In this episode, I have an enlightening conversation with artist Carla, who shares her unique journey through art, spirituality, and personal growth. We explore the profound influence her father's role as a Methodist minister had on her early understanding of mysticism and creativity, and how these experiences shaped her artistic vision.

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Since 2002, Carla Falb has been creating paintings of roller coasters from images she captures on her GoPro while riding in the front car. Facing the initial fear and the adrenaline rush of the ride is infused into her work – like a 21st century J.M.W. Turner tied to the mast of a ship witnessing a storm at sea. To the casual viewer, her series depicts mere amusements, yet her underlying intention is that the roller coasters symbolize our experience in this life, with all its peaks and valleys. After the death of her mother on Christmas in 2016, her emphasis shifted to nighttime imagery with light bursting through the darkness. For Falb, the light in her paintings represents our divine sparks or higher selves, connected to one another in a universal field of consciousness.

Carla Falb was raised in Philadelphia and spent her summers at the Jersey Shore. She was very close to her father, a Methodist minister, who shared his interest in mysticism with her, as well as his quirky sense of humor, love of art, music, dancing, and amusement parks! Falb received a B.F.A. from the Philadelphia College of Art and a Certificate in Painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1983. During that time, after learning traditional drawing and painting techniques, she created paintings based on imagery from her dreams and visions. Twenty years later, Falb returned to Philadelphia and attended the University of the Arts for her M.F.A. where she began painting roller coaster structures.

In addition to her painting practice, Falb has taught art full time since 1987. She received a Dodge Foundation Fellowship for Artists/Educators that funded her travel to Southern California in 2009 to record source imagery for her Roller Coaster Series. During her visit, Falb fell in love with the area, and relocated to Orange County in 2017 where she is currently a tenured professor at Fullerton College.

Exhibition highlights include solo exhibits at the Billis Williams Gallery in Los Angeles, where she is represented, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ Alumni Gallery. Her work was also featured in exhibits at the Preston Contemporary Art Center in New Mexico, and at the Noyes Museum of Art in New Jersey. The Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts recently commissioned and acquired one of her HangTime paintings, which feature the light streams of a roller coaster captured on a nighttime helicopter ride.

Discover more about Carla and her work:

Carla's Website

Carla's Instagram

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Credits: Special thanks to Matthew Blankenship of The Sometimes Island for our podcast theme music!

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