Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carrie Beene. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi CARRIE, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

When I was in my 20’s I was working at The Odeon in NYC as a waitress. My boyfriend at the time was a photographer and he shot some 4×5 slides of my paintings. I had them in my locker at work after picking them up that day and at the end of my shift they were in my bag when I was having my after shift cocktail at the employee table together with another waitress who knew I had picked them up and asked to see them. I was excited that she asked because there was a late table of people sitting across the room. Sitting at that table was Julian Schnabel, Francesco Clemente, several big art collectors and the director of the Metropolitan Museum.

As my friend was holding up the slides to the lamp above our table I heard a man’s voice shout out “Are those paintings you’re looking at?” It was Julian. My friend answered “Yes!” And he shouted, “Well bring them over here and let us see!” So at that my friend took them over to the table and pointed to me to say they were my work. At that point all these big art world heavy weights were looking at my work; a 24 year old kid.

I got good feedback overall and Julian asked to see my studio! And a few days later he actually came and looked at my work in person. He took me to the Pace Gallery with him where he was having a show and we traded funny “artist” stories like having paint fingerprints all over the house. But the amazing thing he did for me was lend me his studio! He was leaving the country with his wife for 6 months and the studio was going to be empty.

He followed through and I was able to, for the first time to work on very large canvases, which is still part of my wheelhouse today. Also because of his interest in me I sold my first ever painting to the owner of The Odeon!! It was very kind of Julian and he totally didn’t have to go to the trouble and I am still grateful after all these years.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I spent many years struggling as a painter in New York, Europe and the Caribbean. When suddenly computers were a big thing people began asking me if I would do my art on one and I thought that was ridiculous. But then I saw someone working with Photoshop. That changed my whole trajectory. I made it my job to learn everything I could about Photoshop and how I could use it to make a living. When I found out that Photoshop was behind every ad image we see in stores and magazines, every image everywhere I realized that was the way to go. I got a low pay photo lab job retouching family photos, weddings etc, but I kept honing my skills, working long hours at the color lab and coming home and practicing all night until I snagged a job at a high end NYC retouching studio. My pay rate tripled and suddenly I was working on magazine covers, beauty ads and celebrities, but I didn’t stop there. I kept working to be the very best and eventually I felt ready to go out on my own. I built a clientele and my business until I was able to hire a team of retouchers to help me handle all the work that eventually came in.

I began teaching my craft to others and am still a professor at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. I was asked to write a book on the subject and my philosophy for getting ahead is never say no! So I wrote a book, which is still available on Amazon and led to several speaking engagements around the world.

The beauty of discovering the digital art world was that it allowed me to use my training as an artist: color, anatomy, composition, to make a living in the art world. Eventually it made me enough money that I was able to rent a studio and start painting again. Now I have balanced out my two art forms and show my paintings in galleries in New Orleans and where I moved after Covid. I still retouch for select clients (BET, Paramount Plus, and individual photographers), but I also sell the artwork that I started out learning to do back at the Kansas City Art Institute. I’m grateful to have spent my life making a living in the arts, it was hard work, but my only choice.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I made a couple of mistakes early on and wasted some momentum I had under my belt. I spent a lot of time outside the States and when I came back I was starting over and I wasn’t all that young anymore. I tell this story to let people know that you can always reinvent yourself. As I said before I discovered Photoshop and made it my full time job to learn it. I signed up for a community college class and by the time it started I knew more than the teacher, but she gave us assignments which helped me think out of the box and problem solve.

After some time I knew enough to get the color lab job, where I worked for 2 years. I accepted $9.50 an hour and unlimited overtime (it was in the contract). At one point we were required to work 12 hour days and 8 on Saturday. We did that for 4 months. One year during winter it was so cold in the retouching area that we all wore coats and gloves with the fingers cut out. I remember crying silently one day because I was so uncomfortable and tired.

I knew I had to stick with it though. We got 11 minute breaks and I would spend them talking to the guys that ran the printers. I knew I needed to know everything about color profiles and the printing process. I needed that information later in my career. At night I went home and read the books I could find on the subject to get better and learn how the professionals did it for the high profile advertising that I wanted to break into. I eventually got a test from a big NYC studio. They sent it to me in the mail on a DVD (this was in 2001). It was an unretouched image of Cameron Diaz. I was impressed. I worked 12 hours at the lab and went home and retouched Cameron every night for the next three nights and all day on Sunday. On Monday I asked for an hour off to go to the post office and mailed back my test and then I waited.

I got the job and after 2 plus years of intense hard work and no personal life I left to go back to my beloved NYC and begin the career that saved my life.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There is nothing more rewarding than being the author of your own work as well as when and how you are creating it. Once I got myself established in my retouching career I was able to work from home. I could make my own schedule with no one looking over my shoulder. I did work for clients who I had to satisfy, but they came to me because they liked my work so they gave me a lot of artistic freedom. I got a lot of work done at night as I listened to documentaries or music. I didn’t feel the hours go by because I was comfortable at home. And even better I could go to my painting studio, which was just a few blocks away in the East Village and spend the day painting.

As long as I get my work done I can do it when I want to do it, not on a 9-5 schedule. I have a friend who works in an office 5 days a week year in and year out. Sometimes if I feel like complaining I’ll stop and ask myself where my friend is at that moment. Many times its during “office hours” and I’m usually in the garden or out for a walk and she’s sitting in an office with a boss. Don’t get me wrong I work a lot of hours either painting or Potoshoping, but it’s just not the same thing.

I didn’t always get positive affirmation for my dream of being an artist. One of my art teachers (a visiting artist) told me he hoped I had a backup plan other than being an artist (!!) But I pushed through and followed my heart into the art world and guess what? If you Google his name…nothing comes up.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.carrienyc.com – www.carriebeene.com
• Instagram: carrienycinc / carriebeenestudio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carrie.beene.3
• Twitter: @carriestudio

Image Credits

JD Barnes – Photographer – https://www.instagram.com/jdthecombo/