Carmella Thompson’s home is both the home where she lives with her husband and the art studio where she works.
It reflects how the 72-year-old artist works and thinks. Filled with art she has acquired in her last 40 years, as well as art she has created herself since her college days.
“I don’t sit a lot,” she told Chronicle, recalling how she created or acquired the piece. I have to share, I’m a creative person.”
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She works with wood, pen and ink, and photography. Art hangs on the walls of every room and stands in every corner. There is not much empty space not occupied by art. A wooden slab she carved of scenic wildlife, a metal heron on a stand, a photo of the city she once lived in on the living room wall, or the fish skins she dried on the back deck. A picture resurfaced in
She can store slabs of wood and lean against a wall or prop them up on an outdoor table or chair next to the pool to complete one project and start another with the waiting lumber. will do so.
Whether working on new art or figuring out what to do next, Thompson is always on the move.
So far, the Inverness artist is one of six participating in this year’s Inverness Public Art Project ahead of the city’s art festival in November.
Carmella Thompson’s steady hand burns the design into the black walnut wood that will be part of her bicycle design on display in Inverness.
Matthew Beck Chronicle Photo Editor
A public art project, each artist creates a bicycle out of materials of their choice and will be exhibited outdoors throughout Inverness for a year. The bike is meant to reflect the city and how it attracts outdoor enthusiasts, as well as the popularity of the city and the Withlacoochee State Trail, which runs through its series of connecting trails.
Since childhood, Thompson wanted to be an artist and planned to become an art teacher when he went to college. As soon as he graduated, he got married and started a family.
“But an artist can’t make money and I had two kids to feed,” she said.
As a child, she grew up in poverty and decided never to live like that again.
She worked as a sales girl for JCPenny in Oklahoma. She eventually got a job as a computer data entry worker at the University of Oklahoma, and since her employees were free, she took photography and other art classes at night.
She also attended a local technical school to study computers and become a computer programmer.
She was good at math in high school, and when she moved to Maryland in the late 1970s with her husband, who was in graduate school, she was working as the lead project manager for computer technology problems at a local bank.
Seven banks then merged, all overseen by Bank of America, and Thompson was responsible for security computer policy.
After that, he worked for several years in the Maryland government, and finally at Miter Corporation, which manages federally funded research and development programs specializing in areas such as cyber and homeland security, aviation, and defense. Did.
In Maryland, she married her current husband, an accountant and deputy treasurer of Maryland.
Art may have seemed like a long time ago, but “but I always carried pen and ink,” she said.
In his spare time, he took pictures and sold them at art shows organized by banks.
She also painted mostly portraits and sold them.
She retired at age 67, no longer worried about striking a clock, and devoted herself full-time to her art.
After moving to Citrus County, she began incorporating wood into her work.
“I love trees. I love trees,” she said. “Wood gives me a way to express myself in a lasting way.”
Will she continue to make art after 72?
“I’m a creative person,” she said. “As long as you have hands and you have sight, that will never change.”
In 2021, Inverness’ public art project was a downtown mural depicting the city and its attractions.
This year it will be a public bicycle art project.
Carmella Thompson’s bike design is laid out as she works on the project.
Special to Chronicle
It was an idea conceived by Inverness Bicycle & Fitness owners Sandy Levin and Sherry Bechtel.
Pamela Zeljak of Civic Icon Arts said two women came up with the idea a few years ago, but Inverness didn’t have the resources or the staff and how to organize and present such an event. Said he wasn’t familiar with it. business.
Other cities have implemented similar projects with bicycles, which she said have been successful in attracting attention to the local community.
Zeliak’s experience has allowed the city to host the event this year and have enough artists to attend.
The bike will be on display next month and the project will lead to an art festival.
The festival focuses solely on fine arts, but there are also venues for public art such as crafts and bicycles, Zeliak said.
Murals remained popular last year, but “cities need different types of art, but that doesn’t mean there will be no more murals in the future,” Zeliak said.
“The best public art is a reflection of the community in which it resides,” she said. “Residents and visitors connect with art that reflects them and their communities.”
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