carole connely

Family-Placed Death Notice

CAROLE ANN CONNELY Carole Ann (McKinley) Connely devoted her life to her family, friends, and to her art. Her main accomplishment in life was to make the world a more beautiful place, both in her art and in her spirit. We are saddened to say that Carole passed away suddenly but peacefully on Sunday evening, January 8th, 2006. Born and raised in Aurora, Illinois, Carole now resided in Stone Mountain, Georgia. She graduated, with honors, holding a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute. She was renowned for her colorful figurative abstractions and architectural scenes from her travels around the world. Carole is represented by the Lagerquist Gallery in Atlanta, and galleries in Birmingham, Alabama, Sarasota Florida, Huntsville Alabama, Nashville Tennessee, and Knoxville Tennessee. She is survived by her husband Dr. Robert Emmitt Connely, brother Donald McKinley, her three children Laura Sleighter, Greer Dixon, and Dev Connely, four grandchildren, Brad, Nichole, Zac, and Dylan, and millions of beautiful and creative friends. In celebration of her life, family and friends are gathering Saturday from 1:00pm till? at the Connely home in Stone Mountain. In lieu of flowers, please support her love of art by sending donations to The Art Station, PO Box 1998, Stone Mountain, GA 30086. For those of us fortunate enough to have memories of Carole, we will forever keep her spirit alive by cherishing her kindness, sharing her love in the artwork we will all treasure, and in her honor we will dance like no ones watching, love like we'll never be hurt, and live like there's no tomorrow.Cremation Society of Georgia.404-355-7627

Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 1/13/2006.

When Carole Connely ran an errand, she'd often return with a stranger in tow --- some striking person who'd caught her eye and agreed to pose for her figurative abstract oil paintings.

"Strangers are usually very happy to model," the artist said in a 1989 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. "I choose people who just have a lot of flair, something about them that's interesting."

At her private memorial service today, so many former models are expected to turn up that it may feel like her paintings have sprung to life.

"Mom would go to Home Depot, and two hours later the clerk is coming home with her and sitting down to dinner with our family," said her daughter Laura Sleighter of Washington. "Dad used to joke about what it would be like if all these people showed up at the same time, and I think this may be it."

Carole Ann McKinley Connely, 68, died at her Stone Mountain residence Sunday of a heart attack. The body was cremated. Cremation Society of Georgia is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Connely earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1960, the same year she moved to the Atlanta area. From her home studio, the Aurora, Ill., native created motion-infused paintings with figures that seem to be half-emerging from their abstract surroundings. Galleries throughout the Southeast exhibited and sold her work.

Evelyn Lagerquist, who owns Lagerquist Gallery in Buckhead, has shown Mrs. Connely's pieces for 25 years.

"Carole's paintings worked in so many different ways," she said. "Her colors were wonderful, and it felt like her work was so free and spontaneous."

"She was one of the loveliest, nicest, fairest, above-board artists I've ever had," Mrs. Lagerquist said. "If we ever decided to take some of her paintings but not one in particular, she always wanted to know why --- but not with an attitude, never with an attitude. She was just very conscientious about her work."

Mrs. Connely was a reluctant traveler who harbored a hint of dread when expected to show up for her openings, including one in Florida two days before she died. When they were little, her children would be dispatched throughout the gallery to eavesdrop on viewers' comments and report back. Mostly, she couldn't wait to get back to her studio.

Her prankster side crept out late at night. If her husband dozed off early, she handed out washable markers to her children to decorate him with while he slept or took them out for furtive hot fudge sundaes.

"Carole was a mystery to me," said her husband, Bob Connely, who married her three months after their first date in 1960. "There was a lot about her that I never fathomed.

"She was a private person, and I have never seen Carole paint --- except one time. One day, I figured out if I stood on one foot and leaned over the ledge, I could look out the bathroom window and see a portion of her easel. So I looked down there and saw Carole painting.

"The next morning at breakfast, I told her I'd seen her and the first thing she did was put a big sheet of Styrofoam over her window, and I never saw her paint again."

Survivors include another daughter, Greer Dixon of Flowery Branch; her son, Dev Connely of Cumming; her brother, Donald McKinley of Scottsdale, Ariz.; and four grandchildren.