Behind the Frame: An Interview with Carrie Cantwell
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Time to read 8 min
Behind the Frame with Carrie Cantwell: The Art of the Unordinary
Carrie Cantwell’s art has a way of catching you mid-scroll—or mid-stride—with a burst of color, a familiar reference, and a joke you may need half a second to fully appreciate. Cats wander into classic literature. Everyday objects become characters. Bright patterns turn ordinary surfaces into tiny celebrations. Her work doesn’t ask to quietly match the room; it asks you to stop, look closer, and smile.
That joyful unpredictability makes Carrie a natural fit for our latest Behind the Frame theme, The Art of the Unordinary. We spoke with her about the systems that give her creativity room to roam, the cats and colors that keep her inspired, and why the most specific—and sometimes strangest—parts of an artist’s voice are often the ones worth following.
Order Behind the Whimsy
Carrie’s work may feel wonderfully spontaneous, but behind the scenes, organization gives all that color and creativity room to roam.
After working for many years as a graphic designer in film and television, how do you structure your creative days now as an independent artist and surface-pattern designer?
Honestly, I think I’ve had the story backwards for years. I used to say my film and television career taught me how to be organized—but the truth is, I gravitated toward that career because I’ve always needed order around me to feel comfortable.
My days now are built on systems. I use calendars, databases, and spreadsheets to track my pitches, licensees, and artwork. I’m essentially running a mini agency for myself: I’m the artist, account manager, and archivist all at once. That structure frees me to be loose and playful when it’s time to draw. The rigidity lives in the back office so the art doesn’t have to carry any of it.
Inside Carrie’s studio, where organization makes room for color, pattern, and play.
A Familiar Story—with Whiskers
That playful side is fully on display in Carrie’s current project, Meowsterpieces of Kiterature, a series that gives classic book titles a decidedly feline rewrite.
What are you working on at the moment, and is there a particular subject, color palette, or creative idea you’re especially excited to explore?
Right now I’m deep in the second set of my Meowsterpieces of Kiterature series—cat puns on classic book titles. The first set struck a nerve in the best possible way; I had multiple licensees essentially competing over it, and I already have several waiting for the new pieces to be released.
This series is quintessentially me. Bright colors, cats, hand lettering, silly puns, and quirky plays on the familiar book titles we all grew up with. There’s something really satisfying about taking a title that lives in everybody’s memory and giving it a whiskered twist—you get that half-second of recognition, then the laugh. It’s the exact reaction I’m always chasing. Expanding the series has been a joy because I already know the world it lives in; now I just get to keep filling it.
Finding the Quirk
For Carrie, quirk isn’t a finishing touch—it’s the filter that determines whether an idea belongs in her world at all.
Your work often transforms familiar subjects—especially animals, plants, and everyday objects—into something playful and unexpected. How do you decide when an idea needs an extra dose of quirk?
Whenever I see a trend or subject I like, I ask myself: How would I draw this in my own style? Not how everyone else draws it or how it’s “supposed” to look—how does it look filtered through me?
It’s a bonus if I can work a cat into it. If I can make something familiar a little weirder, funnier, or more feline, that’s usually the version worth making. The quirk isn’t a garnish I add at the end—it’s the reason I picked up the pencil. If an idea doesn’t make me smile while I’m working on it, it probably isn’t mine yet.
Carrie builds a colorful pattern on her iPad.
How do you work through creative roadblocks? Does experimenting with color, pattern, or humor help you find a new direction?
Most of my creative roadblocks aren’t about running out of ideas—they come from trying to force an idea that isn’t mine. The fastest way out is to return to what I love: cats, color, and a funny pun.
Color is usually my way back in. I might rebuild the palette brighter or look for the joke inside the piece; once I find it, the rest often falls into place. I also keep an ongoing archive of ideas and puns, so I’m never left staring at a blank page.
And if none of that works, I go pet a cat and come back later. That one’s undefeated.
Cats, Color, and Looking Twice
Carrie finds inspiration close to home, filtering her cats’ personalities and everyday surroundings through her unmistakably colorful point of view.
Where do you find inspiration for your unusual characters, vibrant patterns, and unexpected visual combinations? Are there any current influences finding their way into your work?
