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

Carly, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I have always viewed happiness as a choice from perspective rather than some attainable thing one has to achieve. Anyone who knows me would say that I have always had a direct mindset when it comes to knowing what I want and reaching said goal. Within the process of being creative and striving to make art I have never been unhappy. Confused. maybe or even lost at times sure, but that is when my best work is done. In the moments I find myself lost from an end goal or losing sight of a path I set up for myself, I am compelled to reconnect with the sense of purpose I get to experience when creating. Art is the only way for me to feel emotions involuntarily, so even in what would seem like an unhappy time for me, diving into a creative mindset will always result in my happiness.

I never stop to wonder what life would be like in a regular job because the thought just seems so unrelated to who I am. Though, as someone who enjoys multiple outlets of creative work, I find collaborating within different fields has brought more ‘regular’ jobs into my life without me even realizing it. Maybe I’ve just found ways to shift perspective on their objective. In all, my main goal when collaborating with different work outlets is to shift my own and others mindsets into making happiness through work creativity rather than trying to find it outside of work.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

For those who have never heard of me before, my name is Carly Isabel and I am a somewhat of a cross between a traditional oil painter and a surrealist illustrator. I first found art through childhood as most of us do. Though, unlike most, I took it very seriously and dedicated all of my time towards it. I would paint a lot growing up but more then painting I wanted to connect parts of myself into one category. This may come off confusing at first, but I always felt some of my interests in life were competing with one another and I became obsessed with trying to narrow them down into one category. I didn’t necessarily need to label myself into one stereotype of an artist but I just craved my own style. I assumed having multiple interests took having a dedicated style away, when in reality that is the thing that made my style unique. In result of struggling to find one aesthetic category to fall under, I simply decided there was no choice but to make my own. I’m pretty much set with spending my life perfecting it. Whether anyone cares to see it or not, it is something I know I have to do for myself in order for me to comprehend who I am.

It’s always an odd thing to grasp when I explain it like that, but I think it is important to understand that even if you already know who you are, it is natural you should want to express it. Visual art is my way of doing just that. In my recent years in gaining a BFA in Drawing and Painting with an Emphasis in Illustration, painting amongst my piers helped me to see that defining my particular interest into a singular category is what separated me from other artists. I do absolutely everything with reason and purpose, even when it comes across as simple.

My current work and ongoing project consists of four collections of oil paintings that tell a story based off of a book I am writing. It started with an idea from a short story I had written combined with making four collections to coincide with my categorized style. Naturally the storyline grew and morphed into multiple storylines, collections, and now my first novel- which I hope to have published in 2025. Literature has always triggered the inspiration behind my work. It takes reading, hearing a story or even a description in order for me to visually grasp an idea for a picture. After years of painting from the influence of words, it felt only write to tell my own story and visually showcase the importance of it from my perspective. The initial storyline of the first collection combines relative narrative between the sublime attributes of Mother Nature and Female Hysteria of the 19th century. I felt it was a rather powerful yet haunting statement to showcase the battle that women and nature have had against mankind all their lives. The collection titled ‘Nature’s Mother’, touches on topics of Climate Change and Woman’s Rights while remaining aesthetically balanced in both composition and style. These collections and stories are my life and what I believe will make them a success is the necessity at which I have to make them exist outside of my mind. In a silly sense, it feels like I’ve solved some unsolvable math equation in my head and it is my job to explain it to the world.

The thing I am most proud of when it comes to what I have created my work to be in this ever-growing mass world of art, is my stories timeline. With each day that I sit down to either paint or write, I am consistently taking notes, world building, and crafting this timeline of art that showcases everything I have always wanted to make as an artist. I am only 24 years old, but I can guarantee you that discovering this setup for my art will be an ongoing, consistent piece of work that I will craft for decades. Getting to college, it was my goal to become technically sound in my craft. Leaving college, it was my goal to have a purpose for the art I make. This timeline of story to painting feels so natural to who I am.

With all that said, outside of making my work fit the desired story I am trying to tell, I never want a painting to feel forced. All of my work has distinct purpose, but it is also visually vague in the sense of obvious meaning. I find it useless for art to tell you what it means when the entire focus of a painting should allow the viewer to perceive their own emotion out of the picture. It is up to the viewer or client to decide whether or not they want to know my intentions behind the meaning or keep their own.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I find that the way I explain my work can often sound exhausting. It’s almost hard for me to put into words so I find myself sharing an abundant amount of information in order for someone to fully grasp how thought out the purpose of my work truly is. Making my paintings breathable with a calming presence makes up for that. On the topic of my artist journey, it is very direct and honestly there have not been many downfalls in it. Financially, of course it has its downfalls but when it came to my decisions they were always straightforward and I think that is hard for some people to understand. I am a big risk taker and I won’t hesitate to change up my life instantly if I feel it is right.

A better way of understanding my journey is to know that I don’t doubt my decisions. I view life in a very unserious manner where everything that comes naturally is just beautiful. Everything else is unnecessary emotion that you are creating. I hope people can begin to see emotion as a form of art. Think about it: sometimes, we create emotions like worry unnecessarily, as if crafting a scene in our minds. But when we experience sadness, anger, or joy from a painting, a piece of music, or any form of art, it’s different—those emotions were intentionally evoked by the art itself.

Next time you’re feeling a certain way, pause and ask yourself: Am I forcing this emotion, or is it naturally arising within me? If it’s the latter, consider this—your emotion is offering you an opportunity to create something meaningful. Art creates you, not the other way around.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I believe that society can view art as value. I personally see that the only value in life is art and anything else feels like waste. A waste of money, talent, purpose or space. Especially waste towards our environment. In my adult years I have gained a minimalist mindset. I’m not talking modern minimalism but more like a quality of quantity outlook on everything I surround myself with. In todays fast fashion, fast paced, and fast lived world, we are missing art everywhere. Forget stores filled with unnecessary decorum. Buy a painting from someone who actually made it with purpose. Support a local business or cafe instead of opting out for efficiency. Racing to a nonexistent finish line is going to be the death of art.

My outlook on creating a thriving creative ecosystem is to simply take time to notice where your money and support is going. Becoming aware is the first step to any step towards change. If you really love something and it has a strong impact on your life, it means something. I hope to see more people supporting a lifestyle with more conscious thought put into their decisions. I think we will all benefit creatively from it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.carlyisabel.com
• Instagram: @artbycarlyisabel
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlyisabel/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@carly_isabel
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/artbycarlyisabel/