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Carol Morris (Toots) is an Ann Arbor artist, poet, community television film producer, and teacher of collage workshops for women in prison since 1998.
SELF PORTRAIT 2008
Presently her main genre is altered books and illustrated journals. She also paints in watercolors and acrylics, and all kinds of mixed media.
Her work has been exhibited in San Francisco, St. Louis,
Minneapolis, The Kinsey Institute, University of Indiana, Long Island, Denver, University of Michigan Gallery, local exhibits juried by the Ann Arbor Woman Artists, The Fun House Detroit, Michigan's Woman's Hall of Fame in Lansing,
In the past she has collaborated with musicians, recording and performing her original poems set to music. Her work is available on compact disc from Silkrhino Records.
Her CD release party of "ATOMIC PICNIC" took place in 2005 at a coffee house, The Bean, in Whackatane, Bay of Plenty New Zealand.
Her 2nd CD "LAST WILL & PEPPERMINT" was released in 2006 with an initial reading at Dreamland Theater in Ypsilanti Michigan.
Carol likes to read in local art galleries, book stores, and other public venues.
Traditionally a narrative poet, she has been widely published in literary journals, and has several chapbooks.
Her graphic art products, mainly one-of-a-kind greeting cards and Lucky Boxes, are sold in art galleries and art sales around the country. Her main concentration has been Mailable Art using vintage magazine images and collage techniques. She is pleased to know that thousands of her cards have circulated and are often displayed on refrigerator doors around the world. Testing of these cards on free-range monkeys established that 9 out of 10 cards are delightful as well as collectible.
Since 1998, she's been volunteering to develop and teach for women in prison. Collage is well suited for this environment and Carol's non-directive teaching methods have met with much success. In September 2014 she had an opportunity to meet with the Russian punk rock group, PUSSY RIOT, and give them her anti-Putin artwork to take back Russia. An article she wrote about the experience was published in the national news letter "Art Lines" of the Woman's Caukus for Art, winter issue, 2015. Presently she is leading collage workshops in the Washtenaw County jail for women prisoners.
Carol has produced several short films. These have all been shown on the Ann Arbor Community Television Network Channel 17. She has produced 25 episodes of the Lobbie Lamento Variety Show. On the show Carol is the voice of a mechanical lobster "Lobbie Lamento" who interviews local artists and musicians. Her original short films are also showcased in each episode. One of these films was "TRACER", a documentary of Allen Kaprow's performance score involving a box of chalk and an eraser. The film, along with like films, was shown in 2007 as an adjunct to the exhibit "The Constant Possibility of Erasure" at Dorsky Gallery in Long Island City, NY.
