THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505110202
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
The lady could sing.
She showcased her three-and-a-half octave range on high school radio shows and in community performances. Voice was her major in college.
Maybe she would have a performance career, or teach and sing part-time. These were her dreams.
``We all enjoyed music,'' said Carol Trotman, 62. ``Everyone can sing in my family. There is not one of them who can't sing.''
But Trotman did not realize a career in music. The onset of allergies stripped her voice, diminishing her range severely. Many tears flowed.
But as one door slammed shut, another opened, revealing a garden of visual delight. Trotman turned her focus to art.
After achieving a bachelor of fine arts degree from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, she embarked on a 20-year career teaching mainly painting and sculpture in the Virginia public school system.
Today, retired five years from teaching and living in Kill Devil Hills, Trotman paints mostly floral watercolor paintings. She recalls having an early appreciation for flowers while growing up in two very different regions.
``I think my family had a love of flowers in Iowa,'' she said. ``And they grew to be huge. And the scent of the flowers in Alaska. . . ! I even love the ones that stink.
``My Great-Aunt Mary had a beautiful garden. I'd go over there a lot and visit. It was like going into just a little fairyland, sort of. And my aunt who raised me loved flowers. Well, she grew beautiful flowers and it was considered an art form.''
It is with reverence that Trotman uses her watercolors to create rhythmic floral portraits. Some works focus on just the head of the flower; others appear like bouquets. She's painted whole garden scenes, so atmospheric one can hear bees buzz and smell fragrant petals on the breeze.
While her work is definitely recognizable, she takes liberties with form and color to bring more feeling into her work. Trotman focuses on the rhythm of an individual blossom, stem or leaf, painting from life or from photos she's snapped herself.
With each stroke, Trotman brings petals alive. In each petal there are years of love - love of life, of beauty, of music, of God. Her paintings are like symphonies filled with sweet tunes of honeysuckle, wisteria, Oriental foxglove, hibiscus. Or cheerful concerts of nodding pansies, sunflowers or goldenrod.
In her own words, ``I suggest rather than report. I just embellish them, exaggerate and use personal color choices and show their best sides. Just like you do in a portrait.''
On flowers, Trotman said, ``I like the humor of the Lord. Some of them are absolutely funny to look at, and some of them are grand and majestic. Some are whimsical like people.''
The iris is one of her favorites to paint. ``It's like a beautiful dress, like voile,'' she said. ``It's like it's cut on the bias and it's all free-flowing and you can use your imagination a lot more.
``There are so many variations. It falls beautifully and has marvelous little folds. And the colors are majestic, and they're very regal.''
Next spring, the award-winning painter will showcase her work at River Farms, the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society in Alexandria, Va. In the former home of George Washington, Trotman will exhibit 35 to 40 flower paintings.
``It's just like the Lord came down and gave me a big kiss and I wasn't looking for it,'' Trotman said.
The music wasn't lost when Trotman turned to visual art. It waters the seeds that blossom on her canvas. MEMO: Carol Trotman's works are on view at Morales Galleries in Nags Head and
Duck, and at Browning Artworks in Frisco.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Retired teacher Carol Trotman, 62, of Kill Devil Hills, paints
mostly floral watercolor paintings.
by CNB