Artist-in-the-House Opening Reception: "Bigger Than Life"

Nature often inspires artists to go big, but Carolyn Thome delights in focusing on the smallest of sights. Like a painting of a seascape or sunset, her photographs inspire reverence for nature, only on an exquisitely tiny scale, offering vivid, close-up views of such diminutive marvels as a spindly mushroom, the petals of a flower, or the fine brown hairs on the head of a moth.

Nearly 50 of Thome’s photographs are featured in “Bigger Than Life,” on display from Wednesday, March 26, 2025, through Sunday, May 11, 2025, at Locals Farm Market, 19929 Fisher Avenue, Poolesville, Md. This show is the eighteenth Riverworks “Artist in the House” exhibition to be featured on the second floor of the historic Veirs-Stevens House at Locals.

“Through my macro photography, I explore the beauty hidden in everyday life —details often overlooked, textures unnoticed, and moments passed by in haste,” she explains. “My work invites viewers to pause, to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.”

An artist’s reception will be held at Locals on Sunday, April 13, 2025, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The reception is free and the public is invited to attend.

For Thome, macro photography is a logical extension of her 31 years at the Smithsonian, where she constructed intricate models for numerous exhibitions. “I developed a profound appreciation for the power of sharing what might otherwise be overlooked,” she explains. “With this collection, I hope to elevate the everyday.”

Riverworks co-founder David Therriault sees Thome’s photography as a compelling departure from previous “Artist in the House” shows not only in subject matter and style, but also in the effect of the framed pieces when all of them appear together. “Because of their size, this show features a larger number of pieces than we usually showcase,” Therriault says. “Other painters and photographers do a great job of exploring the big picture out here in the Ag Reserve—the forests and farm fields and views of the river. Carolyn wants us to stop in our tracks and be just as amazed by a microscopic leaf or the lines on the wings of an insect. Her work is a good reminder to stop and think and maybe feel something new about this incredible place. Is it fragile? Is it sturdy? What stories does it have for us?”

Thome, a lifelong Maryland resident, points out that digital technology enables her to share the excitement she derives from the infinite variety of nature. Viewers who scrutinize her work will glimpse a vast world in a mushroom and sprouts thriving in a clump of soil—and share her sense of awe. “Using focus-stacking software, I craft images with depth and precision, revealing intricate

patterns and delicate structures that might otherwise go unseen,” she explains. “My work is an invitation to see the familiar in a new light, to find wonder in the smallest of details, and to elevate the beauty that surrounds us all.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Carolyn Thome got her first camera at the age of 10—and has rarely been without one since. After graduating from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Thome pursued a career in modelmaking. She worked in Los Angeles, helping to create special effects for movies and television shows. Back in Maryland, she became a freelance modelmaker for print advertisements and created props for Nordstrom's East Coast stores. She then spent 31 years at the Smithsonian Institution, where she made models for exhibitions, first using resins and clays and later incorporating advances in technology such as laser scanning, photogrammetry, and 3-D printing.

Thome built her home photography studio while working at the Smithsonian, and photography has remained a common thread throughout her career. From her first Instamatic to her current DSLR, cameras have always been an important part of her life. Whether at home in Maryland or traveling inside or outside the U.S., she likes to capture moments, the small things, the subtlety

of life that calls to be noticed.

Learn more about her work at her website: carolynthome.com.