THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9412290169
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
The disciplined approach to penmanship taught in parochial school stimulated Denise Carrico's fascination with the alphabet.
``That is where my love of letters comes from,'' said the Kill Devil Hills calligrapher. ``We had to underline using a red pen, then use a blue pen. . .
Carrico, 43, still creates beautiful pages, as well as manuscripts, business cards, logos, invitations and posters, using pen and ink. She may illustrate these with black and white drawings.
Sprays of flowers that encircle the page offer subtle color to the predominantly monochromatic work.
``My love of beautiful things inspires me,'' said Carrico. ``The things even in uglier images . . . there's beauty in them. Certainly in my calligraphy, since calligraphy means the art of beautiful writing.''
Carrico painstakingly pens lengthy inspirational works such as the popular Desiderata and Serenity Prayer. The precise strokes she makes come from years of practice.
She began her study of letters as an apprentice at a sign shop. She also studied with a calligrapher who did work for the National Gallery and the White House. ``She was a big influence on me,'' said Carrico.
Carrico recognizes a flowing quality in calligraphy.
``There's a rhythm in it. It becomes spiritual,'' she said. ``It's contemplation in a way, and certainly concentration. It becomes a sort of meditation.''
A certified yogi teacher, Carrico values meditation. She has actively investigated spirituality. To her, ``Truth is one; paths are many.''
It pains her that others are critical of her beliefs. ``It is OK for everyone to believe what they want to believe, but if I have to accept yours, you have to accept mine. They preach brotherhood and God loves everyone, and yet if you veer from whatever their particular prescription is, you must be Satanic,'' she said.
Carrico, basically a quiet, loving individual, has found herself speaking out. ``That's when you say, 'Wait a minute. You're disturbing my peace.' I want to be a relaxed, calm, peaceful person, and I guess that's when I get political.''
Her approach into art was more in line with her peaceful nature. It was almost as a sleepwalker that Carrico entered that world.
``It was just one of those things I always knew,'' she said. ``To me there was never really a question as to what I would study. I never remember having any need to think about it at all.''
Carrico did not come from an artistic or particularly religious family, but her Catholic upbringing has impacted her both spiritually and artistically. ``The great thing with Catholic schools is you start out with vast amounts of doctrines and beliefs, then you shed them,'' she said. ``It's the same with art; otherwise it is not authentic.''
Authenticity is very important to Carrico, both in her spiritual pondering and her artistic projects. ``I don't want to create something that isn't there,'' she said.
Abstract Expressionism has always appealed to her as a result. ``The marks, this is just paint on canvas. There's no illusion here,'' she said.
Also as an illustrator and a mixed media artist, Carrico looks to maintain a sense of integrity. She learned a valuable lesson early on.
``When I started working in the sign shop, the man said we don't read the positive space, we read the negative space - not the stroke, but the shape that the letter takes up. That has sort of stayed with me.''
In Carrico's mixed media works of pencil, ink, pastel, gouache, and colored paper, she pays particular attention to the spaces in between the shapes, forms, and washes she creates.
Carrico builds a surface on the page. ``It's almost that I want to bring it closer to me rather than back. It's like some kind of growth on the surface,'' she said.
Flat muted colors lie strata-like on the sheet of paper. The work offers a peaceful respite from the ego. Sometimes poetry is laced around her visual statements, earthy and spiritual messages that speak from the heart.
When Carrico was in art school at Virginia Commonwealth University, she remembers building surfaces. She had one canvas that she worked on for an entire semester. Where the other students finished with four or five, Carrico had one. If she became unhappy, she would white out parts of it and then continue working.
``Underneath all the paint were four or five paintings,'' she said.
Carrico enjoys keeping ``works in progress.'' It would not be unusual for her to unearth a canvas that's 15 years old and continue to work on it. This process creates ``living works,'' said Carrico, and emphasizes the process rather than the finished product.
Carrico embraces evolution, growth. ``We have all the answers inside of us already. It's a matter of tapping into us, weeding through . . . lifting off the veil,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Denise Carrico of Kill Devil Hills creates beautiful pages,
manuscripts, business cards, logos, invitations and posters using
pen and ink.
by CNB