A Tennessee native Carla Tucker retired from 30-year career with the Federal government. She studied art at Sacramento State University, Sacramento, CA where she developed an interest in various art styles and techniques. Carla is currently living in Aiken, South Carolina where she is a member of the Aiken Center for the Arts and a board member of the Aiken Artist Guild. She found her passion painting pets using acrylics and pastels. Her paintings have been sold across the United States and exhibited in various venues in Aiken. Her realistic style captures the essence of the animals by concentrating on the eyes. She also has an interest abstract, mannerism, women artists of the Renaissance. She uses the abstract-mannerism style with exaggerated features to create these whimsical caricatures of herself using layers of transparent and opaque acrylics.