Carolyn  Mock

"I have a perfect situation!" Carolyn Mock enthuses as she reflects on her day-to-day life painting wildlife scenes from her studio on her and husband Bill's 45-acre spread in Oklahoma. From her large windows she has a view of Canadian geese, egrets, Great Blue Herons and ducks feeding and swimming in the pond and the occasional wild turkey strutting by.  Come dusk, it is time for the deer, raccoons and possums to make their presence known.  "Our neighbors must think we're nuts--we feed everything that comes along!" she adds, laughing.

Carolyn's love for her subject matter is evident in her award-winning work. "I hope that people will get more of an understanding of wildlife through my paintings, and treasure wildlife for the precious thing that it is," she says.  Growing up on a farm in Oklahoma, Carolyn tended to the ducks and chickens and, by nine, began dreaming of a career as a wildlife artist.  She coveted visits to her aunt's, where she would sneak off to look at artworks in her aunt's encyclopedias..

Years later, after Carolyn had gone to work as a technical illustrator for major corporations, she studied with such wildlife artist greats as Robert Bateman and Carl Brenders. Finally in 1985 she realized her lifelong dream by becoming a full-time artist. Today, Carolyn is one of the nation's most successful wildlife artists. Her work appears on or in connection with such products as prints, greeting cards, jigsaw puzzles, decorative flags, needlecraft kits, teeshirts, and wallpaper borders.  She is an associate member of Oil Painters of America and Women Artists of the West.  Her originals have been juried into such prestigious shows as the Gilcrease Museum's "American Art in Miniature."  She travels from Wyoming to Alaska to photograph reference for her paintings..

And, yet, even after more than twenty years of painting professionally, Carolyn feels that "I'm still learning everyday to be a better artist.  I'm hoping my best work is ahead of me."