carol eldridge

Hello there, you want to know a bit more about me?

Well, I grew up in New England with a wonderful family where creativity was encouraged and constantly nurtured by our adoring parents. We lived in a charming town called Marblehead, so named because of it's rocky coast along the Atlantic Ocean.
We were always doing something really fun at our house that made everyone smile. My brother and I had the best childhood you can imagine and everyone we knew wanted to be to be part of all the fun. So, there were always lots of friends around to share in all the activities. We had all sorts of pets from dogs to owls, boa constrictors and various other snakes my Dad raised; turtles, mice, parakeets, canaries, parrots, and lots of other creatures. When we went on family vacations, the friends came along with us as well. "The more the merrier" was my parent's motto and we would take the dogs with us too.
It was a wonderful way to begin my life, securing good roots with lots of love, developing confidence and knowing that what ever I chose to do, my parents would support me. And, they still do!
I had been to all the art museums in my area by the time I was 10 and all of those in Washington, DC and New York City by age 12. I went to a wonderful camp each summer where along with horse back riding lessons, swimming, sailing, canoeing, rowing, and various other activities, I took art lessons. I learned how to paint and do pottery and all sorts of wild and wonderful crafts. My Mother still has all the crafts that I made at camp from when I was a kid. It is like a shrine to my creativity.
I was lucky enough to live in a town where they had an art major program at my high school to prepare you for the portfolio review for college admission. So, I majored in art in high school and after graduation from Marblehead High School, I went to college as an illustration and printmaking major at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. I studied in Italy for part of my Junior year, visiting Florence, Rome, Venice, Sorrento and the gorgeous Isle of Capri, drawing every step of the way. I have always felt that trip set the tone for future travels and greatly influenced my love of visiting new places and seeing it from an artist's perspective. I graduated with honors and earned a BFA degree. I also did a graduate year at Salem State College in art and philosophy of education and became certified to teach art k-12. I later served on the Alumni Board of Massachusetts College of Art for many years and gave seminars on art licensing to students.
After spending 10 years as an art teacher, running a greeting card company, where I designed all the cards and my friend and partner wrote all the sentiments, silk screening tee shirts and posters, hand painting ornaments and wooden folk art buildings of Marblehead, illustrating children's workbooks, selling watercolor paintings of scenes of Marblehead and being an art director at a publishing company, I started licensing my artwork.
I continue to license my artwork today to major manufacturers all over the country and have been doing so now for over 18 years.
My designs can be found on all sorts of products, such as giftware, tabletop, home decor and have been featured in catalogs and magazines and used in some television shows as props. I also specialize in doing product development, where I can take a design that I have created all the way thru from initial concept to the detailed 3-D drawings of each potential product, ready for manufacturing.
I am an artist. Art is my passion and I love what I do, and I am fortunate enough to be able to earn a living designing things that make people smile.