Today we’d like to introduce you to Carley Brown.
Hi Carley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve created art ever since I was little. For the longest time art was not something that I wanted to pursue as a career, it was something I did for fun. It wasn’t until high school that I realized I wasn’t passionate about anything other than art so naturally after high school I went to college and pursued a degree in illustration.
College helped to nurture and grow my technical abilities and make me a better artist. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do after graduating other than I wanted a creative career. I thought as long as I was doing something creative then I would be happy. Only a few months after graduating my mom suddenly passed away and my world came to a halt. She was a huge part of my life and I didn’t know how to move forward so for 2 years I worked and art fell to the background.
It wasn’t until a friend came up to me talking about markets and making a living selling my work that I began to focus on my art again. He helped introduced me to local markets in the area and even let me borrow some of his set up as I was figuring things out. That was back in 2023 and now 3 years later my art is my full time job and I couldn’t be happier!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s funny because when I was in the mist of it only a few years ago, working full time and also trying to do markets when I could, it felt hectic at times, but never impossible. When you really want something and you have the drive to move you forward you then things will fall into place. They don’t always fall the way you want them too, but it will eventually come together.
The two biggest struggles in this career path is that it is not always financially stable and it can be difficult to balance work and creating art. Some months I stress over if I am going to be able to make enough and other months the markets surpass my expectations. I also find with making a living making art my motivation to create is like a rollercoaster. Some days I am driven to sit and paint all day and other days I find it hard to even pick up my sketchbook. I try to be kind to myself and am constantly trying to find ways to be creative even if it doesn’t result in a finished painting.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I like to describe the work I make as colorful and whimsical, creating work that is silly as well as emotional complex. I bounce between a few different mediums, from colors pencils, digital illustration and painting, though my favorite one to use are oil paints.
A big part of my work, and probably what I get the most comments on, is my use of color. It is such an integral part of what I do because it is also how I view the world. Color can trigger emotions and draw someone into your work. My favorite thing to do is to play around with different color palettes and when I start a new piece I usually go into it with a color palette already in mind.
The thing I strive for the most in my work is I want to make people feel something when they look at my art. My personal belief is that it doesn’t matter how good your technical ability is if I don’t feel something when I am looking at a piece of art then it won’t stick with me. Not every piece I make succeeds in that aspect, but it means the world to me when someone comes up to me because they were drawn in by a piece of mine.
Honestly I’m not sure what sets me apart from other artists. If I had to pick one aspect of my work that I think stands out amongst the rest it would be that my work has a sense of nostalgia and longing, be it for what once was or for what could be.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I feel like the most important quality of my work that has contributed the most to my success as an artist is being authentic to who I am as an artist. I don’t create work that doesn’t feel like me, like I’m not the biggest dog person so I don’t create a lot of pieces with dogs in them. I want my work to feel like a piece of me and that means being honest through my art. I have a hard time being vulnerable and art is the once place where I can put my heart on a canvas or sheet of paper.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @carleybrownsart
- Other: artbycarleybrown@gmail.com
