In a little garden nook beside a grandmother’s house, flowers bloom and hummingbirds fly, competing with one another for the bright red feeders full of sweet nectar. The birds, their iridescent feathers glittering in the sun, swoop and sway as spring turns to summer.
This type of hummingbird paradise is just one of artist Emma Carr’s many inspirations for her floral and fun paintings.
Carr, originally from Madison, Mississippi, graduated from Mississippi State University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in graphic design, and now lives in Birmingham, Alabama, pursuing her passion as a full-time painter.
For Carr, her career as an artist results from a lifetime of encouragement from her family, especially her grandmother.
“I grew up in a pretty artistic family. My grandmother was kind of a well-known artist in Mississippi who lived in Yazoo City,” Carr said. “From the moment I was born, I was painting. My family was always encouraging art classes and buying me supplies and all that jazz.”
Emma’s grandmother, Hope Carr, a watercolor painter from Yazoo City who attended Delta State University, said she never passes up an opportunity to talk about her granddaughter.
After explaining that she studied art across the country after her children grew up, Hope Carr marveled at her granddaughter’s dedication to art at such a young age. She noted that Emma Carr took Advanced Placement art classes in high school, but started creating long before that.
“If you start early enough, you can really get good at something,” Hope Carr said.
She also explained that Emma Carr expressed herself through art as a young child.
“Emma just found a pencil one day and started drawing on the wall. She did little amoeba people every time she had a chance,” Hope Carr said.
Beth Jenkins, Emma Carr’s mother and MSU alumna, seconded that Emma’s talent for art showed early in life.
“I tell people she came out of the womb with a paintbrush in her hand,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins almost teared up talking about how Emma Carr has followed in her grandmother’s footsteps. She proudly shared baby pictures of an eighteen-month-old Carr painting while sitting in her grandmother’s lap. Jenkins still has those paintings in her study.
“If you lean into a child’s talent and gifting, and you give them the tools for them to make it their own, they are unstoppable,” Jenkins said. “That is exactly what Emma had all around her. She grew up in a very creative family.”
From her dad giving her journals that she used to sketch the world around her to her mom treasuring the little cartoons and drawings she slipped under the door to show her emotions, Emma Carr had a family that encouraged her to create.
Not only did Emma Carr have a creative childhood, but she also continues to experiment with her craft. She explained that while she originally focused on abstract painting in college, she has since adopted a new approach. Still using acrylic paints and oil pastels, Emma Carr now focuses on painting flora and fauna in bold or moody colors, capturing the movement of nature through her layering techniques.
While she paints all sorts of flowers, from oak leaf hydrangeas to zinnias, Emma Carr also described her favorite subject to paint at the moment.
“I paint hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are a really big symbol in my family,” Carr said. “There is not really any meaning behind it; we just kind of connect each other with hummingbirds.”
Emma Carr explained the inspiration behind her first hummingbird painting.
“We’ll go visit my grandmother, and she has hundreds and hundreds of hummingbirds. I just love going to her house in the summer and seeing all the hummingbirds. It’s honestly insane,” Carr said. “I took the chance after I graduated and was like I am just going to paint one.”
Emma Carr’s first collection of hummingbird paintings sold out, and she has not stopped painting them since.
Beth Jenkins described these hummingbird paintings as symbols of peace inspired by the peaceful backyard retreat Emma Carr’s grandmother created. They serve as a reminder of the security and safety she found there, which protected her from any chaos in her life.
“Her grandmother created this little safe haven that no matter how crazy our lives were growing up, she always had this safe place to land, and the hummingbirds were a part of that,” Jenkins said. “The hummingbirds are almost like therapy to her, symbolizing peace and safety.”
When asked about her favorite paintings, Emma Carr named some of her newer paintings with “moody” color palettes like “A Moment Between,” “Gold Between Your Feathers” and “Through the Thicket.” With layers of olive green, light blue and maroon, these paintings have hummingbirds hidden throughout lush foliage.
Jenkins finds these newer paintings particularly captivating as well. She compared Emma Carr’s painting skills to playing piano by ear since she can experiment with different mediums and styles.
“My favorite painting that she does is the one she allows herself to just do something new. You get so fixated in your business in what other people want and what’s selling, and you have to balance that,” Jenkins said. “But when she gets in the mode where she’s experimenting and thinking outside the box again, those are my favorite paintings.”
Emma Carr spoke about her decision to follow her dreams when asked if she had any final words of wisdom for aspiring artists. She explained that she was torn between pursuing a graphic design job or painting full-time after college. While she believes her graphic design background has taught her a lot about composition and color that she uses every day, she considers the more risky decision to pursue her art worthwhile.
“It’s cheesy, but follow your dreams. I am in the best spot, and I am so happy with what I chose because I did what I wanted and went for it,” Carr said. “Be inspired. Do what you love.”
Emma Carr says she does what she loves, and she gets to celebrate her accomplishments with fellow artist friends from MSU, like Rosie Ferguson Gathings.
Gathings, who graduated from MSU in 2022, spoke about Emma Carr’s dedication to her brand. While Gathings has a different art style, more focused on pop art and portraits, both friends have similarly chosen to pursue their art brands.
Gathings is grateful for a friend like Emma Carr.
“I mean, I can’t even put into words the value of having others’ opinions – especially other artists,” Gathings said. “Peers – people your age – we face challenges that another generation didn’t. Emma and I talk a lot about how hard it is to maintain a social media presence.”
Gathings bragged about Carr’s commitment to social media, much like Beth Jenkins, who takes many of Carr’s social media photos. They both spoke about Emma as a businesswoman as well as a creative who finds inspiration in family and friends but remains faithful to her brand’s vision.
To see more of Emma Carr’s paintings, visit her website or Instagram @artemmacarr.
