We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carla Mintz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carla below.

Carla, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

When I first started taking my art seriously, I was working as a 911 dispatcher. For the past 16 years I worked as a 911 dispatcher, progressing on to become one of the Training Coordinators for my agency. All the while, I knew I wanted to be a creative but, with a family to help support, it didn’t seem practical. I told myself once I start making the same amount of money (or close to it) with my art that I’m making with my full time job, I’ll take on art full time.

Unfortunately, that never happened and it seemed like I would never get there. The stress of my day job didn’t leave me much energy or creative juices to work on art. When I was finally able to push myself and “evenly” spread my time between working and being an artist, I was neglecting my family. I eventually burned myself out after 4 months and stopped doing art all together for about 6 months. I became very depressed and unhappy with where I was in life. All I wanted to do was create and I felt like 911 was a huge, undefeatable obstacle that was just getting in the way of that.

I came to the realization that if I wanted to be a full time artist, I had to leave 911 behind. I could no longer “slave for 2 masters.” I was terrified that if I left this well paying, stable job, I would bring my family into financial ruin. So in August of 2021, I expressed how I was feeling to my husband (my desire to take on art full time and my fears associated with that). To my surprise, he was ok with me leaving my job of 16 years. He said, ” You can’t leave right now, though. Give me a year to prepare.” So for the next 12 months we adjusted our finances and lived off my husband’s paycheck while paying off our debts with mine.

For the first 10 months of this transitional period, I kept going back and forth in my mind if this was the right decision. “What if I fail at this? What if Dwaynmon (my husband) did the numbers wrong and we can’t actually live off of one paycheck? What if we loose our house because I wanted to chase some crazy, childish dream?” I started going to therapy during this time and it helped a lot with me overcoming those fears and allowing myself to trust in my husband’s leadership. I had to keep reminding myself “He obviously wouldn’t have agreed to this if he thought this was a poor decision”. My husband is an extremely smart and logical man. He’s not perfect but he makes good choices probably 95% of the time. This whole process has been an excellent exercise in trusting in his abilities and letting go of my tendency to want to control every outcome of my life.

Fortunately, that mental back and forth battle I was dealing with in my mind didn’t last the whole year. My original plan was to give my employer a one month notice of my departure. That would mean me putting in my intent to take “early retirement” at the end of July 2022. I wanted to make sure I gave them plenty of heads up since I played some what of a pivotal roll in my department. But things were rolling so fast at work and at the beginning of July they wanted me to start making plans for future training classes that would start in August. Even though I felt like I wasn’t ready to let them know I was leaving, I knew had to say something….so I did. It was a huge shock to my whole department but such a weight off my shoulders. Even though I continued to work until the end of August 2022, I already felt free after making the announcement. I was so excited about this transition in my life. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl! Not to mention all those worries that were running through my head previously almost instantly stopped.

It’s been a month since I’ve left and I’m still trying to find my “artist legs” sort of speak. But I feel so at peace with the decision I’ve made and the risk I’m currently taking being self employed. Whenever I have my moments of doubt I always tell myself, “You can always get a job but you may not ever get the opportunity to be a working artist again.” I’m taking full advantage of whatever opportunity comes my way. I’ve already sold a painting and had a successful experience at a local market. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me on this journey.

Carla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Carla Mintz and I’m the artist behind Arie Debren Art. I currently reside in Hiram, Ga with my husband and our two sons, ages 14 and 8. Like most artist, I’ve been a creative all my life. I loved doing arts and crafts as a kid, coloring, and drawing. I started painting in acrylics and drawing portraits as a teenager but lost interest in art as I approached adulthood. After getting married and having my first child at the ages of 21 and 22 years old respectively, I felt like I was loosing myself. I didn’t know who I was outside of being a mother, a wife, and an employee. I thought back to the times I was happiest and what I was doing then, hoping to somehow get back to that space. The first thing I thought of was art. So I picked up a pencil and started drawing again and then started painting again. At around 24 years old, after being blown away by artist Abdi Farah on the Bravo t.v. show “Work of Art”, I picked up oil painting and haven’t looked back since.

I started sharing my art with family and friends and on social media about a year after that. A lot of people were saying I should start selling my work. I didn’t think it was even good enough to sell but since I was getting such positive feedback I thought “What the heck?” So I opened an Etsy shop and posted my originals there as well as offering my services as a commissioned artist. I now have my own website (www.ariedebrenart.com) and just recently reopened my Etsy shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArieDebrenArt). I sell my original paintings, prints, and other merch and also take commissions for custom work (all great gift ideas *hint hint*)

I have a unique style that sets me apart from other artist. I call my style of art “edgy-elegance”. I think it really speaks for what my personal style is. I love a touch of simplistic elegance but I also don’t enjoy anything too boring. A little rough around the edges but knows how to act at a dinner party (LOL).

I want my art collectors to be inspired by my art. A lot of the concepts for my originals come from things I’ve personally felt or gone through or want to feel. I want people to view my art and say ‘I feel (insert emotion here) when I view this piece.’ I doesn’t have to be the same emotion I felt when I created the piece. Everyone interprets things differently. I just want them to feel something or be reminded of an experience that they may have personally gone through. I want them to be connected to the piece.

I want to be able to improve my clients’ lives in some way. Whether it’s providing them art that makes them feel at peace or adding that finishing touch to a room in their house. Or providing them a good time at one of my paint parties where they could possibly learn a little something about painting. I’m a people pleaser at heart and that’s what I aim to do each day – make people happy.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

To answer this simply, I just want to be happy. Being an artist makes me happy. When I’m happy, I can then be a better mother and a better wife. Thus, hopefully, leading to my family being happy. I’m on this creative journey to help me be a better person and to help my children see that they can follow whatever dreams they have, no matter how scary it may seem at first.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist and seeing my creativity rub off on my children. After I started putting my art on t-shirts, it was so cool to have one of my sons come to me and say “I drew this design. Can you help me put it on a t-shirt?” It would be amazing for one of them to one day be interviewed as a creative themselves and I’m a positive part of their origin story.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ariedebrenart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arie_debren_art/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ariedebrenart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlamintz/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Carla_Mintz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCACe2Xwl7Wuu4WuEt2w9WwA