Successful photo retoucher and former Busch Creative and Zipatoni graphic artist Carol Boss will exhibit her Expressions on the Blues portraits on tin tile at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center October 11 through December 31.
An opening reception will be held at the Museum on October 11 starting at 6 pm. Expressions of the Blues is a collection of painted portraits of Blues, R&B, Soul and Gospel musicians whose music and stories inspired Carol from performances, which allowed her to photograph, then recreate, in her paintings. It includes figures like Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Bessie Smith, Marquise Knox and more. Carol admits that she was lucky to share conversations, friendships, and a common love for the Blues with many of these artists.
She explains, “I want the audience to really get the feel of the artist in the piece through the brush strokes, color, expressions in their eyes and on their faces.” These portraits are painted in an expressionistic style with acrylic and gel mediums on antique ceiling tiles. Antiqued bronze dust is rubbed onto the portraits and then sealed with a varnish to add a historic depth to the paintings. Each tile is encased in a wooden frame to represent the era of the tile.
Carol was influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec and Van Gogh’s vibrant use of color and harsh brush strokes. Her painting style is typically realistic in shape with bright accents of color, and her paintings often tell a story. Her most recent works focus on hope in the Blues. She is known for several larger painting projects such as the musician wall mural at Highway 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen in Webster Groves, Missouri, as well as Big George Brock’s Blues Bus.
Carol was born and raised in a small town in south-central Missouri and has been a St. Louis resident since 1995. Before becoming a full-time visual artist in the fall of 2016, Carol was a successful digital illustrator and photography retoucher, as well as manager of bluesman Big George Brock. The decision to become full-time was made after meeting Sharon McConell-Dickerson, a blind artist who life-casts artists’ faces in her series “A Cast of Blues.” Most of Carol’s time now is spent with her family, making art and seeing music. When asked about her art she simply says, “I’m a painter.”
B.B. King Museum is located at 400 Second Street, Indianola, Mississippi, and is open Mondays from noon until 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday 10 am until 5 pm, and Sundays noon until 5 pm. More on this exhibit can be found at www.expressionsoftheblues.com. 
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