Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Carnes.
Robin, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. After high school, I studied graphic design, got myself a degree and went on to work as a corporate graphic designer for 10 years. I did everything from outdoor garden decor and confectionary gifting, to video game cover design and packaging for pet products. All the while, I had a dream to have my own business. I eventually became incorporated and started doing logo designs, portraits of kids and dogs, illustrations, and basically anything I could get involved with. In 2012, I painted 2 6-foot pig statues for the City of Cincinnati (Flying Pigs are our thing). One named Herbert, or the “Over-the-Swine” pig and I was the co-artist for Frederick, our Christian Moerlein Brewing Heritage pig. In 2013, I even opened an art studio and held private wine and painting parties, and taught art classes.
The graphic design field tends to be a little finicky, so after 10 years, I was given the opportunity to spread my wings. New adventures, here I come. I had a somewhat steady flow of commission work coming my way. But I longed for something bigger. In 2016, I became a teaching artist on a large-scale mural in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood and help teach a team of 14-20-year-olds how to execute large murals, work in teams and further their own artistic skills. The Ezzard Charles mural is 7 stores high. (While the design is not mine, it took a lot of skill to replicate that design work!) For the past 5 years, I’ve also been a regular vendor at the OFF Market in the Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati where I sell prints of my work, greeting cards and other various paper goods.
A few years ago, I found an incredible group of creatives in Cincinnati that has helped me grow as not only an artist, but a person. With this group, I was able to get out and sketch with other artists. This past year, Cincinnati recently became recognized as an official chapter of the global non-profit organization of Urban Sketchers. Along with 3 other local artists, I am one of the admins who help plan our outings, gain more members to our chapter and sketch whenever I can. I’m fortunate that I also have an amazing day job as the Brand Ambassador for George Remus Bourbon, Till Vodka and Rossville Union Rye Whiskey. All brands by MGP Distillery, located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
I feel that I’ve dabbled quite a bit all over the design world, but I’m most at home with a sketchbook, a watercolor palette and a brush or two (and a glass of bourbon.)
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My artwork has morphed a bit over the years. I’ve always had steady requests for graphite portraits, but it wasn’t until 2008 that I started playing with oils. I did many large scale black and white oil paintings of people like Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and more. Each had a pop of color somewhere in the painting. I actually painted women’s high fashion heels for a while too. I started playing with watercolors and I eventually came out with a series of “Drip Paintings” that are paintings of just eyes, brightly colored and dripping all the way down the page.
I would always resort to my sketchbooks though; keeping my explorations of ideas and styles to myself. And after a little while, I noticed that I had started to find my style and what inspired me to create. My artwork now almost always originates in a sketchbook, no larger than 8×10 and sometimes as small as 3×5″. I find so much inspiration in urban city scenes, land and waterscapes, Zoo animals, and delicate details of a city’s architecture. I go back and forth between a painterly realistic style and a looser, pen and ink urban sketching style. Almost always in watercolor but every now and then I stick to ink or graphite. With my Cincinnati Icon Series, I tend to evoke a lot of emotions since many of these landmarks have memories tied to them for people; either a proposal, a wedding, etc. It’s hard to force artwork if I’m not feeling it, so pretty much everything I draw has some kind of special meaning behind it for me, which I think shows in the finished product.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
Always carry a sketchbook with you. Always. You never know when inspiration will strike. Observe everything. It’s so easy to get caught up on your phone these days. Instead of staring at a screen, look up. Look at architecture. Look at how shadows are cast in afternoon light. Look at the folds in a piece of fabric. Noticing little things like this will stick with you eventually and will help you become a better artist. Draw every day. Even if it’s just on a post-it note. Every little bit counts.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My website is always handy, but if you want to keep up with all the latest and greatest things I have going on, Instagram and Facebook are where it’s at. I also sell prints of my work, greeting cards, notebooks and more on my Etsy shop (link below.)
In Cincinnati, I sell my work at a few different retail locations and I also have a few original pieces floating around some bars and restaurants. The Ezzard Charles mural is located at Republic and Liberty Streets, downtown Cincinnati. Frederick the Pig is located inside the Christian Moerlein Brewery in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati. Herbert is located within the Cincinnati Development Fund building on Race Street in Cincinnati.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rewersdesigns.com
- Email: robin@rewersdesigns.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/rewers
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/rewersdesigns
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/rewersdesigns
- Other: www.etsy.com/shop/rewersdesigns
Image Credit:
Robin Ewers Carnes
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