Though born in a suburb of Chicago, Carole was raised in Minnetonka, Minnesota in an area where suburban neighborhoods intermixed with green pastured horse stables. Drawing was an obsession early on, and she excelled in every art class she took at school. A love of horses was what initially drove her to put pencil to paper, but later she would learn to enjoy many different subjects.
After years of longing for a horse of her own, in 1983 her wish came true. Her family moved to Tucson, Arizona; which allowed for the opportunity to keep a few horses. After being involved in the local horse community - traveling to horse shows, working with nearby stables, and trail riding on a regular basis (often with sketch book in tow) - people started asking her to do portraits of their horses. She experimented with pencil, pastels, and acrylics, and found herself setting up at horse shows receiving commissions to portray various show horses.
In 1987, she started as a student at The Art Center of Tucson, learning the graphic design end of art. In studying illustration, her instructor quickly (and wisely) restricted her to subjects other than horses. She relished the challenge, and in the process learned to enjoy a wide range of subjects and be willing to attempt to render anything. Since then she has balanced her equine subjects with a range of other subjects, including southwest, landscape, cactus, people, wildlife, and other domestic animals.
After graduating with an Associate degree in Advertising Art in 1989, she pursued freelance design and illustration while working as a veterinarian's assistant. During this time she married a fellow Art Center student named Lemorris Harris, a cartoonist/automotive illustrator who shared a passion for art. After having their first child, Carole stayed home to be a mom and continue with her artistic pursuits, most of her art time being dedicated to freelance and commissioned work.
In 1997, Lemorris and Carole opened up their own design business to be run out of their home. Lemorris had learned design on the computer, and while he worked full time as a graphic designer for a large corporation, they both put in time on the computer trying to establish their home business. Carole had a lot to learn on the computer, but approached it with enthusiasm, becoming an experienced digital designer and desktop publisher in short time.
All this time she would be asked occasionally to do a commissioned portrait, though her painting time was limited. In 2000, her husband gave her a valentine's gift that would reconnect her to her artistic roots. Always having enjoyed her paintings, he bought her a new easel, brushes, paints, and canvases. Gradually, she found more and more time to dedicate to painting, trying to build a new body of work. In the fall of 2002, a decision was made to end the business, both of them wanting time for more personal artistic pursuits as well as for family interests. Finally being able to paint what she felt moved to paint was a freeing experience, and now she is happily building a body of work to enter in exhibitions, bring to horse shows and make available to the public... content with art as the centerpiece of her and her family's life.
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