New York based artist Caroline Blum (Cowell ‘81, Fine Arts; M.A. ‘82) wants her work to go bicoastal. Though most of her art is shown on the East coast, Blum’s most recent exhibition featured a series of paintings shown at her parents retirement community in San Francisco. She hopes it is the first step in spreading her art across a larger geographic area.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Blum came to UC Santa Cruz because of her fond memories of vacationing in Aptos as a child. She, like many others, thought UC Santa Cruz had a stunningly beautiful campus.
Her parents fully supported Blum’s choice to pursue a career in art given that there were already artists in her family. One of her inspirations growing up was her great-aunt, Helaine Blum, a sculptor who could boast friendships with Albert Einstein and Samuel Beckett.
One year, esteemed painter Irving Petlin came to campus to guest lecture and he encouraged Blum to move to New York. That summer Blum attended a summer session at the New York Studio School and Petlin let her and her friends stay in his brownstone in Greenwich Village. Blum says that summer “really showed me what it was going to be like to be a real artist.”
After finishing both her B.A. and M.A. in Santa Cruz, Blum moved to New York, where she has lived ever since. She worked odd jobs, usually in bookstores and libraries. For a while she worked at the Whitney Museum library, where, along with regular library work, she also helped compile books that brought together contemporary artists and writers. “I got to meet a lot of artists and see how professional artists work,” says Blum. “I said to myself, ‘That’s what I want.’” Soon after she quit her job to pursue her career as an artist.
Blum’s primary focus is on drawings, paintings and sculptures which she works on from her home studio on the Upper West Side. Her work has been shown in galleries all around New York and has really taken off in the last decade.
Her main inspiration comes from nature, and many of her works feature flora and fauna. “I am captivated by the intricate patterns and textures found in the natural world, from the delicate petals of a flower to the gnarled bark of an ancient tree,” she says. “I hope to remind viewers of the interconnectedness between humans and nature and inspire a renewed appreciation for the fragile beauty that surrounds us.”
As her career grows she is being noticed by more artists and more galleries. Blum has recently been visiting the studios of other major artists, including James Seina and Peter Howley, and they’ve been visiting her home studio as well. “In the art world, other artists have to take you seriously and recommend you to galleries,” says Blum, and that seems to be exactly what’s happening for her.
Blum wants to expand her New York success to the place where she is from and is hoping to show more work in the Bay Area. She calls her project Coast to Coast, starting with the show at her parents retirement community. From there she hopes to show work at some of the many amazing galleries in and around the Bay Area.