Carla Christina Contreras

No one ever told me growing up that I could be an artist. Sure, they hung my art projects on the fridge, but I felt the expectations of others to choose a profession that was NON-art. I received a degree in business – I was good with academics – and my college education didn’t include any art training. I used to walk through the art department at California State University, Long Beach and stare through the windows wondering what it would be like to study art. I was completely stuffing away the part of myself that was most ALIVE and vibrant, confident, fun and enthusiastic.

Somehow, I managed to stoke the artistic flames within through the years, and today, besides authoring a children’s book, I am an accomplished fine art photographer and a commissioned muralist and canvas painter. One day, I decided to walk away from Corporate America to figure out how to make a living doing what I love.

Growing up in the sixties and seventies in southern California was an enriching time in public schools. Creative arts were available and included in curriculum. Play dough, crayons, clay, finger paints, construction paper, and more were plentiful tools in the world of teaching. It was during this time that I discovered a piece of my own power … I could create. It gave me a lot of confidence as a kid and touched a part of my soul that can only be described as vibrant and divine. I have no idea who I would be if I hadn’t discovered ME through the arts.

When I hear about the removal of arts from schools due to funding, it hurts my heart. In 1996 when I wrote the story about Clint the Black Cat® and worked with children to create the illustrations, I realized how much these kids needed an advocate, someone to encourage them to tap into their inner divinity to BE CREATIVE, and to be their advocate in the marketplace and educational system

Carla’s newest and most celebrated works are in Mixed Media Photography form. “I was feeling like I was getting lost with all the other fine art photographers out there, I wanted to present my works in a much more one-of-a-kind, artistically transformed way… and then it came to me – the works you see today.

Each one of my frames is hand picked, hand made by me, designed by me. There will never be another one like it, and it compliments my photography artistically

Side note: Carla has been seen recently in an episode of Lifetime TV’s “Army Wives,” has a “McDonald’s” radio spot currently airing, and recently co-starred in a film produced by American Family Studios – "Summer Snow." She continues to pursue her career as an Actress here in the southern region of the United States.

A documentary was made about Carla’s mixed media photography and how her Angels came out of the Great Flood of 2010 can be seen on YouTube.

Carla Christina Contreras has dedicated her life to empowering kids to tap into their own creative potential so they can manifest their unique divinity in the world.