Fine Art Alumna Looks Back at More Than Four Decades of Exhibiting Works

After more than four decades as a fine artist and art educator, 1969 University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) alumna Carole Conatser is still seeking to explore both the newest – and the oldest – forms of creative expression.

For instance, Conatser’s latest efforts explore encaustic painting, an ancient technique where oil paints are mixed with melted, purified beeswax. These mixtures are then brushed on a surface – such as heavy paper, canvas or wood – and layered, textured, integrated with found objects, carved into and more. She adds, “A propane torch and or a heat gun fuses these layers together. I love it because it combines so much of what I love to do: working with a torch, with clay and using color, along with assemblage media. This type of work provides much more immediate results.”

Over the years and living in Ohio, Massachusetts, New York State and California as her husband Ken Conater’s assistant coaching career in college football took them around the country, Carole Conatser not only worked as an art teacher but pursued and exhibited a variety of work in a variety of media beyond her current interest in encaustic painting. For instance, she’s worked with and exhibited needlework, sterling silver cast and constructed jewelry, assemblages of mixed media, welded steel sculptures, clay sculptural work and black-and-white photography.

For a time, she had a jewelry studio in her Amherst, Mass., home where she supplied three different fine art/craft shops in New England, created works on commission and for institutions like churches. Recalls Conatser, who earned both a fine arts degree and an art education degree at DAAP, “Those efforts were actually inspired by a UC class, Introduction to Jewelry Making. Such classes, along with the instructors, changed my life. I was totally immersed at UC, in materials in my ceramics classes with Roy Cartwright, in my applied materials classes with Robert Beaven, and I spent my senior year painting in classes led by Marty Tucker. My DAAP education was amazing, as I learned to understand the meaning of good craftsmanship, discipline, finding my own voice and style, and setting and meeting goals. My instructors truly changed my life!”

For many years, Conatser’s main focus was ceramics, having fallen in love with the medium at UC. She also studied ceramics at Syracuse University and at Anderson Ranch, Colorado, with world-famous ceramic artists Paul Soldner and Peter Voulkos. She went on to win numerous awards for her ceramic sculptures in juried shows, including Best of Shows, Best Group of Works and honorable mentions.

Similarly, Conatser has most recently exhibited, sold and received honorable mentions for her encaustic paintings at the national juried exhibitions, both the 75th (held in 2011) and then this year’s 77th Annual Midyear Exhibition, at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio.

While grateful for these awards, Conatser says the best reward is that art “can take us to surprising and interesting experiences.”

For instance, several years ago, Conatser and her work appeared in six international magazines, including “People,” “House Beautiful,” and “Martha Stewart.” Her brief brush with such major fame came about after she spontaneously wrote a letter to General Electric, Inc., about how much she enjoyed what the company’s Reveal light bulbs brought out in her paintings: “I loved the natural light they emitted. They better brought out textures and colors in my ceramics. And I still use Reveal light bulbs in key places around the house where art is displayed.”

She adds, “Friends from all over contacted me after seeing this ad, which was lots of fun – as was speaking at a celebration in a GE manufacturing plant in Cleveland. Attending was the president of GE along with a huge crowd of other VPs. It was an amazing experience all because of art!”

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