Langley Tolbert Works

Artist Statement

"Making abstract art is a remarkable activity. Every painting is a chance to create something never seen before. I find that incredibly exciting." 

--Langley Tolbert

Langley Tolbert is a contemporary abstract expressionist, formerly from Alabama and now based in Marietta, Georgia. Tolbert composes a painting as she paints it, letting her instincts tell her what to do and when to stop, because the painting is finished. Working mainly in acrylics, she often enhances her paintings with collage, texturing medium, ink and pastels. 

    As a child, she loved drawing horses, paper dolls, faces and birds. By age ten she was oil painting, and by her teenage years she was designing parade floats and stage sets. It was in college, at the University of Alabama and then at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her Bachelor's Degree, that she discovered her passion for painting abstracts, and she never lost it. 

    After college Tolbert's creative life took an unexpected turn into the world of advertising, where she worked as a copywriter and television producer for 30-plus years and earned a succession of creative awards. Then in 2010 her life took her back to art. She set up a studio in her garage and took the plunge into working as a full-time artist. She gained gallery representation quickly, was given her first solo show and began being juried into top exhibitions. 

   Tolbert believes in lifelong learning. She has studied with many outstanding artists including Harry Aly, Hugh Williams, Patt Odom and Holly Roberts. Her paintings hang in numerous corporate and private collections, including those of the Alabama Art Colony, the Montgomery Marriott Renaissance Hotel, Hill, Hill and Carter Law and Montgomery's Jackson Hospital. 

Juried Exhibitions 

Regions Bank Alabama Show 2005 through 2017

Alabama Arts Council Encore Exhibition 2009 

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Biennial Show 2013 through 2017 

Auburn University Montgomery Show 2008 through 2014 

Alexander City Alabama Educational Foundation Shows 2011 through 2016

Honors and Awards

Alabama Art Colony Purchase Award 2007

Purchase Award-Jackson Hospital-Auburn University Montgomery 2014 

Best of Show, Alexander City Educational Foundation 2014 

First Place-Regions Bank-Watercolor and Ink 2014 

First Place-Regions Bank-Transparent Media 2015 

First Place-Auburn University Montgomery-Water Media 2012 

First Place-Alexander City Education Foundation-Acrylic-2012 

First Place-Alexander City Education Foundation-Mixed Media 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016