We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jamie Carlson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jamie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?
I am influenced by a lot of different people. I take inspiration from everyone I meet. The people who influence me the most are probably my Grandmother on my Dads side and my grandfather on my mom’s side. My Grandmother always encouraged me and I took a lot of cues from her in the kitchen. SHe is the one who taught me to clean fish and how to butcher animals. My grandfather taught me that you can continue to grow and try new things. He started life as a welder and manufacturer. when he retired he made decorative shelves and racks. After his stroke, he could no longer work with power tools so he took up quilting and made beautiful quilts for all his children and grandchildren. They were both lovers of the outdoors and whether it is cooking, taking pictures, writing, or building fishing rods their influence is always there
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 am a nurse at the VA hospital in Minneapolis, MN. I have two kids Ellie and Charlie and am Married to my wife Amanda. I spent a number of years in the Navy and the Army and have always had a passion for the outdoors. That passion has led me to try everything I can in the outdoors. I love hunting and fishing and foraging for my food and love cooking what I find and bring home from the field. I decided to start sharing the recipes I was making and eventually found myself writing for Outdoor life and other outlets. That writing led me to become very interested in Photography and trying to capture the dishes I was making in the most appealing way possible. It then dawned on me that I spend a good amount of time in some very interesting places and should learn how to capture images of some of those spots. Everything I do seems to lead me to the next adventure or creative outlet. Over the last couple of years, I have really gotten interested in incorporating wild ingredients into cocktails and have been developing a line of bitters using foraged ingredients.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Hands down the best part of what I do is when people get to try some of the things I make. Recently I made a pinecone jam and was able to serve it to a group of hunters. Not a single person in the room had ever tried Pinecone jam before but everyone was willing to try it. When I am able to present people with something new and see them react it is really very special. A lot of people have some preconceived notions about wild foods and when I am able to show people how wonderful those foods can be it makes it all worth it.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Honestly, I have never really had a goal in mind. I make a good living as an RN so I have never really had to worry about making money with my passions. That said I am free to do whatever I feel like doing. So I guess you could say that my goal is to just do what I want to do and not have the thing I love become a burden to me. When I have that kind of freedom I am more creative and can think of new things to try and make.
Contact Info:
- Website: modcarn.com
- Instagram: jamie_carlson_cooks, jamie.carlson.photos
Image Credits
Jamie Carlson