Carol Saylor, Neighbor

Carol B. Saylor is a painter who gradually turned to sculpture during about 25 years of progressive deafness and blindness. As a mother, grandmother and great grandmother, she often had to set her art aside to care for family members. Her husband, and later a daughter, died of cancer, and she also helped care for three surviving granddaughters. These and other life experiences have shaped and inspired her artistic work.

At age 39, Saylor earned a BFA from Tyler School of Art, where she graduated magna cum laude while raising five children and teaching art part-time with Abington Parks and Recreation. She discovered that she losing her hearing and eyesight soon after graduating from Tyler and teaching art and humanities for 3 years at Lenape Junior High in Doylestown, PA.

Saylor began exhibiting her watercolor paintings with National Exhibits by Blind Artists (NEBA) and Moss Rehab in 1991, and has since gone on to win several awards with her work, including Best in Show and Purchase Prize at the Armory Shows for the Blind and Disabled, given by the Women's Committee of the PA Academy of the Fine arts (PAFA). Saylor's work has been featured in several lcoal publications, and is included in multiple collections. she is a public speaker for NEBA, has presented for classes at The University of the Arts for the past nine years, and recently spoke at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore for National Library Services.

Most of Saylor's recent work is in clay, although it includes papier-mache, plaster, wood, bronze and resin sculpture. Her clay work ranges from fine clay to raku, and her favorite patina is smoke fired. She uses acrylic gel, which she can apply with her hands, and bronze powders to enhance her sculpture.

Her subject mater involves the female form in abstract and realistic modes. Her latest pieces are abstract clay forms meant to be gently touched. They contain openings large enough for a hand to enter and explore. The hidden spaces contain additional unseen art, creating a level of sculpture that can only be experienced tactilely.

Saylor's work expresses the emotions of a lifetime, from loss and grief, to gratitude and hope. Saylor states, "I am grateful for the wonderful transition my brain has been able to make."