Caroline McCrackin

Hanahan, SC

My name is Caroline McCrackin. I've lived in South Carolina my entire life. I started art after I saw one of my friends doing it; out of 7 year old jealousy, I wanted to do it too and be better than her. I know this reason is pretty selfish, but it's a pretty good conversation starter. Throughout my career as an artist, I've struggled with finding something that inspires me. I was never good at creating characters, painting, or doing a lot of the other thing I've seen people around me doing. I felt like I wasn't good enough, like I had nothing to offer as an artist. It was only until I entered my sophomore year that I learned that this was not the end of the line for me. I started to learn how to draw realistically, I studied faces, bodies, hands, I felt like there was a whole new door waiting for me to enter though it, and it felt exhilarating. Back then, I worked with strictly graphite, I didn't use color in my pieces, and although graphite is a great medium, it really limited my potential. I started to experiment and practice different mediums, I worked with oils, paints, ceramics, etc. Although I enjoyed some of these mediums, I still felt like something was missing. As I neared the end of my sophomore year, I discovered Pan pastels and pastel pencils. Immediately I was hooked. I knew that I found my medium, the salt to my pepper. This journey of artist self discovery was probably one of the most difficult stages in my career as an artist. I went through self doubt but also self discovery. Even though this was a hard and lengthy process, I believe it made me a stronger artist.