Carol 'Naveta' Rivoire BIO
“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing . . . . . does the artist do good things.”
- Edgar Degas
This marvelous quote from Degas has been my inspiration - This along with invaluable mentoring from famous Newport, Rhode Island/Naples, Florida abstract artist, Therese Girard. Also, Michael Domina, abstract and watercolour artist and teacher (Naples, Vermont & Mass.) - From all of these and others, I learned to be courageous in my art. Not afraid to make mistakes or fail, use big brushes, and scraps of anything. All of the teaching I've given myself, has not only been tremendously exhilarating and fun, but I'm growing by leaps and bounds as an abstract (contemporary) artist.
Carol's History
I was born in 1940. My father was an artist, but earned his living wallpapering houses. My grandfather, also an artist, painted hotel rooms in Boston. My husband a gifted artist worked in the leather industry. – Me, I never picked up a brush until after my husband died in 2012. My first art lesson was in collage, an art form I've been fascinated with for 60 years. I loved it, and earned the pet name from my teacher of “Wild Child”. – Hey, in your seventies, that's a good thing. Messing about in paint describes pretty good why I love painting pictures – My pictures have a lot of texture. Oftentimes that texture is created by the painting's history. That's artist talk for what's underneath.
My intuitive abstract paintings generally have a lot of texture which I create through various techniques. – Also, a lot of color. - Although, I started painting very late in life, I've always known, and been told I have a good sense of color, texture, and placement. – One visitor to my Old Barn Gallery said she loved my sense of placement in my paintings as well as the furniture in the gallery.
Old Barn Gallery
OLD BARN GALLERY - The Beginnings
Way back around 1984, my husband and I were deep into Norwegian Fjord Horses - Importing them, breeding, training to ride and drive, and selling. This was before we moved Beaver Dam Farm to Nova Scotia. The American Carriage Associatioin held a convention on the grounds of Biltmore Estate near Ashville, North Carolina. It turned out to be a glorious affiar, elegant and wellplanned with many activities. One special event that made an indelible impression on me was a bus tour up into the mountains to visit a huge and varied art gallery in a big old barn. – I was so impressed with all the original art shown against the age and rusticity of the beautiful old barn that I found myself thinking of that art barn for many years . In 1987, Arthur and I vacationed in Nova Scotia from our 100 ac. horse farm in New Hampshire. We most certainly had no intention of buying a farm in Canada. We had a beautiful farm in New England. However, someone kept insisting that we look a large farm “out in the county” – meaning Antigonish County. So, finally we did, and were immediately impressed with the massive 1845 barn on the prooperty with an impressive loft that held more the 3,000 bales of hay. --- It reminded me of the art barn I'd seen in the mountains of North Carolina, and the imageremained in the back of my mind during the next 24 years until we retired from the horse business in 2010. That'swhen we began the process of turning our 1845 cobwebbed, manure stained barn into an ART GALLERY. Old Barn Gallery officially opened in 2011.
We operated the gallery in the loft of the old barn for 3 years. In 2014, we moved to the smaller space of the horse stable. This space had originally been the farm's tractor shed. – We turned it into a stable around 2010, and then into the art gallery a few years later. In 2016, we adapted the Carriage House (used to store horse carriages) into Gallery #2 of Old Barn Gallery. Also in 2016, we added parts of the original gallery in the 1845 barn as our 3rd venue. We've reserved the vast space of the old barn for really large pieces should local artists wish to exhibit with us. In 2017, we've added another exhibit space, our beautiful home, Hill House which overlooks Pomquet Harbour and beach. – This move has been quite successful as people seem much more inclined to fall in love with art hanging in a real home, rather than a gallery. The gallery at Hill House is open by appointment. Just call us the night before you wish to come. So, that's the story of Old Barn Gallery at Beaver Dam Farm in Pomquet, NS.
We'll see what next year brings . . . . . .
Affordable art at Old Barn Gallery
When I let go of a painting to its new owner, it's almost like an adoption, which is exactly how I felt during the 34 years I was raising and selling Norwegian Fjord Horses. – The difference was that the Fjordhorses I raised sold for big prices. The reason being pretty obvious. I can buy the paint and canvas for a painting for very little money. – Breeding and raising a horse costs huge amounts of money. Also, when I'm really in the groove, I can paint fast and produce many paintings. Also, my studio is in my barn. I own the barn and farm (No Rent), so I am able to offer my art at really low prices. Lastly, and most important . . . . I love painting. It's fun and good for my soul.
Other Artists in Old Barn Gallery
Rodney Tate – wildlife photographer - Extraordinarily sensitive pictures of our native birds - most of them taken right here at Beaver Dam Farm. Rodney produces these picture in matted 11 x 14” sizes - All ready for an off the shelf frame or custom frame. He's not only a phenomenal photographer, but the man really knows his animals and their habitat. Rodney's father was a woodsman, and as a child Rodney toddled after his dad through Nova Scotia's pristine countryside. Now, he knows just where to look for his subjects but also how to insinuate himself into their world. Beautiful pictures at very affordable prices.
Charles Dawe - We have a large collection of Dawe paintings - I've been told it's the largest collection in the Maritimes. Charles Dawe was from Sidney, Cape Breton Island. My husband and I discovered him in 1992 when St. Francis Xavier University's art gallery held a large and impressive retrospective on his art. We were so impressed that we immediately bought three paintings, and my artist husband contacted Dawe to appeal for art lessons which he took on a regular basis for several years, during which we bought even more paintings. ---- I have ten treasured Dawe paintings in my house and enjoy them daily. – Charles Dawe died in his eighties about eight years ago.
Robert Goodlett - is a Florida landscape and wildlife artist. Beautiful pictures, but the ones I bought for my gallery are impressionistic florals which I love and also have hanging in my home. In fact, most everything I have in Old Barn Gallery is art I also love in my home. . . . . Is there another way to do it?
