​Carol G. Brantley (born, September 24, 1937) is a American artist known for her abstract art.

 

Brantley’s roots began in Dublin, Georgia. Her childhood and teenage years were spent in Vidalia where she graduated from Vidalia High School and enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta.

 

Brantley majored in Social Sciences graduating with a certification to teach high school social sciences.

 

After graduating from college, Brantley married and taught at East Atlanta High School until 1965. She then transferred to Richmond, VA and gave birth to her two daughters Barbara and Elizabeth. 

 

In 1979, Brantley divorced and moved back to Georgia with her daughters. There she taught and counseled at the middle school level until she retired in 1988. 

 

Brantley later developed an interest in pursuing art. After enrolling in a watercolor class taught by Ed Beaver of St. Mountain, Georgia, Brantley desired to explore other mediums. 

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Brantley later joined an acrylics painting class instructed by Helen Schneeberger of Decatur, Georgia and it was not until she took a workshop with Val Thelin in Sarasota, Florida that she discovered she was an abstract painter.

 

Brantley joined a group of artists in Atlanta, renting a studio space eventually naming themselves "A Wing and A Prayer.” After leaving the group, Brantley to have a home studio where she would continue to paint and create.

 

Brantley spent the next ten years painting, exhibiting, and continuing to study art under local artist Sandy Grow, who critiqued her work weekly. 

 

Artist statement:

 

“I identify as an abstract artist using my paintings to express my feelings and understanding of the world we inhabit.

 

Abstraction (from the Latin ‘abs,’ meaning away from and ‘trahere,’ meaning to draw, is the process of taking away or removing characteristics from something in order to reduce it to a set of essential characteristics. 

 

In essence, each person brings to the viewing of the art their own life experiences,

thus the art speaks to each person as an individual. ‘Bleeding Hearts’ is my first diptych and is an expression of my feelings about the world in which we live. 

 

In creating the piece, I wanted to answer certain questions. ‘Where is a safe place?’ ‘Why evil exists in the world?’ ‘What is God's plan for humanity?’”