Written by April Spadina
Fraser Coast artist Carol Seeger laughs apologetically as she steps into her home art studio, referring to it as “organised chaos”. Her creative space is filled with art and materials in all stages of creation; racks, shelves and work benches full of art materials of all kinds, boxes heaving under the weight of various creative media, shelves piled high with an array of treasures collected over the years. But the real treasures lay inside the large metal filing drawers, housing layer upon layer of exquisite prints and paintings accumulated over years of being an art maker.
They say ‘good things come in small packages’ and this is true for the pint-sized artist. Carol’s cheeky smile lights up her eyes as she laughs freely and shares openly. There’s a goodness about her that shines from within and although petite in stature, make no mistake, Carol Seeger is a huge asset to the Fraser Coast community.
Carol’s life has forever been surrounded by art. As a young child growing up in Hervey Bay, Carol began her life focused on art making, a passion that has led her on a lifetime of colour and texture experimenting in all art forms including painting, jewellery making, mixed media, an sculpting before finally, Carol found her place in the world of printmaking. And there she has remained, steadfast in her craft. She enjoys a certain anarchy in her art, pushing the boundaries and bending the rules to discover new ways to reach the end result.
She is a curious soul, “an artist with a scientific brain” and has been ever since she was a child. Her curiosity has lead her to discover new ways of producing art and form an ongoing myriad of styles she uses as her art evolves. Print after print is pulled from the draftsman’s drawers, each one beautifully different from the next with various techniques utilised for the results achieved.
As she rifles through the stacks of prints, words fall from her lips with the ease of an expert: “This one’s Intaglio” “Here’s some collagraph and chine collée – I cheat because I find it too tedious” “and here’s some lumography I’ve just made on some old Ilford paper I kept for twenty years.” That’s the thing about Carol, nothing is spared in the process as her curious mind keeps searching for something new. When asked what type of printmaking Carol loves the best, a horrified look passes across her face, “It’s like choosing your favourite child, I don’t think I could!”
From boxes she pulls aluminium wrapped plates used for intaglio printing. They are beautiful on their own, each plate has an object encased in fine aluminium tape, bits and pieces she has saved with the intention of using them in her art which then become immortalised for future printmaking days. Leaves, grasses, feathers, bits of cloth, all preserved under the foil and whilst the prints are gorgeously pressed with faded lines and embossed paper edges, the plates themselves are stunning. Nothing is sacred either – even the body of a tiny baby gecko that died inside Carol’s handbag became a beautiful print. Its short life was not in vain and his body immortalised, entombed under aluminium tape for posterity and future printmaking endeavours.
The Fraser Coast and Wide Bay areas have been dappled with Carol’s input over the years with involvement in integral art projects that have shaped the region. After a some years living interstate, Carol and her husband Jo returned to Hervey Bay to raise their family in a home they built together, back when Urraween was sugar cane fields as far as the eye could see, back when their children delighted in standing on the roof of the backyard shed to watch as the cane fires licked their fence line and the black ash fell from the sky above like snow.
Carol’s impressive six-page resume reveals a lifetime of art practices and artistic community involvement, with her mark truly being left on the Fraser Coast and Wide Bay regions. Years of learning, teaching, exhibiting and advising have added to the remarkable path she has carved out and continues to do with her years of experience shared freely and generously.
Testament to her passionate standing as an artist in the community, she has been pivotal in the forming of various endeavours in the area. Contracted by Isis Shire Council, Carol was part of the team involved in the beautification of the Childers’ business centre, a town admired for it’s lovely streetscape and quirky artworks. As you wander through Maryborough’s city parklands you will see her artworks scattered throughout the Portside Precinct.
As a member of the advisory committee for the establishment of Hervey Bay Regional Gallery in 2001, Carol was instrumental in the gallery’s formation and over the years she has had a number of exhibitions and projects in the gallery space. Over the years Carol has notched up an extensive list of local and global projects, from a month residency in Fraser Coast’s sister city Leshan, China to recently sending works to Spain for the MiniPrint Cantabria exhibition where her works will travel through Europe.
But one of her greatest achievements has been working with friend and fellow printmaker Jennifer Rogers to create a community owned and operated Print Space at Gatakers Artspace in conjunction with Fraser Coast Regional Council. This is Carol’s second studio, a place where she loves to visit, spending time with other printmakers, pulling prints through a press to reveal an unexpected image. Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails, most of the time the results are nothing like you expect, but each time Carol lifts the paper to reveal her art it is always the excitement of the unknown that keeps her curiosity alive. As she talks about the uncertainty and mysterious nature of printmaking, her eyes light up with excitement and it’s this uncertainty that beckons her to keep printing, “That’s the thing about being a printmaker – it’s fabulous!”.
