About the Artist

Carolyn E. Lewis OPA

Artist Statement

"Capturing the mood of the moment and the effect of light is an important goal in my work." - Carolyn E. Lewis  

A commendable quality of Lewis' work is the feeling one experiences of actually being in the scene while viewing her strongly designed landscapes. Lewis continues, "...but most of all, I enjoy the process of creating art and communicating the atmosphere and drama of my subject."

The art of Carolyn Lewis is inspired by nature, wildlife, and people. It is sensitive without being overly sentimental. Her commissioned portraits of individuals and animals, and her powerful landscapes, are steadily gaining acclaim in national art circles. 

Carolyn’s portraits include benefactors, lawyers, CEOs and  clergy.

In September 2005, Carolyn's first book entitled Land and Light Workshop, Painting Mood and Atmosphere in Oils was released by North Light Books, and an accompanying video/DVD entitled Painting Mood and Atmosphere was released by Teaching Art, Ltd. Her work is also published in The Ultimate Guide to Painting from Photographs, edited by James Markle and Layne Vanover, North Light Books, October 2005. In addition, Carolyn is published as one of several artists featured in both Artist's Photo Reference - Landscapes by Gary Greene and Artist's Digital Photo Reference - Landscapes by Erin Nevius, both published by North Light Books, 2001 and 2006, respectively. Recently, she has written articles published in Paint Magazine for the Society for All Artists, UK. She has also had her work featured in The Artist's Magazine.

Along with several solo exhibitions, Carolyn Lewis has been selected to exhibit in many local, regional and national art competitions. Some of these include the Oil Painters of America Annual and their Eastern Regional; National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society Annual; the American Impressionists Society Annual; the Ohio Plein Air Society Competition; Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters; the Carmel Art Festival Invitational Competition, and the Plein Air Tucson Invitational. Carolyn also participated in the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club National Exhibition, New York, NY,  Virtuosos Of The OPA Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY and St. Augustine, FL; ViewPoint National, Cincinnati Art Club, the Akron Society of Artists' Grand Exhibition, as well as many other local exhibitions.  

In addition, Carolyn often serves as a juror for local and national exhibitions. Recently, she was Juror of Awards for the Oil Painters of America 2016 Salon Show at the Castle Gallery Fine Art, Fort Wayne, IN and the 2014 Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition at the Eisele Gallery of Fine Art, Cincinnati, OH, and the Juror of Awards for the Fort Wayne Artists Guild 2017 Exhibition, Fort Wayne, IN.

She has been teaching classes for over 30 years and frequently teaches plein air painting workshops in the Great Lakes region, other states, and in Italy. 

Some of Carolyn's honors and awards include Second Place, Akron Society of Artists 2024 Members Show, Third Place in the 2025  Floral and Landscape Exhibition, Cuyahoga Valley Art Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH and Third Place in the 2025  40th Annual Juried Exhibition, Cuyahoga Valley Art Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Third Place in the Figurative Exhibition, Cuyahoga Valley Art Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, First Place in the 2019 17th Annual Kaleidoscope Exhibition, a Finalist in the ARC 2019 Salon Competition, an Honorable Mention from The Artist's Magazine National Landscape Competition (1998) where she was ranked in the top 6 out of over 9000 entries. She was also designated one of 12 finalists for month of April in the Raymar Art Competition (2005), received the Artist's Magazine Award at Viewpoint National (2006), awarded Best of Show and First Place in the Ohio Plein Air Society Paintout Competition (2005 and 2006 respectively) and Best of Show at the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center's The Big Picture Show (2005). She was also selected as one of the top 200 finalists of the prestigious National Art for the Parks Exhibition in Jackson Hole (1995), as well as winning Best of Show at the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center Annual Members' Show (1987). She was one of 29 finalists in the Second Annual Winsor & Newton National Calendar Competition (1994) and was listed in the top 50 finalists in The Artist's Magazine National Portrait Competition (1991).

Signature membership status includes:  Oil Painters of America, Illinois;  Emeritus member and past President of the Akron Society of Artists, Ohio;  and  General membership status in the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center and Artists of Group Ten.