Today we’d like to introduce you to Carah Gilmore.
Hi Carah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was raised in a creative and supportive household in North Carolina. My mom runs her own interior design business, my dad has ventured into his own side photography business, and my siblings have explored music and writing. I always gravitated towards the visual arts, whether it was play-doh sculptures, watercolor paintings, or sewing.
Growing up, I spent my weekends on the sidelines of my siblings soccer and lacrosse games, tucked behind my parents’ lawn chairs occupied with my sketchbook! I had art books with step-by-step instructions for drawing animals (one of my favorite subjects to draw). I would spend hours immersed in learning how to draw. During this time in elementary school, I had special permission to stay in the art room during lunch and recess, and got to work on extra projects with my art teacher, Ms. Baxter. She was very encouraging of my interest in art at a young age, and would submit my art projects to be hung up in local libraries and banks! I think that having someone do that for me made me feel like I had good potential for art.
As I got older, I explored more creative avenues with local camps where I learned to sew and develop new artistic abilities. The most important camp experience for me was the NC State Pre-College Design Program in middle school. Each day was dedicated to projects for five different majors offered at the college. It really opened my eyes to my options for college, aside from the statistics and zoology paths I was considering.
Freshman year of high school, I took my first “serious” art class, and bought my first iPad Pro so that I could draw digitally, which quickly became my preferred medium. When the pandemic happened my sophomore year, I began to really practice and improve my art. I would draw every day, practicing portraits and exploring styles. At the same time, my brother and I watched a movie every single day. That got me interested in production design, specifically costume design.
By senior year of high school, I was set on pursuing a career in the arts. Now, I am onto my last quarter at SCAD as an illustration major.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m fortunate enough to say that it has been a fairly smooth road, but there have been a few bumps along the way. In high school, my love of animals was driving me towards a career path in STEM where I could study the environment and wildlife. Ultimately, after a lot of back and forth, I decided to go to art school. But once I was at SCAD, my interests once again sent me in different directions. It was a struggle for me to choose a major and decide what I really wanted for my future career. I’m pleased to say that I have found a good balance of majoring in Illustration, and enjoying extra opportunities within the costume design department.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I like to do a little bit of everything! Whether it’s fanart for the shows and movies I watch (which I do a lot of), pet portraits, patterns, graphic design, sewing, you name it! I’m still figuring out my exact path, but I am concentrating in surface design, which is essentially a combination of repeat-pattern making, hand lettering and designing spot illustrations. Ideally, I would like to work in the paper goods industry, designing gift wrap, notebooks and that sort of thing… or maybe the home interior market (perhaps a slight influence from my mom’s job). To me, constructing patterns is like putting together a puzzle and making sure every little thing fits in its place, and I think I would be happy doing that at any company.
However, a small part of me would still love to be involved in the film and entertainment industry. I have had a blast taking my costume design class this quarter. It’s gotten me back into sewing, and I love the process of analyzing scripts, figuring out character’s personalities and designing costumes that fit their personas. The research and organization of it all is so enjoyable to me. Plus, there’s drawing involved!
One day I hope to find a way to create my own niche in the industry and combine all of my interests!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Some might say that choosing a life rooted in the arts is a risk in itself, but in general, I would not consider myself to be a risk-taker. There have been a few times where on a whim I will take a risk, but I usually find it scary to not have a plan or know how something is going to work out.
I will say that I do think it is really important to put yourself out there, and to try to say yes to opportunities when they present themselves, because you never know where they could take you.
This question actually makes me think of how I got my part-time job here!
My friend and I were looking around shops downtown and passed by a dog deli, Oliver Bentley’s, and chatted to the owner. He asked our majors, and mentioned that he was looking for graphic designers/illustrators to help him out with the store. We asked more about what the job would entail, and met with him later that week. It’s been a little over a year now, and we are still working with him, and this opportunity has allowed me to design things I would’ve never done before, and gain extra practice and work experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carahgilmore.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carahgrace_art/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carah-gilmore/
