Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha DeCarlo.
Samantha, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I graduated from the American Academy of Art in Chicago in 2012 with a BFA in Illustration. Immediately after college, I began working as an on-site illustrator for Newel Rubbermaid, which owns Sharpie and Prismacolor markers. After a year and a half of drawing for Sharpie, I wanted to learn to paint so I applied at Bottle and Bottega in La Grange. There, I learned how to use acrylics and work quickly while teaching and explaining my process.
I have continued to teach at Bottle and Bottega, as well as at the La Grange Art League, Oak Brook Art league and I host my own mixed media workshops in Elmhurst.
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?
Sometimes it’s hard for an artist to narrow down their interests. I love birds and nature and patterns and faces. How can I pick? I go in phases of artistic series. For example, at this time I am currently fascinated by grids and combining them with faces- very similar to Chuck Close. I find painting box-by-box to be therapeutic and removes the stress of trying to complete a large, unfinished painting. When I order supplies, I send away for 10 of the same size panel as to diminish any anxiety about “ruining” a board. This helps begin paintings because I know if I don’t like the first piece I do, I can simply restart on a new, identical panel!
What inspires me most are colors. Colors in nature and colors that vibrate when you looks at them. Neon orange, for example, is my favorite paint color to add to highlights. Blues and browns tend to be my color palette, and I work with a limited number of paints. It pushes me to visualize tone and contrast, which in the end are what makes a painting representational.
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
I have noticed a resurgence of original, hand painted fine art in the illustration world, which was dominated by graphic design and digital work over the past decade or two. Magazines are featuring oil or acrylic paintings alongside Photoshop illustrations. It is a great time to be an artist in any form!
Every artist should be proficient in both traditional media as well as digital, because the two can be seamless and incredibly effective when merged well. We are visual creatures and this is proved by Instagram and Tumblr blogs that mainly feature art instead of text, or a combination of the two.
Chicago offers a great community for the arts, and openly invites emerging artists to be part of group shows and art events. Even the suburbs have begun showcasing their own local artists!
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?
I try to put my work on every social media platform possible; mainly focusing on Instagram (@sgdecarlo), Facebook (facebook.com/sgdart), and through my website (www.samanthadecarlo.com).
I am represented in two Chicagoland galleries: Chicago Truborn in Ukrainian Village and The Leigh Gallery in Boys Town. I also sell independently out of my studio in Elmhurst.
Prints and originals are for sale on the social media sites, and I accept email requests for commissions and freelance work.
Contact Info:
- Address: 188 Industrial Dr suite 420
- Website: www.samanthadecarlo.com
- Phone: 6306775254
- Email: samanthadecarlo@gmail.com
- Instagram: sgdecarlo
- Facebook: facebook.com/sgdart
- Other: society6.com/samanthadecarlo
Image Credit:
Samantha DeCarlo
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