Watercolor artist Carol Carter, who describes her work as “mysterious, seductive, intense and inviting” will exhibit her art at William Woods University’s Mildred Cox Gallery Oct. 1- 31. An opening reception at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 1 in the Gladys Woods Kemper Center for the Arts.
“Having grown up in Florida, my strongest visual impression of an environment for human activity is water,” Carter said. “In much of my work, water provides the setting for anonymous figures.
The paintings contain duality: clarity and ambiguity; sanctuary and threat; pleasure and pain. The use of vibrant, saturated-color contributes to the tension between these extremes.”
Carter earned her MFA at Washington University, St. Louis and received an MAA-NEA Fellowship in Painting and Works on Paper in 1994. She was 
voted Best St. Louis Artist by The Riverfront Times in 2000. In 2002 her work was chosen for the cover of New American Painting magazine and in 2003, the U.S. Embassy sponsored a solo exhibition of her work at the Teatro del Centro de Arte, in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
A visiting artist in Oslo and Stavanger, Norway, in 1999, 2001 and 2003, Carter has been featured in numerous exhibits, including the Schmidt Art Center in Belleville, Illinois; the National Watercolor Biennial at Parkland College; the Herstory invitational at Southwestern Illinois College in Granite City, Illinois; and the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia. Different Strokes, by Quartro Publishing, in London, England is featuring her work.
Carter’s work is represented in many public and private art collections, including those of Citicorp, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Arjomani Paper, Leonard Slatkin, Price University and Utah State University.
“I have a thirst for connection with people, with ideas, with others,” Carter said. “I love to paint—because it is a universal language and brings me closer to people. I am always thrilled and honored when someone takes a look at my art—and feels a kinship with the message. I feel so blessed to be an artist.”
The Mildred M. Cox Gallery is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free.