Cats. Always cats. My own cats are my biggest source of inspiration—their expressions, absurd sleeping positions, and slightly blinky faces when they wake up. You can’t invent that stuff; you can only observe it.
A closer look at Carrie’s digital drawing process.
Beyond that, it’s simply how I see the world. I don’t decide that a piece should be vibrant; bright color is the register I live in. My influences are less about following what’s current and more about noticing what delights me. If something makes me laugh or look twice, it usually finds its way into my work.
You describe your work as “artwork with quirk.” How did that signature style develop, and how has it evolved as you’ve grown as an artist?
It wasn’t a strategy. My signature style emerged after years of making the art I wanted to see in the world instead of art aimed at a market.
For a long time, I tried to make work that looked like what I thought art was supposed to look like. Once I began following what genuinely amused me, the colors got brighter, the cats multiplied, and the jokes got worse in the best way. Suddenly, the work was recognizably mine.
Since then, the evolution has been less about changing direction and more about getting braver. Each year, I lean harder into the parts that are unmistakably me instead of sanding them down. “Artwork with quirk” isn’t a brand I invented—it’s simply the most accurate description of what kept coming out.
Breaking the Rules to Find Her Voice
Carrie’s design training still supports every balanced composition and clearly communicated idea—but discovering her signature style meant deciding which rules she was willing to break.
How has your background in graphic design for film and television influenced the way you approach composition, storytelling, and visual communication in your artwork today?
This is going to sound contrarian, but I threw a lot of it out the window.
Graphic design for film and television demands structure and a need for everything to make logical sense. That discipline is valuable, but embracing my own style required giving myself permission to break those rules. Letting go of “correct” allowed my voice to come through.
Still, you never fully unlearn the instincts for hierarchy, balance, and making a piece read clearly from across a room. They’re doing quiet work underneath the chaos, allowing my art to be loud and busy while still feeling intentional. The training is the floor; the quirk is everything I built on top of it.
Carrie describes her work—and her brand—as unique, happy, whimsical, bright, and funny.
Art for an Ordinary Tuesday
Carrie wants her work to do more than decorate a room—she wants it to make someone’s day a little brighter.
Humor and joy are central to your creative brand. What do you hope someone feels when they encounter one of your pieces in their home?
I want them to laugh. That’s the whole thing, really.
I hope someone walks past a piece on an ordinary Tuesday, catches the pun for the hundredth time, and still gets a little flicker of delight from it. So much of what we put in our homes is meant to be tasteful and quiet, but I’d rather create the piece that makes a guest stop, lean in, and grin.
If my art makes someone’s home feel a little happier and a little more like them, I’ve done my job.
Carrie’s brand is built on one simple belief: products should make people smile.
Shop Carrie's World
Choose the Art That Feels Like You
What draws you toward artwork that stands out rather than blends in—and what advice would you give someone who wants to embrace more unusual or personality-filled art?
Don’t be afraid to be weird. That’s the short version.
Embrace your inner nerd. If you’re into something—no matter how strange or niche it seems—double down on it. The things that feel too odd to share are often what make your work impossible to mistake for anyone else’s.
Life is too short to make art for someone else—or for an imaginary buyer you hope will like it. Make the art you want to see, and trust that the people who love it will find you. Just make sure there’s something distinct enough for them to find.
The same goes for collecting. Buy the piece that makes you feel something over the piece that matches your couch. You’ll live with it much longer than you’ll live with that couch.
Carrie’s work is a bright reminder that our homes—and the art we choose for them—don’t need to look like anyone else’s. The pieces that stay with us are often the ones that reveal something wonderfully specific about who we are.
Explore Carrie Cantwell’s collection at Stupell and find the piece that makes you stop, look twice, and grin.
Shop the Carrie Cantwell collection
Carrie Cantwell is an illustrator and pattern designer known for bright colors, whimsical humor, and a particular fondness for drawing animals—especially cats. Before becoming a full-time independent artist and Skillshare Top Teacher, she spent 16 years creating graphics for major film and television productions. Her work has been featured by NPR, TED, UPPERCASE Magazine, and CreativeMornings.
