Indiana Artisan: Carrie Wild

Wildworks
Indianapolis

Medium: Ink and Watercolor paintings
Available: Retail locations, galleries, website

"I often hang my work in nontraditional places, where regular people go. Not everyone goes to an art gallery or museum. You never know where someone will see your work and appreciate it."

For the past 10 years Carrie Wild has worked as both a fine artist and a freelance illustrator, exhibiting locally and nationally. Given her love of animals, it is no wonder one of Carrie's most recent exhibitions was at the Indianapolis Zoo.

Her paintings begin with a pencil drawing that is embellished with ink in a pointillist style to create outlines and texture. Watercolor washes are then layered to add depth and define details. Some paintings also feature metallic pigments, such as gold or silver, in borders and highlights.

The finished work, especially those of her favorite insect and small animal subjects, depicts nature in both realistic and imaginary ways. Carrie believes our natural surroundings affect our well-being and hopes to inspire appreciation for the environment through her work.

"I've become even more interested in conservation science, how things work and nature in general. The older I get, the greater my appreciation for how important our planet is, and how dire things are sometimes," Carrie says. "I like to call attention to the beautiful little things that sometimes get overlooked."

In addition to creating original paintings, Carrie distributes giclees, cards and note card sets through licensing agreements and doing commissioned works. One of her goals is to illustrate more children's books.

Right now, Carrie has a "day job" but she hopes to soon dedicate herself fulltime to making, selling and promoting her art. She knows the Indiana Artisan program has plans to help her and other artists grow and develop as business people. "I really think you have to try and carve out your niche. The opportunities are there if you want to seek them out."