Influencer
Carys Woodbury of Carys Cuttlefish: Sharing Impactful Artwork Online
Carys Woodbury is an artist and mental health advocate creating meaningful artwork online in the form of creative and unique creatures. Her creatures have thoughtful storylines and meanings behind them that are meant to inspire and uplift others. Today, she shares how she started sharing and selling her artwork online.
About Carys Woodbury
Carys Woodbury began creating art from a young age and started selling her art eight to nine years ago while working as a tattoo artist.
She shares, “My dad is an artist, and he and I weren’t always in the same city, so I think I kind of developed a love for it [art] because it made me feel like I had a connection with him. I’ve been passionate about art since I was a little girl. I’ve always been drawing.”
Carys Woodbury has been sculpting creatures out of polymer clay for years. Before 2020, she spent a lot of time making different creatures and selling them at markets.
When the pandemic hit, Carys decided to share the story of the worrywart creatures she developed after her grandmother passed away and she was struggling with intense grief on TikTok.
“I just decided that I was going to try and make a little friend that would make me feel better because it felt like everybody else moved on, and I didn’t move on, and there wasn’t anybody that I could talk to, so I made this little guy I could put in my pocket, and if I missed her, if I was thinking about her, I could just start at him, and he would not be happy [with me.].”
She adds that this story is why many of her creatures are frowning so they can commiserate with you over your grief, hard times, depression, etc.
Carys’ Artwork & Inspiration
Carys Woodbury creates a huge variety of artwork, ranging from clay creatures, plushies, stickers, enamel pins, stationary, and more.
She notes, “The Worry Warts are so popular… We have Gloombies which are creatures that are meant to be there for you when you’re going through a serious depression because they eat the bad energy, and they’re invisible to the naked eye, but if you’re going through something hard and you notice there’s a cup of tea sitting next to your bed or you feel like you’ve been tucked in, or the curtains just got opened a crack to let some light in, they’re supposed to be there to try and encourage you.”
Carys adds that many of her creatures are inspired by her struggles with mental health, such as her grief over her grandmother’s passing or living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
“My art is genuinely based around my life living with that condition and not wanting anybody else who’s struggling severely with their mental health to go through that alone and feel like they can’t do it.”
Sharing Her Artwork Online
Carys Woodbury shares that her most viral video was about how artists deserve a fair living wage. She created this post in 2020 after someone told her that her work was overpriced. In response, she photographed everything that went into her artwork, including the people working with her, the behind-the-scenes of her work, and much more.
“If you make art that people want, then you should have a living wage. You shouldn’t lower your prices so that you’re not able to afford the things that you want to do with your life just because you’re an artist.”
For example, she notes that you wouldn’t go into a pizza joint and tell someone working there that they are being paid too much. If you can’t afford an artist’s work, then don’t buy it.
The Key to Her Success
Carys Woodbury notes that she doesn’t have a specific target audience.
“I’m not targeting anyone. I’m just kind of doing what I feel and saying what I think, and if anybody responds to it, that’s good. If they don’t, that’s also good. I think it’s important to just be who you are and not try to manipulate people.”
Another part of Carys’ success online is her genuine and vulnerable content. She shares that her followers have seen her cry and talk about her mental health struggles.
“I share these creatures that have helped me get through the most vulnerable moments in my life, so I think people respond to someone who is being genuinely themselves and is genuinely grateful for them being there.”
Something she frequently focuses on with her work is content and artwork that makes people feel safe, especially during challenging times.
Brand Partnerships
Carys explains that she has done a few brand partnerships, but they are low-key and require an NDA, so she can’t go into too many details about them.
Other brands have reached out to her about participating in unboxing videos, but this was something that she didn’t feel comfortable posting about because she was unfamiliar with the brands.
She adds, “I can’t participate in this because they were like you’re going to do this unboxing and you’re going to be really excited about it, and I was like I can’t do that because I don’t know who you are, and you’re offering me a lot of money, and I just don’t feel right about this, so we’re not going to do it. I’ll only ever work with people that I feel really confident about.”
She stresses the importance of listening to your gut and only working with brands that align with your ethics and aren’t pushing you around.
Out of the many offers she’s had, she has only taken up two brands on their offers.
Interesting Creator Moments & Experiences
One of the most challenging parts of social media for Carys is dealing with moments when people spread false information about her online.
She explains that one week she “was actually pushed into a corner because there was someone that said that I was saying something that I definitely a 100% didn’t, and I had to defend myself and put a video out there saying “no, look I really didn’t say this.”
Carys adds that one of the hardest things about being online is how fast people can flip on you or believe what others say about you, even when it’s not true.
One of her funniest experiences was being locked in her stock room. Her husband left to buy cat food, and she got locked in her stock room and couldn’t get out. While in the stock room, she decided to create a TikTok about the experience. She made snacks and set up a fort in there, all while her cat was at the stock room door trying to paw their way in and get her out. Her husband was gone for five hours in total, making the experience memorable.
Future Plans
Carys shares that she is currently working very hard on her YouTube channel and creating a lot more content for that platform.
“I’m really excited to be working on some more long-form stuff, and I hope that if this is coming out before Halloween, they will make sure to check out all of the new stuff that we are doing for Halloween on my website. It’s going to be a pretty crazy year. I have some really special stuff that I’ve been designing that I can’t wait to unveil.”
