Artist bio

Carol Mackey Andrulevich Creating visual imagery that bypasses words and touches the life of the one who is interacting with her work, is the desire of Carol Mackey Andrulevich. The intention behind her art is to offer hope and encouragement, but much of her art goes much deeper. She attempts to portray the spiritual realm, believing we are multidimensional beings composed of mind, body and spirit. Carol was born and lived in Louisville, Kentucky most of her life. She has vivid memories of herself as a child in Kindergarten, watching her favorite show on TV. In the show, the husband of the lead character was an advertising executive. She associated this job with the arts and declared to herself that this was her dream job. Carol’s parents had other ideas, pushing her to pursue anything, but the arts. She attended University with a partial tennis scholarship and majored in “socializing.” Really, her major was Psychology, which she quickly learned after graduating, did not provide a lucrative income. She worked for several years in the field of Social Work, helping the disabled. Having a call for adventure, she married late in life. Her adventure lust took her to live in the Rocky Mountains for short stints and at the age of 30 she became pregnant, but did not have a husband. She returned to her parents’ home from the Rocky Mountains, with her head between her knees. During her pregnancy, she announced to her disappointed parents that she planned to attend school once again and study Graphic Design. Computer technology was somewhat new at this point in her life. In 1994, she gave birth to her son and realized that it was time to go back to work. She never obtained that degree in Graphic Design, but she found a love for teaching students all aspects of the computer, dabbling in teaching computer assisted design, 3D animation and video editing. Discovering her gift for teaching, she went on to get her Masters Degree in education and taught middle school for many years, finishing her years of teaching as a college professor. In her late 40’s Carol met her soul mate and they married. He was an engineer by day and an accomplished worship musician on the weekends. During their early years of marriage, while living in New York, Carol would tell him that she wished she could be an artist. She even prayed that God would give her the gift of art, so that others would find answers to life’s struggles in a message to their heart through her visual art. At this point, she didn’t even know if she could draw a square, but she had a strong passion. One Christmas, her son and her husband bought her paper, paints and an art book. They instructed her to paint every day. She was bound to get better! Those early days of trying to paint were not pretty, but she has painted every day since and her artistic talent has blossomed. Carol found a love for mixed media techniques. She is mostly self-taught, but has had several mentors along her path of discovery. Finding new methods through researching extensively and experimenting with different materials, such as holographic papers, alcohol inks, glass, resin, gold leaf and colored foils is how she spends her days as a retired teacher in Panama City, Fl. She loves the tactile sensation of placing acrylic paint on the canvas and by using objects that shimmer and shine, enabling her to portray her spiritual vision.

Title

"WURGEN"

Medium/Genre

Painting

Artist Statement

Artist Bio:
Crystal blue oceans, epic mountain waterfalls, worship songs in church, the interplay of light and shadow on people’s faces as they experience life, are a few of the things that inspire Carol Mackey Andrulevich to paint in her tiny corner of the universe which currently is her backyard studio in Panama City, Florida.

As a painter the world takes on a life of its own as it filters through her eyes and mind. Carol does not just paint spiritual themes, but her Christian faith is the driving force behind her art. She is an avid researcher (burning many dinners), studying techniques and the way different materials and mediums can abstractly create an altered reality. She currently works with acrylic paint, but would be described as a mixed media artist. She often begins a piece with an idea and then photographs different scenes and people to use as blueprints to transform one world into another.
Carol’s hope is to help others to experience the invisible, by seeing the visible representation that she has depicted on canvas from her spiritual mind and physical illustration. She has the desire to create in a way that makes people feel joy, hope and love.

Artist Statement:
Explanation of how artwork illuminates the Spiritual Battle/relates to Ephesians 6:10-20*
Today many people are spiritually suffocating. The response that may appear is the feeling of worry, isolation, guiltiness, insignificance, humiliation, insecurity, uselessness, stupidity, exclusion, unskilled, having no meaning, overwhelmed by work, having an urge to drink, needing coffee to face another day, viewing life as unhopeful, having no time to relax, low view of self, emotion driven eating, being unnoticed, never being the top pick, bullied or feeling flat out suicidal.

The term worry is derived from the old German word "wurgen", which means "to choke. The word became known as describing the condition of being harassed with anxiety.

One of the most unfortunate effects of the CoVid pandemic is the rise in our anxiety. Many people are full of pent-up adrenaline which surfaces as fear and anger. They ask themselves- will I get sick? Will I lack employment? Will I have enough money? Will my elderly family members survive? Will life ever return to the way it was? The only certain thing is that there are no certainties, so we feel like we’re being strangled and that we’re suffocating.

This painting represents the word of God which is like a filter and you have to filter the things of the world through the word of God.
The world is trying to choke you and cut off your air and make it difficult to breathe. You need the air, but it has to be sanctified by the word of God

How it fits into contest

Ephesians 6:10-20 says to take on the full armor of God and to pray on all occasions
To pray is to breathe. If you’re not praying, you’re suffocating or you’re on life support. Prayer and faith can bring peace. We can’t survive without breathing in God through prayer. We need to filter the things of this world by reading God’s word and seeking God in prayer to find our breath.

How to Purchase this Artwork

If interested in purchasing this piece, contact Carol at:
https://carolartist.com/
https://www.instagram.com/carolmackeyandrulevich/

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