Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why are you doing this?
In May, 2020, I watched the murder of George Floyd. I wanted to do something to speak out against racism in our country, to help people see beyond skin color to view the humanity of the person instead. While reading books on how to be an anti-racist, I was inspired by the stories of Black women who had spoken out about racism. So I started painting portraits as a way to start conversions.
2. How do you chose the women you paint and write about?
In one of the earlier books I read, I learned about Dot Counts, a teenager who helped integrate her highschool. There was a newspaper photo that showed her walking the gauntlet of other students jeering and spitting on her. This photo was what inspired James Baldwin to return to the U.S. to help in the Civil Rights movement. It moved me to start my portrait series.
As I found out about more Black women who had overcome barriers of race and gender to succeed in their dreams, I started painting those also. One of the criteria was that they needed to have been overlooked. I also tried to mainly pick historical women, women who did not have the opportunities of social media to get their message into the public eyes.
3. Why do you often use unrealistic skin tones to paint your portraits?
Because I don’t want people to focus on skin tone, I take a page from Impressionistic painters and use whatever color I feel will enhance the portrait. Woman with a Hat, by Henri Matisse, was one of my first inspirations of using this technique.
Awards:
2005 – Best of Show, International Society of Acrylic Painters
1979 – 2nd place, Minneapolis College of Art and Design Student Show
Publications:
2008 – Artweek – April 2008
Associations:
International Society of Acrylic Painters – Signature Member
ICB Artists Association – Board Secretary, 2008
Marin Arts Council
California Writers Club
Shows and Exhibits
2025 – Teaching Black History Through Art, Community Media Center of Marin, San Rafael, California
2024 – Overlooked, Community Media Center of Marin, San Rafael, California
2024 Doing the Right Thing, Homestead Valley Community Center, Mill Valley, California
2022 – Women of Color and Accomplishment, Book Two, Art Works Downtown, AWD, Studio #10, San Rafael, California
2019 – Omo Valley: Revisited, AWD, Studio #10, San Rafael, California
2014 Across Space and Time, Marin TV, San Rafael, CA
2013 – 2006 – Marin Open Studio, ICB, Sausalito, CA
2013 – 2006 – ICB Winter Open Studio, Sausalito, CA
2010 – Sam the Butcher, Ross, CA
2009 – Twins and Triplets, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA
2006 – Civic Center MAC show, San Rafael, CA
2005 – Seattle Art Gallery, WA, International Society of Acrylic painters. Won Best of Show
2005 – Marin Open Studio, Mill Valley, CA
2004 – Artisan’s Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
2004 – Marin Open Studio, Art Workouts, San Rafael, CA
2003 – Art Workout, San Rafael, CA
1994 – Pastel Show, Corte Madera Town Center, CA
1979 – Minneapolis College of Art and Design – Student Show, MN Won 2nd place, 2D
Books, Talks, Art, Shop
Learn more about all the books published, and to order books.
Check out the videos of talks given around the Bay Area. Talks given to NAWBOW, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and at art exhibits.
Contact Carol at carol@caroljacobsen.org if you’d like her to give a talk to your group.
Art Exhibits
Visit Carol at her studio on the second Friday of the month, 5 – 8 pm
AWD, 1325 Fourth Street, Studio #10, San Rafael, CA
Shop for mugs, T-shirts, posters. and canvas prints
Check out my Printify store. Or you can see T-Shirts, Posters, Canvas Prints, and Mugs
Self portrait painted in 2021 from a 1971 photo taken in Yugoslavia.