February 7–December 15, 2023

Artist and poet Carolyn Kleefeld is a largely self-taught artist whose wish is to inspire others to create. Kleefeld, like many auto-didacts, follows her intuition and an innate urge to create without restraint.  For much of her life, she has sought out deeper connections to her inner creative self unencumbered by rubrics, rules, and restraint.   

Kleefeld has long been involved in California esoteric movements.  Working from her Northern California home studio which she describes in her journals as sited “on top of a mountain”, she has welcomed friends, creatives, and thought leaders there for decades. Creative relationships and her own self-directed spiritual explorations have led Kleefeld toward a holistic approach to life. Her way of living is organized around sustained engagement with nature, love, solitude, writing and visual art making, and a rejection of market values and consumerism.   

The drawings on view are part of a large gift of art given by the artist to the Museum.  Each is inspired by a family member, friend, confidante, lover, or muse, and a shared experience or important event in her life.  Art making is part of her every day. Made with easily found materials, the style, scale, and medium suggest immediacy and authenticity.   

If you could make art free from restrictions and critique, what would you make? If you’ve never made art before or feel you aren’t good at it, what would you use to inspire your art making? And, when could you make time to be more creative? On the bus? Or, on an iPad while taking in a lecture? Or at the beach or in the breakroom? What would being more creative look like for you?  

We encourage all visitors to create compositions on the felt table here.  You could build on a composition already on the tabletop, create something new inspired by these drawings or by your own imagination, or even make some photos of the felt or Kleefeld’s drawings with a creative crop or filter—anything that feels creative for you.