ABOUT CARLEY
Carley is a full time artist based in Texas. She grew up drawing anytime and anywhere she could. She started her business on Etsy in college, selling her work as stickers and on merchandise, and made enough money to pay for more supplies. Now she sells originals, commission work, and limited edition prints. She is pursuing her dreams of being a full time working artist.
Carley has a remarkable ability to adapt and transform her style, depending on the medium. Whether she's using brushes and acrylics on canvas or crafting digital works, her art is a reflection of her range and adaptability.
Growing up with a sculptor grandfather, she has always been surrounded by art. However, torn between art and a love of science and animals, she found it hard to pick just one. She volunteered in veterinary clinics, got a tech certification in high school, and interned and worked in veterinary clinics. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. But when she left college she decided to pursue her art career, with the goal of bringing her two passions together. Building up her shop enough to create her own website and brand has been such an amazing experience for her. Carley is still growing as an artist and has so many ideas she wants to share with the world. The name Thompson was her name before she got married, keeping it for her business and brand to pay tribute to her family.
Artist Statement
Carley Adberstein’s work is continually evolving, serving as a means for her to make sense of life. Once torn between a scientific background and a creative drive, she has come to recognize that while science taught her to observe, art allows her to respond. Her work is not about strict realism or replication but rather about presence, capturing the essence of a subject rather than its form.
Between passion and apathy, between joy and despair, and between the significant moments of life, there exist small yet profound instances of simply being. Through her art, Carley seeks to create those fleeting moments of peace, offering viewers a space of stillness and connection. In a world that constantly demands attention and reaction, her work provides a quiet refuge, an instant of peace just before the exhale, before life continues. She is drawn to this space because it represents spontaneity and possibility, where nothing is happening, yet anything could.
Artist Biography
Carley Adberstein is a 24 year old Austin-based artist whose work merges the technical with the inspirational. Born in Yorkshire, England, and raised in a military family, she moved often, absorbing experiences that would shape her artistic voice.
She holds a degree in biology with a concentration in neurobiology, so she approaches art by blending the analytical with the emotional. Where science has taught her to observe, art has taught her to respond. She works in many different mediums, acrylic, gouache, ink, digital and charcoal. Her work, often centered around animals, is about capturing an essence, an innate energy that is in all living things.
Though self-taught in fine art, her creative lineage runs deep. Surrounded by sculptors, photographers, painters, writers, spies, and engineers, she grew up in a world where both artistic expression and scientific inquiry were essential ways of understanding life. This is where she lives, where technical study and raw instinct work in harmony.
In addition to exhibiting her work in galleries and competitions, Carley has built a thriving art business and created an accessible space for her art to reach collectors and admirers everywhere. It is a journey of relentless curiosity, an ongoing experiment in pushing creative boundaries while staying true to the quiet power of observation.
