Cottage Industries - Montana Style: Carol's Whimzees

It would be very difficult to look at Carol Beiderman's paintings of animals – a grinning cow, a big-eyed squatting frog duo, the female with long eyelashes and lipstick; a Highland cow whose long locks completely cover its eyes, a happy turtle - without smiling. Carol loves animals, which is pretty obvious; you can see the lightness and fun in each one, so it's no surprise she calls them her Whimzees.

The Whimzees came along about four years ago, starting as a hobby to enjoy. Carol is self-taught; getting ideas from videos that caught her eye on YouTube and thinking she could do something similar. She's usually looking at something she draws from and began by using a paint pour technique. This technique created a wave-like motion in her painting of the American flag, one of her favorite pieces. She also uses this method on her magnets.

"Later I found alcohol ink and I thought this is so much fun," she said. "Alcohol is what moves the image and you can change the same color from light to dark so you get a lot of different things out of one color."

Alcohol ink is used to create framed paintings and images on cups and salt and pepper shakers. Carol explains that she draws funny or crazy animals because she can't draw a perfect person or animal. She also enjoys drawing flowers.

"I love to do pigs, cows, highland cattle, giraffes, horses, and frogs. I'm an animal lover. Sometimes someone will make a suggestion and I'll try it, like the highlander or an alpaca. Most all of my animals have lipstick on, not the boys; I just think it's cute." Carol said.

Carol participates in the Whitehall Farmers Market every Saturday, as well as all the town festivals, including Frontier Days, Fall Festival and the Christmas Stroll. Whatever is going on, she's involved.

Carol and her husband Jerry moved to Montana from Prescott Valley, Arizona seven years ago last August. As the move coincided with retiring she had the time to consider other pursuits. Last year Jerry built her a separate studio outdoors where she works during the summer. Sadly, Jerry passed away on November 9.

"The last special thing he did was make my art house, he did such a good job on it and he always helped me set up and break down art shows," Carol said. "He was the one who encouraged me always. He was a good man."

Carol has made her mark at the Farmers Market in more ways than presenting her artwork. Every week she has a couple of young girls who ask their parents to go see the "magnet lady."

"I think the youngest one must own one of every magnet that I have. She'll hold up a magnet and her five pennies and I tell her that will work. Seeing both girls brings joy because I make my Whimzees with a happy heart," Carol said. "When people come by and say look at that, I just love it. Sometimes they buy, sometimes they don't and that's okay, I just enjoy getting people to smile, laugh, and giggle."

Being something of a chatterbox, Carol enjoys drawing people to her table, inviting them to look at one of her pieces, and ending up having a nice conversation. She's made a lot of friends that way.

Giving back is also important to the Whimzee lady. Carol has done two fundraisers by selling raffle tickets for two of her pieces, one for We are Her, helping victims of domestic abuse, and another for Patti Reed's dog rescue.

Although she is now on her own and continuing her life as a single woman, Carol believes she is where she belongs. Leaving Arizona, Carol and Jerry knew they were ready to move somewhere else. They had looked in several states, and their house had already sold, so they were in a pinch.

"My house here in Whitehall was the last house we looked at so we thought this has to be a God thing because we loved this tiny town and everybody was so friendly, so we decided this was what we were doing," she said.

The couple put a lot of work into their house, making it their own. They didn't always have the same taste and now Carol is working toward making it hers, following Jerry's advice of "do it right so you don't have to do it again."

Carol is following this advice and enjoying her hobby, one that's appreciated by those who visit her table at the Farmers Market.

"I enjoy doing them, it's so relaxing and it's just fun," she said. "They're silly animals that make you smile, that's why I call them Whimzees."

For more information: Carol Beiderman 928-458-6090, magetta1951@gmail.com, Facebook personal page, and Whitehall Classifieds page.