Circles, Color, and a Space to Discover

Carol John’s Sunshine, Happiness, & Joy fills The Do Good Fund Gallery with color, curiosity, and possibility, offering visitors of every age the chance to discover something unexpected.

By Monica Jones

There is something wonderfully disarming about walking into a gallery filled with bright colors, playful shapes, and thousands upon thousands of painted circles.

At first glance, Carol John’s work feels joyful. Her exhibition, Sunshine, Happiness, & Joy, now on view at The Do Good Fund Gallery, practically radiates optimism from the walls. Color moves across the canvas. Patterns emerge and dissolve. Shapes gather, separate, and reconnect. The paintings feel alive.

Beneath the color and movement are questions about uncertainty, discovery, intuition, and the complicated layers that exist within everyday life. The paintings remain abstract and non-representational, yet they often suggest stories, emotions, and experiences that feel familiar even when they resist a clear explanation.

For John, discovery is the foundation of her practice.

Working from a former church in Athens, Georgia, she has built a daily routine around painting circles and dots, sometimes by the thousands. What begins as repetition becomes exploration. What begins as a simple mark gradually grows into something larger, shaped by intuition, curiosity, and time.

“The dot is associated with playfulness,” John says. “I find circles and dots a great place to start a painting. Playfulness for me allows for discovery, is a pathway for discovery, which is the point of the entire practice, and why I paint.”

That spirit of exploration runs throughout the exhibition. John describes her process as intuitive, allowing the repetitive nature of the work to create room for new ideas, arrangements, and possibilities. The paintings often suggest narratives she never intended and stories she never planned.

The title Sunshine, Happiness, & Joy might lead visitors to expect something uncomplicated and airy, but John’s work offers something richer than that.

“Life is complex and full of layers,” she says. “Anything we do will bring that along.”

Her paintings make room for both light and darkness. Vibrant colors and playful forms share space with uncertainty, tension, and the realities of a world that is rarely simple. Yet even as she acknowledges those realities, they never become the center of the conversation.

There is something refreshingly candid about that perspective. John acknowledges darkness without centering it. Life is complicated. Difficult things happen. Hope and uncertainty often exist side by side. Her response is not to ignore those truths, but to continue exploring, creating, and searching for what might be discovered next.

“Hopefully, good prevails over evil,” she says.

That same openness extends to the way John views abstraction itself. While some artists are eager to explain their work, she seems content to allow viewers their own experience. When asked what people most often misunderstand about abstract art, her answer was surprisingly simple.

“I cannot speak for others but feel free to like or dislike a piece of art for any reason,” she says. “That’s your personal choice.”

It is not a dismissal – it is trust.

The paintings are not asking viewers to arrive at a predetermined conclusion. They are not asking anyone to solve a puzzle or decode a hidden message. They simply offer an opportunity to look, spend time, and discover what resonates.

That philosophy feels very much at home at The Do Good Fund Gallery.

For years, The Do Good Fund has quietly brought meaningful exhibitions to Columbus while keeping the experience accessible to the community. Visitors can spend an afternoon in the gallery, attend an artist talk, return for a second look, or introduce someone else to a new artist. The invitation remains open.

This summer, that invitation extends to younger visitors through Gallery Kids, a new educational initiative inspired by Sunshine, Happiness, & Joy. Led by local teaching artist Sarah Beth Cardin, the free program encourages children ages 5 to 10 to explore color, shape, abstraction, and creative expression while surrounded by John’s work.

Cardin, a Columbus State University graduate currently pursuing her master’s degree in elementary education, centers her work around curiosity, creativity, and playful learning. During each session, children spend time exploring the exhibition before creating artwork of their own inspired by what they discover in the gallery.

Gallery Kids is offered free of charge through the support of Kim Mixon Real Estate, creating opportunities for young visitors and their families to engage directly with art and creative expression in a gallery setting. Registration is required, and families may sign up for one or multiple sessions through The Do Good Fund.

There is a generosity running through this exhibition and the people behind it. Carol John has spent years building a body of work rooted in curiosity, discovery, and daily practice. The Do Good Fund has created a space where that work can be shared freely with the community. Through Gallery Kids, that invitation now extends to the next generation of artists, thinkers, and creators.

The paintings are there. The doors are open. The opportunity is ours.

Sunshine, Happiness, & Joy will remain on view through August 5 at The Do Good Fund Gallery, located at 111 12th Street in Uptown Columbus, next to My Boulange and Black Cow. An artist talk featuring Carol John and Spalding Nix of Spalding Nix Fine Art will take place Wednesday, July 29, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is always free. Visitors can learn more about the exhibition, register for Gallery Kids, and explore upcoming programs at DoGoodFund.org, by visiting The Do Good Fund Gallery at 111 12th Street in Uptown Columbus, or by following The Do Good Fund on social media.