The unique watercolor sketches done by Hope Carpenter throughout her travels will be on exhibit in Stetson Gallery throughout the month of October. The opening reception for “Sketches from Life” will be held Sunday, Oct. 2, 12-2 p.m. in the Gallery.

A current Salem resident and former resident of Marblehead, Hope Carpenter is well known for her impressive array of skills, including: former lead singer in a rock band; toy designer; historic re-enactor who makes her own soaps, costumes, and even shoes; home renovator, and, most importantly, talented artist. Her October exhibit will feature watercolor sketches she has made throughout her travels, some using unusual substitutes for water. In London, for example, she once used some of the Guinness she was drinking!

Hope Carpenter does not consider herself a fine artist “I’m an illustrator, interested more in capturing a moment in time” she says.

Hope paints watercolor sketches wherever she goes instead of taking photos. For the first time in 20 years, she is sharing these sketches with the public. In addition to beer in a London pub, she has painted with as well as with pickle juice in an outdoor setting. From New Orleans to Paris, each sketch shows a glimpse of a moment in her life.

Hope Carpenter grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and says she “was always the kid lost in thought as she observed her world, always curious about her world.” She decided to become a commercial artist/illustrator when she was six years old. Though she never attended a formal art college, she painted with watercolors in adult classes at the age of 12 and had four years of art training in high school. She attended Pinebrook College for seminary study, and Kutztown College where she studied color theory, deciding to major in color theory. She apprenticed for a year in Philadelphia with a 94 year old porcelain painter who was taught to paint roses and orchids by a Lenox master painter. She became a designer and illustrator, her career for last 35 years.

“I passed the art baton to my daughter Elisha who graduated from Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. Now in my 50s, I am as curious about the science of what I see as much as the colors and textures.”