Episode 31: Carol Branson makes whimsy-ponderable art

"Whimsy ponderable”: how Carol Branson’s friend described her art. I’d call it child-like, folk-art-flavored found art. You can see the fun, but it makes you think, too. Her online gallery starts with old guitars and goes from there. My daughter is particularly partial, in a major way, to the skateboard art. There’s wood, metal, paint and lighting elements: found objects transformed into feelings and color. 

Carol shares how she started in art, how theater and art played roles in comforting and guiding her as she was outed as a gay woman before high school, and how working with her hands has played such a big part in her careers (from theater manager to arborist) and her free time. Her art’s shown up in churches, at art galleries and even Union Station. As the pandemic winds down, she’s trying to find more nice ways to show her art and interact with the folks who come by to tell her how it makes them feel. 

Let Odd Job Grrl, a business/pseudonym she came up with when she needed to invoice something on a letterhead, share with you her even-keeled, joyful, found-art approach to making things because you want to, not just the things the world tells you to make …  

P.S. My refrigerator came on and started making noise, so I cut that part out. Sorry, if you wanted to hear it.