News! Showing work from 19th July 2024, The Bizarre, “And The Worm Said Nothing” at Foxyard Studio, Suffolk.

Invited artist Inverarity Gallery 2025.

Invited artist 2024 @ CACTUS GALLERY L.A

“Hidden Gardens”

Available works…

https://cactusgalleryla.com/collections/hidden-gardens-2024/products/the-nanny-bird-matricibus-avem-by-caroline-bury

https://cactusgalleryla.com/collections/hidden-gardens-2024/products/soul-heart-by-caroline-bury

Creative Wyrd Ways.

I spent my childhood imagining small beings, creatures and monsters. I drew and coloured them on roll after roll of plain wallpaper and drew them on my bedroom walls. I named them and catalogued them. Categorised and ordered them as species, family groups and tribes, although I didn’t know the word species then. I am still that child…

Although I’ve tried out being all kinds of other Artist, every artistic endeavour between now and then has been good practice for what and how I make Art now. When I was a painter, I always felt some lack and it was hard to finish a work for some reason. Although I loved it, I never found it satisfactory. I think it’s because I couldn’t get my hands around the subject the way you can with sculpting, it’s a tactile thing.

So now, at last, my process includes all aspects of artistry. All my urges to paint, to sculpt, to construct with my hands and heart, to sew and stitch, to include natural materials like feathers, dried fungi or wood puts me in a very happy place with a deep feeling of rightness. That is satisfaction!

I had an Etsy shop for a while called Familiar Friends but that became so bound in red tape I gave it up. Also I felt drowned in a sea of mass produced flimflam! During that time I started to make Art Dolls. Small ‘dolls’ at first, poppets and creatures. I called them Dead Eye Dolls. You can read the reviews from happy customers during my time on Etsy at the end of each Art Dolls page.

I’m in the ‘weird niche’, right where I belong but I prefer Wyrd as it tells an older story of beguiling intrigue where strange supernatural beings inhabit our world unbeknownst to us mere mortals. The world of Art Doll Makers is a very curious place, often conceptual, often dark and definitely not for children.

Yes, I went to Art College and have a Bachelor’s Fine Art Honours Degree. It was great, I threw myself into it, flailing at some points and at the same time it was crushing but I’m glad of it too.

Creativity and Influences.

Let me tell you though, it is truly magical and wonderful thing when you develop and flex your imagination. There is nothing more awesome than watching an art work come to life and evolve at your finger tips. Trusting yourself to go forward in the moment. Creating without a safety net or a tried and tested pattern of uniformity. Every new work does link to the past work because it came from my soul! I strive to be original and this is so incredibly hard not to be influenced by other artists which means being vehemently myself which is funnily enough, easy. Living in our world with nature, plus mixing the extreme weirdness of humans is always a point of entry into my artistic psyche. I go where my muse takes me and if that is in hiding, I need go no further than the wild woodlands edging my home or have a proper good dance with friends! I do love birds so very much and I find their feathers irresistible. If I use feathers in artworks they are all treated before using them btw.

I am overjoyed to see so many art doll artists ‘out there’ creating magical pieces that it gives me confidence in being a part of that grouping. However, as with all groupings there are blurry, wobbly lines where ‘art doll’ becomes something ‘other’ and that is when they are bought, taken home and attributed loving value.

There are no rules in the midst of your own creations, you decide.

I love what I do, what I make and I love my precious creative time. I also have a tiny portion of my brain that creates poetry. You might read one here! I absolutely took myself by surprise lately by writing an alternative version of Robert Burns “Tam O’ Shanter”. You can read this on “Nannie and the Beast” details page.

Thanks for getting to this spot.

I would have a place within this website for reviews but it will cost extra at this point to blow my own trumpet by paying the website to let customers sing my praises….all work in progress eh! so … I’ve popped one here at the end of this blurb….

A quote from one of my customers about his second purchase from my “Hooker” series goes:

“Hi, Caroline! I recently decided to move the "HOOK" fellow I bought from you a couple of years ago from my computer room to the wall above my bed's headboard (I'm hoping he'll give me interesting nightmares there). But I quickly missed having him where he was, so I checked your current collection in the hope that you were still bringing his relatives into the world. And behold! I'm embarrassed to admit I got straight-up giddy. Do you think you'll offer more like these two guys in the future? Mr. Hook is my favorite thing in the house, and all visitors seethe with jealousy when they see him.” - Scott Fulmar, 2020.

Thank you for visiting dears,

Caroline