By Beth Williams
Carol L. Bendell, Southwestern Grandmother, pastel, 12 x 9.
Carol L. Bendell has spent much of her career in the art world, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and doing graduate study in visual communication at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design. After completing her studies, she worked as an editorial illustrator, fine arts reporter, and art instructor at private schools and community colleges while simultaneously honing her talent as a prolific and award-winning exhibiting artist.
Carol L. Bendell, Beautiful Defiance, pastel, 12 x 9.
In 1980, the northeast Ohio native pulled up stakes and moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, where she taught English for 26 years while continuing her art pursuits, including her own watercolor portrait business. Fast forward to 2007, and Bendell married her high school sweetheart and moved to Hawaii, where she taught art to children and teens.
Carol L. Bendell, Seeker, pastel, 12 x 9.
The couple’s 2018 relocation to Phoenix, AZ, timed with Bendell’s retirement, triggered an unexpected creative rebirth in the artist. “I had spent my whole life doing other forms of art—printmaking, watercolor, drawing, illustration—and then, all of a sudden, I discovered pastel,” she says enthusiastically. “It’s a serendipitous way to draw and paint at the same time. The tactile experience of pastel is exciting.”
Carol L. Bendell, Heaven’s Design, pastel, 12 x 16.
Bendell uses the new-to-her medium in her powerful portraits and figurative work, which she executes swiftly in open-studio sessions with live models several times a week. She says, “I love drawing people, so every moment I work from life, I see more and sense more; I want to tell the model’s story. Because I’m comfortable with figure drawing and make bold marks quickly, the immediacy of pastel suits my expressive style.”
Carol L. Bendell, Ode to Joy: Pacific Evening, pastel, 12 x 16.
Although Bendell considers herself a portrait artist, she turns to pastel skyscapes and shorescapes for a change of pace. “Unlike live drawing in a studio, where I move quickly, I deliberately slow down outdoors to commit a scene to memory. Doing so changes my energy and focus—and ensures a never-ending learning process.”
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www.clbendellfineart.com.
This article is part of The Art of Pastel portfolio.