ABOUT

I’m a Scottish abstract artist living on the north‑east coast, where the weather changes every five minutes and the sea insists on being dramatic. All of that ends up in my paintings — not literally, but in the “this feels like a storm rolling in” kind of way.

I used to paint people’s faces, but eventually swapped noses and cheekbones for colour, texture, and big expressive gestures. Now I make paintings that don’t show emotions so much as whisper, nudge, or occasionally shout them.

I mostly work in acrylic, building up layers like a very slow, very messy lasagne. My process is intuitive, meditative, and occasionally involves talking to the canvas like it’s a stubborn houseplant. The coastal landscape around me sneaks into everything — the shifting light, the moody skies, the “is it summer or is it November?” palette.

My practice is also shaped by my own healing journey with cPTSD and Fibromyalgia. Painting has become a place where I can breathe, reflect, and transform. That lived experience sits quietly in the work, giving it emotional depth without making it overly serious. Think: gentle feelings and sometimes dramatic monologues.

I’m mostly self‑taught, with some brilliant abstract artists helping me refine my approach along the way. These days I paint from my home studio in Scotland, showing up daily to explore, experiment, and occasionally wonder how I got paint there.

CAROL'S ARTISTIC JOURNEY

Carol Mapley is a Scottish abstract artist based on the North East coast of Scotland

Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, Carol builds layered surfaces using colour, gesture and texture to create atmospheric compositions that sit between abstraction and landscape. Her practice is rooted in an instinctive response to materials, allowing each piece to evolve organically rather than following a predetermined outcome. Through this approach, her paintings become spaces for reflection—holding traces of movement, feeling and lived experience.

Carol's work often draws on an internal sense of landscape rather than direct observation. Shifts in light, weather and the surrounding coastal environment inform her palette and mark-making, resulting in pieces that evoke both expansiveness and intimacy. Themes of transience, stillness and emotional resonance run throughout her practice, inviting viewers to form their own personal connections.

After focusing for a while on portraiture, Carol returned to abstraction as a more direct and expressive visual language. This return marked a move towards greater freedom in her process, where intuition and experimentation play a central role. She works from her studio in Aberdeen.

Her work is held in private collections in the UK and internationally. For exhibition, enquiries and commissions, please get in touch via the contact page.