Slice of Life: Caroline Steele

HARLINGEN — She’s traveled and lived around the world, written books and taught different languages.

Now, Caroline Steele is showing off her ability to paint.

Many of the artworks that adorn her home only she and her family and friends typical are able to see, will now be visible to many more during tomorrow night’s reception at the Harlingen Art Forum and for the next month or so. She admits her walls at home are bare.

But, she’s excited about the opportunity to have her works on display at the local art gallery.

“Many years ago, in Baltimore I showed,” she said earlier this week. “I haven’t had the chance since then. I have been busy living. But I am excited about this. I didn’t realize I would get a whole display.”

Recently, she’s focused more on painting after she turned her sewing room at her home in Harlingen into a painting room.

Basically self taught, Caroline said she was using crayons and pencils to create ever since she can remember. It wasn’t until seventh grade in which she had her first art instruction.

Then, when she was a junior in high school, she found her perfect medium — oil.

“I used all kinds of stuff until then and my art teacher introduced me to oil painting and it was love at first sight,” she said with a smile that rarely leaves her face. “I love using oil. It doesn’t dry right away, you can mess with it and blend it. If you don’t like what you did, you can paint over it.”

Now she uses it to portray still lifes.

“Something will grab me,” she said about her urge. “I paint whatever comes to my mind.”

Using mostly photographs and her eyes, she is able to create realistic works. She easily describes why she enjoys painting rather than having pictures or something else.

“You have something that stays,” she said. “You can have a photograph, but a painting you can make whatever size and put it up and see it all the time. I have a lot of photographs and sometimes I wonder why did I take that picture. But, a painting, you can add something to it.”

She said she tries to make her paintings as real as possible as well as challenging. She loves the nuances of colors.

Caroline doesn’t pay attention to details about setting times to paint or even her style of painting, which she admits may be “undisciplined.”

With virtually no professional guidance, she’s figured it out on her own and she likes it that way.

She admits she isn’t interested in going to classes or learning more about painting — she just likes to paint.

“I just feel fortunate I am still able to paint,” she said. “Sometimes I just see something and feel the need to paint it.”

Don’t be confused when you see her works and they have the name Strong instead of Steele signed in the right hand corner. It’s her maiden name.