CAROLINE ITALIA

aroline Italia Carlson is a fine artist, media specialist, and the owner of Caroline Italia, a digital agency that provides web and print design, podcasting services and instruction, audio and video editing, and copywriting. She is also the creator and host of the Passionate Painter Podcast.

Caroline has shown her fine art in galleries across the country, including exhibits in SoHo, NYC. She has won numerous awards for her drawings, paintings, and photographs.

A New Yorker, Caroline is the daughter of a craftsman and an artist; both were entrepreneurs and her role models. After studying fine art and science for two years at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Caroline completed her bachelor of art degree in visual art and a minor in art history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. After college, she relocated to New Jersey and studied illustration and graphic design at the Joe Kubert School, digital design at Morris County School of Technology, and web development at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Throughout her own career, Caroline has continued the development of her skills through the AQUENT Springboard web design and development program in Boston, MA, Seth Godin's Marketing Seminar, Amy Porterfield's Digital Course Academy, and Marie Forleo's B-School. Caroline is a voracious reader and perpetual learner. She continues to study fine art, marketing, and business. She will graduate from Full Sail University with a Media Design MFA in July of 2024.

Early in her career, Caroline cut her teeth in the pressure cooker of East Coast marketing firms, where the creative energy and intense deadlines refined her talents and honed her work ethic.

Upon moving to the West Coast in 1999, Caroline began art directing magazines and did a deep dive into web design using HTML, CSS, and WordPress. Her California years included almost a decade serving as creative director and volunteer for Living Free Animal Sanctuary, a non-profit animal rescue in the San Jacinto mountains.

In 2013, Caroline relocated to central Wisconsin with her family. There, she applied her wide range of traditional and digital art skills in both the corporate environment and remotely through her own small business.

Caroline's contributions to the art, design, and marketing communities are varied and prolific. In 2017, while working as Director of Marketing and Creative Design for the National Wellness Institute, she made her foray into podcasting. She launched the Passionate Painter Podcast in 2019, a platform that has since provided education, inspiration, and encouragement to artists worldwide. Her audience continues to grow, and the show remains a beacon of joy and community for her.

In 2020, Caroline and her family embarked on a new chapter, making their long-anticipated relocation to picturesque Upper Michigan. This move, driven by a desire to return to her husband's hometown, reflects Caroline's adventurous spirit and willingness to embrace new challenges.

In 2022, Caroline launched her online portrait masterclass, The Portrait Code, also available in individual spotlight bundles for fine artists. She also embarked on a new adventure, working as a media specialist for Island Resort & Casino in Harris, Michigan, which, in her words, "Is a blast."

As mid-2024 approaches, Caroline celebrates the homeschool graduation of her high schooler and looks forward to attaining her MFA in July.