We recently had the chance to connect with Carla Keaton and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Carla, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
This is an easy question for me, and perhaps I should have tackled a more difficult one so that it would force me to take a deeper dive inside myself. But let’s start here. What makes me lose track of time is passion and inspiration. My passion for art of all genres as well as my interest and passion in paleontology. Yes paleontology. It is another subject that I am very passionate about. I have had a love for both fields for as long as I can remember, and when I’m not creating paintings or day to day survival, I am volunteering at the LA Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles (yes, I travel there once a month) in the paleontology lab. Both painting and immersing myself deep into the process of fossil conservation allows me to lose time in the most wonderful way, and allows me to find myself, and remind myself, once again of the innocence and excitement of my dreams I dreamt about in my youth.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I have been a professional artist for the past 15 years. I am a painter, public art designer, illustrator and instructor. In addition to my art practice, I also have studied anthropology and paleontology at university. I have found over the years that both of these disciplines complement one another, especially in the field of anthropology. I have used methods used in anthropology over the years to do research for art projects that I have an interest in.
Currently I am working on a proposal to design artwork for the multicultural senior center in Orlando Florida, as well as completing a painting for the Carmody Foundation in Arizona, to be gifted to a non-profit in for fundraising endeavors. Lastly, I am still in the process of completing a collection of large-scale paintings for my project started in 2017 of The Sharecroppers and the Cotton Pickers of the Southwest.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
What part of me that served its purpose and now must (and has) been released, was that small amount of lingering fear to leave the 9-5 corporate banking world. I did this when I felt I had no choice as a single mother to put food on the table, but that hasn’t been the case for eight years. Out of habit, I found myself relapsing into the old habit of going back to what was more stable, but in the end killed my creativity, spirit and human dignity. I had always been very good at thinking outside of the box and earning income in a more flexible, fulfilling and non-traditional manner. Somewhere along the line, but not for long, I fell back into the old habit of seeking full time employment in the banking world. Well, that didn’t last long, I regained my senses, went back to what I knew worked best for me, which allowed time for schedule flexibility and most of all, the time to create, evolve in my art, and feel alive again.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me resilience. Success sometimes is the result of enduring suffering. Not all that suffer and work hard, as we have been conditioned to think, will end in success, however we define success. But the resilience learned from suffering is priceless. It thickened my skin and taught me the value of acceptance. It also taught me to keep going, to not give up. I had the mindset that if I made it through a extremely difficult situation and survived it, almost nothing could rattle me. I think that those who have obtained success early on with very little setbacks or challenges are never quite prepared for losing everything. Success doesn’t prepare one for the day that success may not be a constant.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I believe that once one stops fighting who they are at the core, even if it may not fall in line with the “American Dream”, opportunities will naturally fall in place that will help them towards their journey of purpose. For example, whenever I started to second guess, settling with a corporate banking job to pay the bills, I always found myself in financial turmoil, mental distress and just shear bad luck it seems. When I followed my own path, which is definitely not for the lighthearted, it seemed as if the above mentioned was never an issue. Opportunities seemed to materialize out of the air! It’s as if the universe is constantly battling with me to follow my path. So, in a nutshell, I believe following your own path no matter how impractical it seems to others, is the path you are supposed to be on. I believe this to be true, but I definitely cannot prove it.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when I am painting, working in the lab, exploring nature, spending time (when she allows) with my grown human baby, and loving it up with my fur babies.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
