'Whatever the subject matter, be it landscape or still life – whether painting in oils or working on paper with gouache and pastel – my work is driven by a love of nature, of the seasons, the weather, the patterns in landscape, the atmosphere and the light. The very process of oils, or of gouache and pastel, enables me to build my paintings up in considered layers – I start with an idea, but the process sometimes leads me elsewhere. I work less and less from the subject, more frequently from photos, memories, drawings, videos – I find that working this way gives me the freedom to interpret the subject from a distance, not just compositionally but in terms of atmosphere and feeling. My work appears representational but it is always a mix of the literal and the imagination'. 'I have had a lifelong interest in drawing and painting. Following an Art Foundation year at Mid Warwickshire College of Art I began a BA degree in Botanical Illustration at Middlesex Polytechnic, previously Hornsey College of Art. However, life circumstances changed somewhat shortly after I started and I returned to Warwickshire. I continued to paint, initially in watercolour, and kept drawing, moving into oils over the years. I have, more recently, returned to watercolour, moving towards a mixed media approach - using watercolour, gouache, charcoal and pastel - working my paintings up in layers, much like with my oil painting. Oil painting is my primary love though, and I'm currently enjoying pushing the boundaries, trying new methods of application. I think it pays to explore whatever medium you can lay your hands on as, to a certain extent, one always informs the other. Most of all, whatever medium I'm using - and be it a landscape or still life - I want to convey my feelings about a subject, even if that means a compromise figuratively. For me, it's that challenge and excitement of the new and the unknown that keeps me painting.' Elected a Member of the Royal Society of Birmingham Artists (RBSA) in 2015, she has recently been elected to the RBSA council. Caroline has exhibited at many galleries including The Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London.