I was raised on Block Island, Rhode Island, a popular East Coast summer resort.  After attending Rhode Island School of Design and a six-month solo trip to Europe, I moved to New York.  In the mid-1980’s I began painting after completing a private airbrushed painting commission. In 1994, after printed fabric and sandcarved glass design careers in New York and San Francisco, I moved to New Mexico. My husband and I spent 10 years in virtual silence in the historic village of Galisteo, New Mexico, returning to San Francisco in late  2006.  Earlier sand-carved glass design is included in public buildings in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and my fine art is included in private collections in the United States.

For me, the most transformative experiences are selective travels, both inner and outer. In 1984, I met my husband through a trip to Death Valley.  That was the beginning of frequent travels to the California and Baja, Mexico deserts, leading to painting.  The clarity of light and silence transformed my inner vision. Most recently, advanced computer imaging technologies and travels through the Web have revolutionized my approach to my art . In 2003 and 2006, travels to the Hawaiian jungles  added new inspiration.

Twelve years in the open spaces of the New Mexico high desert, and a return to the color and multicultural stimulation of San Francisco continue to inspire me. Within this, a simple healthy life leaves room for these illuminations.

My artwork includes new digital art,watercolors rendered in layers of clear colors, embellished with prismacolor pencil, and acrylic paintings rendered in a stencil-cutting technique.

Travels to the California, Baja, Mexico deserts, an affinity for the American Southwest, the Hawaiian jungles, a multiculturall spectrum, and the color in sunny places inspire me.  My art stems from a great attunement to color and the clear-cut beauty I see in nature and the inner worlds.. In paintings, and now through digital media,I enjoy fusing the worlds through high detail, strong movement, and spatial surprises. As I continue, I am concerned with the images that cross time, distance and culture.  Bringing more of the shamanic, emotional and organic into being, it is my intent to take the viewer into a deep and transformative place.

Cara Lee -  San Francisco -  2009

1985 - Computer graphics classes - Academy of Art, San Francisco, CA

1969 - BFA Textile Design - Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

E-mail: caralee2000@yahoo.com

Web graphics and design by Cara Lee