From Commission to Completion: an educational workshop and demo by Carol Baxter Kirby
By Warren Griffin
Past President and Portrait Society of Atlanta Advisory Board Member Carol Baxter Kirby will be giving a one-day workshop at the North Shallowford Annex on Saturday, September 13, 2025. Registration details can be found on the Portrait Society of Atlanta website. All proceeds benefit the Portrait Society of Atlanta. Here is a little background on Carol and some of her art:
Carol Baxter Kirby was a budding artist early in life. While in grammar school, she encountered teachers who inspired her to pursue her artistic interests, and her parents supported her interests by providing art supplies as she copied images [mostly people] from books and magazines. She also benefitted from a commendable high school art program.
After receiving a BA with an emphasis in illustration from Georgia State University, she continued her art development through studies with Marc and Roman Chatov. There, she refined her abilities in mixing, skin tones, handling edges, and other fine nuances of portraiture.
She began her professional art career in 1990 and has evolved into one of the most sought-after portrait painters in the country. Among her significant recognitions and awards are: Twice being a finalist in the Portrait Society of America competitions, First Place in a Portrait Society of Atlanta exhibition, The Whistler Award, Portraits, Inc., The Modern Portrait exhibition in New York, and the Thora M. Jensen award, Hudson Valley Art Association. She is exclusively represented by Portraits Inc.
Her portraits are characterized by strong light/dark arrangements while maintaining the softness and innocence of the childhood countenance. She skillfully handles soft and hard edges in a manner that enhances the painting without drawing attention to this element. The backgrounds may vary considerably. Sometimes she paints very detailed environments while other backgrounds may be completely non-representational. She makes the choice intuitively based on what might better enhance the painting. And like all great portraitists, she has mastered the inexplicable element of indicating that the subject is alive, is a thinking organism, and possesses a soul. As mentioned, this nuance cannot be defined, but is a sine qua non of all highly accomplished portrait artists.
Carol’s creative process is very straightforward. She starts with a lengthy photo and familiarization session with the subject /subjects. All the photos are then studied on the laptop. Once a photo has been selected, she goes back to the studio and creates a full-scale pencil drawing. Once the drawing is approved by the client, she then transfers the drawing to the canvas that she has prepared – then the painting begins. Painting time on each project is four to eight weeks. She typically works on one painting at a time.
Carol now resides and paints in Midtown Atlanta. She and her husband moved in 2014 from their suburban bucolic setting to a maximum urban environment. She can be reached through her website: carolbaxterkirby.com.
