Life & Work with Carrie Hawkins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carrie Hawkins. 

Hi Carrie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Art has always been part of my life, whether creating, teaching, or sharing. When I was six years old, I had an art studio in the living room closet where I would create masterpieces for my mom’s refrigerator. I would then arrange them in a makeshift portfolio and present them to my mom for purchase. I would delight in receiving a dime or a quarter and would excitedly create more masterpieces. Throughout my growing years, I was always encouraged to be creative and never was without an endless supply of crayons, markers, and paper. Once I entered high school, I filled my available class hours with art classes and was known for selling handmade jewelry and custom drawings to my classmates. 

I enrolled in the commercial art program at Davis College and received my associate degree in 1996. I spent time doing freelance art for various clients and worked for a short time as a freelance artist for the Toledo Zoo. Upon admission to the University of Toledo in 1998, I completed a bachelor’s degree with concentrations in painting and cyber arts. My art style at the time started to shift from digital art media to painting and drawing. 

After graduation, I worked as an elementary art teacher for two years and as a substitute teacher after that. After I was accepted into the graduate program for elementary education at the University of Toledo, I focused on pursuing a career in education. Upon finishing all coursework and seeking a teaching position, I was unable to find employment. 

As a result, I shifted my focus back to creating art, which has led me right to where I am today. I had a deep yearning to combine my love of history and the past with my ability to express myself through art. I started creating mixed media pieces under the name Scaredy Cat Primitives. 

I just love how something can tell a story just by its wrinkles, dents, chips, or stains. That is what truly inspires my art…to pay tribute to the past and living a much simpler way of life. I love recycling and re-purposing and scouring flea markets and garage sales, looking for new additions to my art. In today’s world of excess, it’s important to me to take old, discarded, and once-loved things of the past, rescue them from the landfill and breathe new life in them through my art. 

My popular art doll series, Ragamuffins, uses discarded wool and cashmere sweaters for the doll. I try to use as much of an article of clothing as possible, so the sweater collars and cuffs become the collar of the cat. Old costume jewelry, often broken or mismatched, is given new life as each cat’s charm. No two dolls I create are ever the same! Once I am finished creating a batch of dolls, a stack of sweaters becomes a tiny pile of scrap. I keep the scrap in a box and use it to create my 2D mixed-media pieces. Nothing goes to waste! As an artist, leaving as little of a carbon footprint as possible is important to me as not to contribute to our disposable society. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Art has always been my passion, and my creativity was encouraged at home, but I always struggled with those around me and their perception of art as an actual career. Art is too often seen as just a hobby. Upon hearing that I am an artist, I have often received the response, “Oh, that’s nice; what do you really do?” Over the years, when I had a 9 to 5 job, I became so conditioned to not own up to being an artist I started dismissing it in the exact same way people had done to me. 

I particularly remember having a conversation with an old college boyfriend when we were close to graduation. We were both completing the same graphic design degree. At the time, I was designing and selling handmade jewelry and was profitable. He asked me when I was going to get “a real job.” Even he held the perception that art was not a real career (even though he went to school for it), and there was absolutely no way one could be happy doing what they loved to do as a career. 

Before the pandemic happened, I was working part-time as a member service associate at the local YMCA. I wasn’t truly happy at my job and was also working full-time as an artist. I felt I needed to keep that job to have validation for when I was asked, “what do you do?” When I was asked to come back to work post-pandemic, I finally made the decision to let go of what wasn’t making me truly happy and devote all of my time to my art career. I have never looked back since! It has taken me some time to own up to my title as artist and not dismiss it as unimportant. Now when someone asks me what I do, I don’t hesitate to say that I own my own art business! 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I established my business name, Scaredy Cat Primitives, in 2005 when I launched my current art endeavor. I had previously made jewelry in high school and candles and soaps in college as well as 2D abstract paintings. I enjoyed what I did, and was profitable, but I didn’t feel that what I was doing had purpose. I have always been a supporter of the environment and reducing my carbon footprint. At the same time, I had always been obsessed with history and antiques. Whenever I held something old in my hands, like a school book from the 1800s, I always wondered about its stories and who owned it, read it, and where it had traveled to end up in my hands. 

I started “rescuing” things when I went to estate sales and flea markets. Discarded photos of forgotten family members, old love letters once read and cherished, postcards of worldly excursions taken a hundred years ago, they were all snippits of times past that I wanted to not be forgotten. Of course, collections of these things can get out of control, so I came up with ideas for how I could incorporate these bits and pieces of history into my art. Scaredy Cat Primitives was born. 

Today, I use my collections of old things to create my art dolls, and 2D mixed-media works. As I mentioned before, I love how chips and dents give character to old things and add to their story. Some of my favorite found items to work with are textiles, old costume jewelry, old photos, and ephemera. 

People often seek out and collect my art dolls, especially my cats, snowmen, and Halloween pieces. A cat doll might remind someone of a recently lost pet. Another might have an old clip earring that they remember their mom wearing similar ones. I enjoy making those emotional connections through my art and seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they feel a sense of nostalgia and familiarity when visiting my booth at an art show. 

I had an amazing opportunity to participate with over 700 international artists in ArtPrize, one of the largest juried international art competitions in the United States, in September in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Additionally, in November, two of my mixed-media pieces received second and third place at the Bedford Arts For Our Future Art Show.

This year, I was accepted as an Artist in Cellophane artist. The Artist in Cellophane group refurbishes old cigarette machines and retrofits them to dispense tiny works of art for a $5 token. Their goal is to make art affordable for everyone. Thir machines are located all over the US and worldwide! 

My work has been published in magazines, including Your Cat and Prims. 

I am a member of the Toledo Federation of Art Societies and hold the position of vice president of the Toledo Craftsman’s Guild. 

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Never be afraid to reach out to fellow artists. Sometimes, I think we feel we are supposed to be competing with each other for awards, customers, etc. There is room for everyone in the creative world. We all have something different to offer! 

Also, never let anyone tell you that what you do is not a real job or career. It’s taken me a long time to build up enough confidence to own up to who I am as an artist. You can make a living doing what truly makes you happy! 

Pricing:

• My art dolls range in price from $17 to $45 to be accessible to everyone.
• My 2D artworks range in price from $250 to $1200 depending on the size and series.

Contact Info:

• Website: scaredycatprimitives.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaredycat.primitives/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaredycatprimitives
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BadCatDesigns