Carole Bandy Carson is a certified interior decorator and a self-taught artist from Opelika, Alabama.

Carson’s work pays homage to the past, incorporating themes of family, history and faith. Using vintage photos as her inspiration, her work embodies nostalgia and the human experience as it relates to African Americans. She enjoys documenting everyday Southern life and has a strong admiration for black sharecroppers, the simple life, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black church.

Her paintings are largely figurative pieces featuring Black women. The use of bold, bright colors outlined in black are reminiscent of the stained-glass windows in the churches of her youth. These places of worship, her church and her friends’ churches were the foundation for her relationships with people, her faith and her relationship with Christ. Her figures have a strong presence, often with lots of attitude and personality, just like the women she grew up watching. Carson’s work can be described as colorful, full of life and representational without being overly realistic. Her figures are warm, thought provoking and often romanticized.

Carson is one of the Studio Artists at the Opelika Art Haus. These days, you can find her painting in her studio or teaching art classes in the gallery portion of the Art Haus.