Carol Santora has loved animals of all kinds since she was a child, and remembers always wanting to be an artist. She had numerous well-used Jon Gnagy drawing kits and would copy pictures from magazines and sketch things around her home.

       Santora (BFA, summa cum laude, Framingham State College) began her formal art training in 1983, while working as a registered nurse. One thing she wanted to learn to paint desperately was her dog, Flossie. After that first successful portrait, Santora realized she had a special talent and passion for animal and wildlife portraiture. Over the next 27 years, Santora would explore oil and watercolor painting before settling on soft pastel as her perfect medium. She painted landscapes and still-lifes, studied human portraiture and the figure, but the animals kept calling to her and appearing in her work.

       Santora’s intimate portraits are insightful interpretations that express her passion for animals with excitement and energy by pushing the boundaries of color. She visits farms and wildlife areas all over the United States to study and photograph her subjects. She takes hundreds of photographs and spends countless hours watching the animals that inspire her paintings. Her work is grounded in representation, but she is not bound by that. As she works, a completely realistic depiction gives way to a more artistic, contemporary rendering that serves her colorist and expressive purposes.

       A Signature Member of the prestigious Pastel Society of America, Santora has been honored with over 4 dozen awards including several First Place, Peoples’ Choice and ‘Best in Show’ awards. She is represented by galleries in Maine and Wyoming, and shows her work at her home gallery, Santora Fine Art, by appointment. Her work is internationally collected and has been exhibited in shows in New England, New York City, California, Florida, Wyoming, St. Thomas, and in France.

Awards:

Headwaters Art & Conference Center Purchase Award - Miniature Art Show Susan K Black Foundation 2009
First Place Other Media - Miniature Art Show Susan K Black Foundation 2009
Honorable Mention - 54th Annual Kennebunk River Club ‘Casino’ Art Show 2009
Special Merit Award Pastel - 19th Annual Maine Open Juried Art Show 2009
First Place Other Media - Miniature Art Show Susan K Black Foundation 2008
First Place Pastel - Art Guild of the Kennebunks Annual Award Show 2008
Best in Show - 47th Annual Kennebunk River Club Art Show 2005
Finalist - National Wildlife Federation Annual Wildlife Photography Contest 2003
Popular Prize - Fitchburg Art Museum Annual Regional Juried Show 2002
Finalist - National Wildlife Federation Annual Wildlife Photography Contest 2002
Best in Category Photography - Downeast Annual Wildlife Art Show 2002
Cheap Joe’s Art Supply Award - 2001
Finalist - National Wildlife Federation Annual Wildlife Photography Contest 2001
Best in Category Mixed Media - Downeast Annual Wildlife Art Show 2001
Cheap Joe’s Art Supply Award - 2000

Professional Affiliations:

Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America
juried membership in the Art Guild of the Kennebunks

Notable Shows & Exhibitions:

Where the Animals Are – solo, The Clown Gallery, ME 2009
Trust in Art Plein Air Paint-out & Auction Benefit, ME - 2007-2009
Arts are Elementary Benefit Art Show, ME - 2008-2009
Susan K Black Foundation Annual Juried Art Show, WY - 2005-2009
Annual Kennebunk River Club ‘Casino’ Art Show, ME – 2000-2009
Wolfe’s Neck Farm Plein Air Event & Benefit Auction, ME – 2008-2009
Paint the Port Plein Air Paint-out & Auction Benefit, ME – 2007-2009
19th Maine Open Juried Art Show, ME – 2009
Cape Cottage Gallery, ME - 2008
The Cat Show: A Celebration of the Cat in Art at Black Brook Gallery, NH – 2007
PAWSitively Ogunquit Animal Welfare Society Auction Benefit, ME – 2007
56th Annual National Wind River Valley Artists’ Guild Show, WY – 2005
California Living Museum Wildlife Art Show, CA – 2004
1st Stock Gallery, NH - 2004
Victor Valley Museum Wildlife Art Show, CA – 2003
Cocheco Mill Gallery, NH - 2003
Nouveau Artscapes Gallery, MA - 2003
16th Annual Wildlife Art & Woodcarving Show, ME – 2002, 2001
Tribeca Fine Arts, NYC – 2001
2000 Wild Things, NH - 2000
Journees Des Peintres Tain-Tournon – invitational, Tain l’Hermitage & Tournon, France - 2000
Mass Cultural Council Visual Art Slide Showcase - Arthur Sackler Museum Harvard, MA - 2000
Eye of the Lizard Gallery, FL - 1998
Springfield MFA Gallery, MA - 1997

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