Meet Ian McCartor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian McCartor.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was just starting out as a kid, I chopped wood and pulled weeds in exchange for art lessons. It was good to get my hands dirty working hard for what I hoped to learn about this thing called “art”.

Art always fascinated me. It was a way to bring something from the fresh start of a blank page. I was amazed at how great artists could inspire with the mastery of their craft and the beauty of their subject.
I was also interested in how art could make unexpected things beautiful, or welcome the viewer to be more present with tragic or uncomfortable subjects.

As I pursued the craft over the years leading into adulthood – I found myself drawn to the deeper realities of human life and the less commonly explored layers of living (and dying).

I eventually found myself a hospice nurse, walking people through the trenches of life and death and sitting with those surviving the loss of their loved ones. After long and sometimes short life-shifting roads, it always came to a point where they would have to ask themselves, “Now what?”

The artist in me saw the symbolism of what remained after loss and the choices each one of us have to make in order to heal and move forward.
It’s a sacred, incredible, and humbling task – receiving cremation ashes and being entrusted to create something new.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The growth of this service has been an even-paced expansion, very much like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Since my mother first suggested the concept years ago, I’ve been struck by the profound quality that this brings to both art and recipient on so many levels. Initially, it was overwhelming, and I didn’t really know where to start.

I began to share the idea with a few people close to me. One day a friend responded, “My family’s ashes have been hidden away in a box in the corner of a closet for far too long. I’ll give them to you. Please create something beautiful to celebrate them.”

That was back in the beginning of 2020, when we all were about to enter into a time where loss became a startling reality for many.
Little did we know, these ashes were to become a messenger for people who suffered the brunt of those times.

The art created from those first ashes became icons of hope and possibility for others to discover. I think that’s the traditional and timeless beauty of art – it allows something to become a guide for others along the way.

It’s not been an easy task. Working with grief so closely has been something that constantly pushes me to explore new ways of bringing meaning to suffering, not only in the lives of others but my own as well.

The people I’ve had the honor of working with have become my greatest teachers. Together we’ve found precious keys to the purpose of life’s cycles.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
This work has been an effort of artistic and therapeutic pioneering. It incorporates a background in grief counseling and hospice work, while the component of art takes it a step further, allowing participation in bringing forth something transformed and tangible – not only on paper, but within ourselves.

It’s been a beautiful healing process for those so brave as to welcome it. The work invites one to let go of the past, and bloom into the beauty of the present.
Having this special art also initiates a talking point around the awareness of their grief, opening a space for conversations furthering healing, connection and expansion.

My hope is that through the creation and sharing of this art, others can see that it is indeed possible to transform their grief. It takes an openness to creative and spiritual potential, a dedication to the necessary work to be done, and a belief in the possibility that there is love waiting to rise from the ashes.

If anyone reading this article is inspired to learn more, they can visit IanMcCartor.com for galleries and testimonials. Feel free to reach out directly from there.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
When I first started this journey, I knew a couple things for sure – I loved to create art and I wanted to discover and represent beauty. I’m glad I started there and kept those things as my compass.

To another artist just starting out on your adventure, I would encourage you to not get too absorbed in your own world – but practice looking beyond yourself and into the lives and needs of others.

Art is just another form of service, and I feel many creatives can get distracted by self-glorification, especially now with our contemporary obsessions with validation. There’s room enough for all to serve. Instead of getting drawn into concerning yourself with your “competition”. I suggest that you focus fully on your “contribution”.

There are many in need without an apparent solution or voice. Artists can bring about manifestations that changes lives, messages that move mountains, alchemy that transforms pain and suffering into boundless meaning and purpose.

Find your calling, it’s waiting for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: IanMcCartor
• Instagram: @IanMcCartor