About 

Born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and raised in southern Ohio,

Carol migrated to Berkeley, California via France and New York City in 1976

and has lived in Bolinas, California since 1980. Her practice as a painter began

in 1983 under the mentorship of artist Jackie Kirk. She began exhibiting her

paintings in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1993.

“Known for her watercolor paintings, artist Carol Duchamp utilizes watercolor technique with fluid acrylics in saturated colors worked wet into wet rag paper. Her work is like a jazz riff on a melody of color that starts with a single long stroke. Sensitive to the energy of the moment, she follows the cues of the colors’ movements with spontaneity. Abstract expressionism hasn’t been this happy since Sam Francis!” Claudia Chapline, Claudia Chapline Gallery (in reference to 2013 Commonweal exhibit).

Carol holds a BA in French Literature and an MA in Sociology from the University of Strasbourg, France. She studied painting with Mike Grady, Jeremy Morgan and Fariba Bogzarin while enrolled in the MA in Transformative Arts program at JFKU Arts & Consciousness in Berkeley. As an art educator, she has taught Non-Traditional Watercolor and Fluid Acrylic Painting at UCSC Extension, Art Trek, College of Marin Community Ed, and at her Bolinas studio.

“Ms. Duchamp’s approach to mating color, form and sensual morphology is uniquely quirky, gorgeous and inexplicably inviting. A soul speaks when spoken to, as though eavesdropping on one’s most secret and delicious dreams. She is a true nature-whisperer.” Michael Tobias, author (in reference to Carol’s book of paintings Poetics of the Invisible, published in 2017).

Kim Eagles-Smith Gallery in Mill Valley has been including her work in group exhibits since 2023. Thompson/Dorfman Investment featured 14 paintings in her Feb/Mar 2026 DREAM LOGIC exhibit. A show of 24 paintings, DANCE ME TO THE END OF TIME, took place at Commonweal Retreat Center in 2023. Additional solo exhibits (2012-14) include Chance Encounters at Artworks Downtown, Aleatory Images at Chrome Architecture, Subjectivities at Commonweal and Intimations at IONS Earth Rise Gallery.

“A beautiful presentation.” Charles Anselmo, Continuum Gallery (in reference to 2026 Dream Logic exhibit).

Carol founded Art Trek in 1980 and taught travel study painting workshops in association with UCSC Extension for 25 years. Destinations included France, Italy, French Polynesia, Bali & Java Indonesia, and the American Southwest. As a colorist, her paintings have been inspired by the many works of art viewed during her travels. She recently self-published a novella entitled Garlic and Roses, and is working on a book based on her Art Trek postcard collection of favorite paintings.