foundation. Some say that paintings heal. I believe that it is spiritual healing.”
