Meet J. Clint Carter | Artist and Statistician

We had the good fortune of connecting with J. Clint Carter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi J. Clint, what do you want people to remember about you?
I would like my legacy to be that of a kind, generous, and humble man, a good friend, and a loving father. Artistically, I would like to be known as an artist who finds beauty in the barren and inspiration in the commonplace. As a fourth generation Arizona Native, I spent a lifetime in rural communities enriched by three of Arizona’s five C’s, Cotton, Cattle, and Copper. At the ripe age of eight, I worked the cotton fields in Wenden, full-time, forty hours a week of hard labor. We started at 6am and clocked out at 2pm, working eight hour days chopping cotton in the blazing Arizona summer sun. I chuckle when I see my first recorded SSA earnings in 1979 and have fond memories of those summer days and the rough calluses on my tiny hands. Ten years later, when I graduated from San Manuel High School, I accepted a position as a chute tapper at the now shuttered Magma copper mine. Being a chute tapper was a rugged job that required breaking large rocks into smaller ore with a double jack. This was completed while wearing a safety lanyard and dog tags in case the worst happens. It is in these experiences that I find beauty, beauty in the 5am line of farm laborers with their neck-protecting-t-shirts tucked under their hats, patiently waiting to fill their coolers with ice before heading to the fields. I find beauty in the underground miners unlatching their lunch boxes and encouraging a lemonhead (new miners on probation wore lemon yellow hard hats) to try a fresh green chile tepin, the hottest pepper he had ever experienced, and the choking cries thereafter. I find beauty in watching my cousins catch heats on their dairy, beauty in big game hunts with family patriarchs on chilly fall mornings, and beauty in watching my father, uncles, and cousins moving cows across the Gila Valley desert. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I would like my art to tell the stories of the vibrant and culturally diverse communities found across the state of Arizona. I would want my legacy to be that.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Several years ago, my 11-year-old son held a secret family meeting and asked everyone to pitch in and purchase art supplies for my birthday. I awoke that morning to find an easel, canvas, set of acrylics, paintbrushes, palette, and the birth of a therapeutic hobby that at times consumes me. From spending hours mixing colors to find the perfect blue of a summer sky, to sanding and framing a completed painting, I enjoy the process as much or more than the finished product. Much of my work is inspired by a childhood running free on a farm near Wenden, Arizona. Located in the Sonoran Desert, Wenden is a tiny community sitting 100 miles west of Phoenix. Using acrylics and stencils, I attempt to capture the freedom and contrasts found in the desert, a peaceful wilderness where the flora and fauna stand armed to pierce, cut, or poison you. A place where the absence of water equals loss of life, but the call of the mourning dove or Gambel’s quail bounces off cacti and soothes worries. Immersed in the cowboy, indigenous, and Mexican cultures of the region, inhabitants of the Sonoran Desert embrace solitude but also delight in the community festivals and meals that celebrate the rich traditions, pageantry, and art found in these rural communities and shared across cultures. My art is a humble attempt to share the story of this unique region and lifestyle.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
First, I would take them on a drive east to Mammoth Arizona for an early lunch at La Casita and some of the area’s best authentic Mexican food. Of course, along the way, we would stop for pictures at the Tom Mix monument and cross our fingers that the monument’s plaque was not stolen again. After lunch and purchasing a couple dozen homemade tortillas from Mi Pueblito, we would drive out to the always picturesque Redfield Canyon, a remote canyon in the Galiuro Mountains, and hike to the cliff house. From an afternoon experiencing the solitude and beauty of the Galiuro’s, we would set our compass for excitement and continue our circle behind Mt. Lemmon for a night of fun in the Old Pueblo. We would catch an Arizona sunset at Saguaro National Park, clean up in our room at Hotel Congress, and enjoy a raucous show at the Club. Next, we would return to the Valley for a morning walk through the always impressive Desert Botanical Gardens followed by an SPO and CCSP for lunch at Scottsdale’s DeFalco’s Italian Deli and Grocery. After an afternoon relaxing poolside, we would enjoy a spicy dinner at Los Dos Molinos and finish the night with drinks and pinball at the Electric Bat Arcade in Tempe. Our final day would include a visit to Phoenix’s Heard Museum and a couple of hours digging through records at my all-time favorite record store, Stinkweeds.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, a shoutout to my children for recognizing my interest in trying to paint, pooling together their resources, and purchasing everything I needed to begin my artistic career (easel, first canvas, paint brushes, and a nice set of acrylic paints). Secondly, shoutout to friends: my buddy Aaron Bushaw for recognizing my talent and giving me the confidence to share my artwork with others, my buddy Ryan Clark for inspiring me to try to make a business out of my art, and my good friends Mike Furst and Frank Humphries for their words of encouragement and personifying the DIY ethos. Finally, shoutout to my family and friends for their support in helping a single father acquire more art supplies, a beautiful canopy, and everything required to participate in art fairs. Thanks so much, I could not and would not have done this without you.

Website: www.jclintcarter.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jclintcarter/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AZtoA2artist/