Carol Benson creates elegant, engaging paintings and drawings that invite the viewer in for a more intimate look. Benson states that her work is intended to recall a feeling or mood along with "a certain state of familiarity".

Nature has a strong presence in Benson's work. Using a palette of colors found in our environment, we see the strata of each creation, as often seen in nature. Images of vessels, flowers, houses, wolves, and even "trouble dolls" appear in Benson' s new work.

Inspired by flowers and plants from her own garden and objects she either finds or makes, Benson combines personal experiences with a unique use of materials, creating a new awareness of familiar things. Whether viewing one of Benson's large works on canvas, wood, steel, vellum, or a combination of these mediums, it is clear that the process is important. Encaustic is one painting technique used to create many other paintings, a method of combining heated beeswax with oil paint or powdered pigment. Applied while hot, the result is a luminous surface with layers that appear suspended within the depth of the surface. An element of spontaneity is important in Carol Benson's works, yet the artist feels that it is essential her paintings have "a history", offering evidence of her creative process. One method used to achieve this end is to work on several different pieces at once, often in different mediums. This process allows her to work where the creative energy dictates, with paintings often having many layers. This evolution creates this "history" within each work, evident in the completed painting.

Red Bowl is an excellent example of the juxtapositions Benson uses in many of her works. A large oil and encaustic on wood painting containing a solitary red bowl that serenely lingers against a warm yellow surface, spills over onto a slightly smaller painted sheet of suspended steel. Such opposites in materials appear consistently throughout her work and serve to --- create a formal, as well as psychological balance. Night Garden is a series of large suspended steel panels with interpretations of the night blooming datura flower .The images appear to dance or float in an ephemeral state of mind. Her over-sized physical paintings and drawings successfully convey a feminine and spiritual sensibility. Benson shows mature restraint in the way she allows single figurative elements to haunt their physical space.

Carol Benson received her MFA in Painting from Texas Christian University in May. Her work has been included in many national and regional exhibitions, most recently the 44th Delta Exhibition, Arkansas Art Center; Seven State Biennial Exhibition, Chickasha and Lawton, Oklahoma; Critic's Choice 2001 & 2000, Dallas Center for Contemporary Art (formerly the Dallas Visual Art Center); Revelation Texas, the University of Houston; Art in the Metroplex, Fort Worth. Benson 's works are included in numerous private and corporate collections.