Meg Carlile as a human is an absolute joy bird. Her energy is warm and authentic, flirtfull and fun. As an artist, her work bursts with emotions through colors, shapes, and language. Meg’s paintings are layered with such feeling they almost demand engagement, investigation, thought, and even laughter. Her poetry is raw and honest, concise and vulnerable.

We talked with Meg about art, life, giggles, and joys.

Hi Meg! Describe your current surroundings. At home? Work? DO YOU HAVE A GIGANTIC WATER BOTTLE nearby?

Meg Carlile: I am snuggled in my freshly washed bedding. Hot pink silk sheets with accents of emerald green. My gigantic liter water bottle IS by my side. My bedroom is my safe haven. Being in my room brings me an honest joy. Full of art from humans and artists I adore, along with many love trinkets and crystals, and many many books.

What was the last thing that made you laugh really hard?

While visiting my dying Nana who was suffering from dementia- my mom, gently caressing her mother’s arm and in the most genuine, sweetest and kind voice she says to her, “Mom… do you remember when you called the CIA?”

Do you remember the first time you identified or felt like an actual artist? Can you share that memory with us?

This is actually a hard moment for me to define. I honestly cannot remember a time when I didn’t feel like an artist. From the time I could hold a pencil I was creating. Even in grade school I had classmates begging me to draw them a thing or write their name in cool letters. It is such a core attribute of who I am.

I will say- I do remember trying to pose my first dog I ever had, a pug named Sandy, on a chair so I could sketch her. My dog wouldn’t sit still for anything. And at one point I was getting so frustrated with her I took her off the chair and I blurted to myself- “I cannot work like this!” LOL

How long have you been an artist? Do you feel like you have a defining medium you prefer or is your creativity more fluid?

LOL see above. My creativity is quite fluid but holy moly I sure do love to paint.

What is poetry to you? What does it mean to you?

Poetry is painting with language to me. It’s paying attention to the moments in our lives and squeezing all the juice you can out of them. Hold out your tongue and say AH! Life is always giving us those moments and poetry just means slowing the time down to capture every bit of it.

You’re so talented with your use of your poetry within and as a part of your paintings. How does one inspire the other?

So much of my visual art has been inspired by IRL moments with my friends just through conversation together. A friend who I love and adore greatly, will say something and it will strike my heart in such a way that I will see the art piece in my mind right then and there! I see it so vividly, and those moments are a muse to create the language into something visual and emotional.

On July 1st you will be performing poetry as support for the Nia Moné and Oliver Noor show at Factory Obscura. It’s about love and heartbreak. Are those themes you’ve been exploring on a human level as of late?

I am a lover of love. I live my life in a very non-conformative-non-mainstream type of way. I am intentionally showing up in all of my relationships with love at the forefront. At least I try to.

However, exploring the hard, very raw feelings that come with heartbreak is a challenge for me. It’s something I am constantly working on in therapy. My heart has the capacity to feel things in great depth, but sharing these feelings with others will be new for me. And I am 🙈

What does collaborating with other artists do for your creative spirit?

It expands, uplifts, challenges, and energizes my spirit SO MUCH.

You radiate positive energy. Have you always been that way or is that something you think happened over time? Are you aware of this?

A loaded question, ha! First of all, thank you-

I grew up in a pretty unstable household while attending a pretty extreme church. A lot of verbal and spiritual abuse took place-and more so I was really just not given the space to experience the overwhelming emotions that come with your formative years. I do believe in positivity and I do combat with bouquets of flowers, kisses and bubbles, yes-but really more than anything I think it’s about holding space. For myself and for others.

Especially when experiencing a difficult emotion. It’s not about stifling the emotion and saying “Don’t worry it’ll be okay” (even though it totally Will be) but giving space for the emotions to be there! And not allowing any sort of judgment towards the emotion. We are all having a human experience together. If I can help create energy that radiates positivity, I am probably gonna whatever that thing is because I’m honestly just trying to get us all to have a good time.

I am definitely aware of it. Before I knew you, David, I too called myself a serial optimist. 🐸

I’m optimistic about there being lots of serial optimists in the world! What inspires you?

Andrea Gibson. Queers. Reading. And most of all-Humans experiencing love and friendship. Gets me every dang time.

What is something that brings you joy on a daily basis?

My sweet dogs, Matilda (aka Shrub, aka Bean, aka Shrub Bean) and Hugo (aka Shugo, aka Hoogie Baloogie, Aka Hootie Bear)

Where can people find your art and you?

Tell them- if they can truly open their heart and call my name out under The Full Moon- I will hear them and I will answer their call.

You are the absolute best. May you always hear my howl!

Find Meg’s artwork at www.mmmegcarlile.com and follow her on Instagram at @mmmegcarlile.

See Meg perform her poetry live on July 1st at Factory Obscura in support of Nia Moné’s collaborative performance with Oliver Noor. Get tickets here.

A Conversation with Artist Meg Carlile