We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maria Carluccio. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maria below.
Maria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
When I was about 8 years old, I can distinctly remember scratching drawings of houses into a soft leather table in our basement. To this day my sister teases me about that. She recollects how I started scratching and kept going without stopping, she also remembered how pissed my dad was, but he got over it. I guess when I was younger, I felt like people noticed my creative spirit. It made me feel special. Like I had something others didn’t have. This stayed with me over the years. I began to realize that I saw the world differently than others and this kept me wanting to pursue a creative career.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got established in the industry about 25 years ago when I began working full time for Hallmark cards. At that time I also started doing a lot of freelance work when I signed with a rep (Lilla Rogers Studio) who was focused on art licensing. After many years of being repped by her I felt as though I had enough knowledge to break out on my own. Then about 10 years ago I decided to go get my MFA in Illustration at FIT in New York City. During grad school I began posting new art every day on Instagram. I’ve been posting new artwork ever since. I’ve taken breaks from time to time but the main thing I try to focus on simply making helps me learn something new, I try not to get so into judging whether it or not. I just make and try not to analyze. Allotting myself 1 hour or so a day to create helps me discover the kind of art I’m most interested in. The discipline helps me express my unique viewpoint.
I believe as an illustrator it’s my job to really help clients solve problems and I love to create art that responds to the clients needs. So, for example, let’s say I have to illustrate an article is about a person struggling with mental health, there are many ways to express this. I could show an expression, or a gesture but you could also create a composition that represents more symbolic aspects of the feelings such as ocean waves, and rain; symbols that represent darker emotions. As an Illustrator, I get to pull together many different aspects of the client’s needs in order to come up with something that fits all the criteria. This is exciting and it helps me explore new approaches. I get to find my own way into the project.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I think what I find most rewarding about being an illustrator is collaborating with creative individuals. Collaboration can bring out work you never thought you had in you. One collaboration that has been inspiring is my work with the Colorado Foundation for Caring. They are a non-profit that helps support families in need. They reached out to me over 5 years ago after seeing my work on Instagram. During and after covid, I felt like people needed to connect with others in a hopeful, positive way. CFC really responded to that work. Initially, I created all the art for their new website but I’ve been doing new work with them ever since.To see my artwork being used to support people and companies that are making a difference in the world really matters to me and I love when my art can help others, inspire others.
How did you build your audience on social media?
When I started on Instagram it wasn’t what it is today, this was back in 2017 and the logarithms were probably different back then too. Basically, my strategy was to simply share my sketchbook through my daily posts. As I mentioned, I try to focus on learning as opposed to trying to be everything to everyone. Years ago I heard advice regarding social media for artists and it really stuck with me. They said something to this effect “choose a lane and show that you can be consistent”. Consistency matters, it shows people that you are a person of your word. I probably should branch out more but there can be so many platforms, so much pressure to be everywhere and everything. I think we all have to decide what is comfortable for each of us. Some people prefer to promote updates of their shops and others prefer to write long posts sharing details of their lives. For me, sharing my sketchbook has been a win-win, I grow as an artist and I get to connect with a supportive community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mariacarluccio.com/childrens-book-art
- Instagram: @carluccio7
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maria.carluccio.545/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-carluccio-aa0b6610/
