Carole Hanson, 76, died peacefully at home in Bremen on Sept. 9, following a short, unexpected illness, and surrounded by her loving family.
Carole was born in Portland, April 20, 1948, the daughter of Philip and Mary Ricker Hanson. She graduated from Westbrook High School in 1966. Under the influence of her father, a master metal craftsman, and the inspirational coast of Maine, her interest in sculpture evolved, which she pursued at the Hartford Art School, Hartford, Conn. from 1966-1968. She apprenticed with Lloyd Glasson, sculptor and educator, in New York City, in 1970. She continued with independent study in sculpture in the United Kingdom, in 1973, and in Mexico, in 1981.
Working primarily in stone, but also in wood, clay, and bronze, she embarked on a lifelong career in sculpture, leaving a rich legacy, including free-standing sculptures, fountains, and monumental landscape installations with bas-relief images of figures, animals, and natural forms, designed and carved to reveal the life of the stone. Her work is widely exhibited from New England to the southwest, and is held in private collections in Maine, Vermont, New York, Maryland, Florida, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Carole was a participant in the Maine Percent for Art Program, which funded many of her large-scale projects produced for schools and other public buildings, some utilizing many-ton slabs of marble, granite, and bluestone. Her figurative images of natural forms reflect permanence and fine craftsmanship. Three of her works in conjunction with Guillermo Esparza, “Bath Iron Works Centennial Monument,” 1984, Bath; “Celebrate the Arts Sculpture,” 1986, Tucson, Ariz.; and “The Yellow Brick Road Sculpture,” 1986, Tucson, Ariz., are listed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum catalog.
Studying music and voice in the early 1990s at the University of Maine, she garnered the lead role in a musical celebrating the centennial of Bath Iron Works, “Hot Ice,” which led to a jazz repertory which she performed in various venues in Maine, under the name Carole Stone.
Carole is survived by her son, Santiago Esparza, his wife, Kayla, and their daughters, Nalani, Zaria, and Gianna, and her grandson, Quintin.
Her irrepressible creativity explored many avenues during her lifetime: poetry, music, drawing, painting, sculpture, and finally, landscape gardening, where the vivid colors offered by roses, dahlias, rudbeckia, and hydrangeas created fantastic backdrops for the marble and granite sculptures she displayed in her spacious yard at home.
A private memorial celebration will be held at the family’s discretion.
