Today we’d like to introduce you to Jayden Carroll
Hi Jayden, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was little, my aunt was in art school and my uncle used to write me letters decorated with drawings. When my aunt came to visit, she’d bring paint, canvases, sketchbooks… teaching me how to use the tools and letting me explore. My uncle and I used to sit over coloring books, napkins, tablecloths… anything we could draw on. I always wanted to be like them. In my later years of elementary school, I got to help paint the set for our 5th grade musical, and won a spot in a banner contest to be displayed in downtown Rock Hill. I never really stopped painting. As long as I can remember, my mom was always taking orders on her Facebook for all her friends and my teachers. I was always into all the arts and finally had to pick one if I was going to graduate high school on time, so I quit theater and orchestra to do AP art. I was undoubtedly in the hardest season of life yet. In the span of a few months, I struggled over personal relationships, experienced the unexpected death of my cousin, was in a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury, and then sustained an injury to my dominant hand being told I may never be able to use it the same way again. I wanted to quit- but in my frustration, picked up a paintbrush and began teaching myself to paint left-handed.
However hopeless it looked, the Lord was working in my chaos. In this season, I also experienced several opportunities that would propel my work into a direction I never dreamed it would take. In October of 2021, I had the honor of being invited to shadow and paint with Shepard Fairey on the original Coca-Cola bottling building in downtown Rock Hill, as well as at Queens University of Charlotte. After this, I picked up several indoor mural jobs around town and explored that process for a while. That same year in November, I landed my first live painting job and have been painting on-site for weddings and other events ever since. The next November, I was selected to display two pieces in New York City for the unGallery through the Truth Collective. The unGallery wrestles with ideas of truth and identity. It was through the unGallery that I began to further explore my personal style of artwork- mixed media layering with words of truth and images I feel illustrate that truth. My sophomore year of college, I really began to develop this style- communicating the longings of my heart and what the Lord had been teaching me- my ever-growing testimony. I view my art as worship, and in December of 2024 I had the opportunity to show my first solo exhibition, ebə¦nēzə(r): a monument of truth.
As an Interdisciplinary Studies Major with concentrations in Outdoor Leadership and Art, I am continuing to grow my live painting business, my commission and personal portfolio, as well as looking for ways to bring the arts and the outdoors together. I believe the expression of creativity mimics the character of my Creator God, and what better subject matter, or studio space, than in the outdoors!
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?
The height of my struggles was for sure during my senior year of high school- struggling with vision/brain function post-concussion, as well as being told my right hand may never be able to hold a paintbrush again. For an artist, it felt like my two most important tools were being taken away. Life in general seemed to be falling apart in that season, which is really when I needed a creative outlet. I had to be reminded that my identiy was not in the gift of painting itself, but in the Giver of the gift. This season not only grew my faith, but also surprizingly my art. The content became deeper, but my physical struggles also forced me into experiementation and to curate my own style, rather than simply trying to replicate what I was seeing, (which by the way is very hard to do when you can’t see clearly, and can’t use your dominant hand).
As an unapologetically Christian artist, I sometimes find myself second-guessing the value of my work, and feel like I’m on the outside of the art world that can have a tendency to shout in opposition to what I believe. However, I have grown to understand that it is an honor to use my gifts for the glory of God, and to share what is on my heart through painting is simple obedience. It is not up to me to decide how it will be recieved, but to simply obey in declaring what I know to be true and to trust that He will work in me and through me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a live painter, I travel to weddings and other events to offer a one-of-a-kind opportunity for on-site painting in real-time for couples, families, and guests to enjoy and be a part of! Live painting offers the versatility to mix moments and settings, in order to capture a unique illustration of all the things you hold dear on your special day! As of January 2025, I also offer on-site watercolor guest portraits for a fun and personal alternative to wedding favors, and have been published on Loverly for my traditional live painting services!
My personal work exists to illustrate truth and the beauty of creation reaching for and reflecting its Creator. It is impossible for me to separate words and imagery- both enhance the other, parallel to general and special revelation through creation and scripture. Beneath the mixed media elements of these pieces are words of lament and life, beauty and pain, searching and being found; words of truth from songs of worship, scripture, books, etc. I believe this unique form of mixed media and my subject matter sets me apart from other artists, as it forms a unique form of Outdoor Leadership through Art, (my two concentrations in my Interdisciplinary Studies degree.) Having a minor in Biology, I have a unique perspective of the intricacies of outside world, and my time spent in the national parks combined with the drive to be in creation and make the Creator known gives a distinct taste to my personal work.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I think most people would be surprised to know that my live painting business actually started when I was only 17 and I was only 14 when I received my first mural commission. A lot of my significant opportunities and connections, (like meeting and painting with Shepard Fairey, having work shown in NYC, etc.) all happened before I even turned 20. I have certainly been blessed in the way of “chance” things that have helped me grow.
Another kind of funny fact about me is that I quite often find myself switching hands while painting- I did eventually regain almost full function in my injured hand, but thanks to the time without it I’ve become somewhat ambidextrous.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jelizabethart.com
- Instagram: @jelizabeth.art
