South Named Arts Council Menifee Artist of the Month

Carol South, shown with her painting "Desert Flower", is the Arts Council Menifee Artist of the Month.

By Bill Zimmerman
Arts Council Menifee

Take a look at Menifee’s art movement. The city enjoys its successful and active Arts Council. Look closer. You now see people, the volunteers who make it happen. One such volunteer is Carol South, who is being honored by the art organization for the leadership role she played.

Traditionally, art organizations are volunteer-based. They are formed to benefit local artists in a community. The efforts are a labor of love, with members coming together to plan and host events that promote the arts. Arts Council Menifee is no exception.

The area’s local artists have benefited from the vision and efforts of South, an artist herself, whose work is greatly admired by her peers. South is one of the organization’s founding members and was instrumental in creating the art gallery that adorns the walls of the Kay Ceniceros Community Center. She has served as the Co-Chair of Arts Council Menifee’s Visual Arts Division, which has grown in numbers since its inception. South recently retired from the position and has been succeeded by fellow artist and friend Linda Morrison, who now heads the division.

While coordinating the gallery and events, South participated as one of its artists, displaying her work for the public to view. She still shows her original paintings along with her line of unique greeting cards. Some of her cards include original hand painted images, which can be personalized upon request.

Viewers instantly notice that South’s artwork is from a perspective foreign to most of us.

"I found real inspiration while visiting other countries," said the artist.

Her travels included a Kenyan safari, where she photographed wildlife in their native surroundings. Those images provide a reference as she creates "Into Africa", a series of wild animal illustrations specially framed using borders that simulate the detailed designs of Masai beadwork. This group of works includes use of watercolor and oil, as well as unique etched intaglio and linocut printing techniques.

South enjoys working in a wide variety of media, including watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel, colored pencil, collage, printmaking and mixed media. She finds that the subject matter influences her selection of media.

South’s early art training equipped her with the skills to produce life-like portraits and to hand render images in realistic detail, work that has earned numerous awards.

As a small child growing up in New Mexico, her introduction to painting was by her mother, an award-winning professional photo colorist who applied transparent oils to sepia-toned portrait photographs. This early instruction has enabled her to produce life-like portraits.

Along with creating stunning artwork, South has played a contributory role in the development of the arts in her community. When she first moved to Menifee, she founded the Oasis Fine Arts Group and served as the group's president for four years. She is also a member of the Fallbrook Art Association.

"It gives me great pleasure to see all of the activities here in Menifee that promote the arts, and I have been thrilled to be a part of it all," said South.

For more information, please visit www.artscouncilmenifee.org or call 951-290-ART1.