“I’m focused on creating art that responds to our changing world, in all it’s messy and imperfect ways, because it’s both the struggle and the joy that make us human”
-Maria Carluccio
The art of showing up.
I try to make art everyday. This has become a grounding practice for me ever since I started doing this close to 9 years ago. I call it “showing up” because no matter how I feel I try to discover who will show up each day. Will it be the inner critic or the nurturing soul? I never know but I do know I have to meet them regardless. I get days (and even weeks) when I feel blocked, drained or simply weighted down by the world we live in. This is my wake-up call to refocus and care for myself in order to get back to my base. Usually this involves getting a bit more sleep, walking in nature, doing yoga or talking with people who help bring the light out in me. This is my process of slowing this wild and frenetic world down so that what rises to the surface is how I can notice the world instead of how I can rush through it. For me, to make art I need to find the joy in it all, if I lose the joy, I’ve lost the seed of what allows me to feel free enough to create.
Every print in this shop (with the exception of a few) is part of my effort to show up to my sketchbook on a daily basis. The art here speaks to the various themes that resonate with me, the subjects I think about but also the random little experiments that I try in the process. I embrace all of it, I value the missteps as much as the pieces I like. The bonus in making iterative art is that you are able to see how it all connects. I like to say, “a journal is a journey”, one that allows us to look back and examine the path and the things that lead us there.
I grew up in a small town in New Jersey, back in the 70’s. I’ve lived in many cities, had many different kinds of jobs, and wasn’t always a professional Illustrator. For years I was a designer because I studied as an undergraduate but eventually, I came to realize that I needed to pursue my real passion, making art.
I believe every path you choose can teach you something very important about yourself. For example, when I was about 20 years old I decided to move to Italy because I knew if I stayed in NY (where I was living at the time) I would never be able to make the career change I craved. For 3 years I traveled and worked in Italy, noticing the details that grabbed me, and trying to distill what I was seeing down to its essence. Ironically enough, I find myself many years later, still trying to capture these same moments in my daily sketchbooks. I see these as fragments of my imagination that have the potential to be funny, hopeful, or poignant, all of it beautiful in its own way.
Presently, I live in Columbus Ohio. My daughter has now moved to California to study at University but I still have my insane little cat Juno to keep me company (and inspire me too). I teach illustration at Columbus College of Art and Design and create Children’s books, editorial illustrations, and Pattern Collections.
Thanks so much for stopping by and please reach out if you’d like to collaborate or simply want to say hello.
To learn more about my licensed products and illustration work please visit www.mariacarluccio.com.
