Creative career stories: Illustrator & plaything maker, Cara Rooney
A lifelong love of drawing and storytelling led Cara Rooney to study Illustration at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee. Since graduating in the Summer of 2020, Cara has gone on to help Alzheimer Scotland reimagine their art therapy program for a digital age alongside developing her illustration practice. This is Cara’s story…
What I do
I describe myself as an illustrator, plaything maker and creative workshop practitioner. I like to create illustrations, interactive books and workshops that encourage people to build a fascination for nature and the environment.
“Do you want to work at McDonald’s?”
Drawing and writing stories were my favourite things to do all through primary school. I used to love writing stories about cats, which is odd as I don’t like cats now. In high school, my two favourite subjects were Art and English. I remember when I told my dad that I wanted to go to art school, he said, “Do you want to work at McDonald’s?”. He wasn’t exactly the most supportive at the beginning, but seeing me go through art college has changed his perception. I think he has grown to appreciate the creative industries for what they are. My little sister is now going to fashion school, and it has not been quite as difficult for her.
Applying to art school
In high school, we weren’t told about the different subjects you could study at art college. I applied to Painting and Printmaking and Communication Design at Glasgow School of Art, Painting and Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art and the General Foundation course at Duncan of Jordanstone. At the interview for Communication Design in Glasgow, I remember feeling so unprepared because high school just doesn’t show you how to approach interviews like that. In the end, I was rejected from all the courses apart from Painting in Edinburgh and General Foundation in Dundee. I wanted to move away, but I thought that design was more suited to me, so I decided to study in Dundee. At DJCAD, you start with a one-year course where you get to try a bit of everything, and this is when I realised all the different directions you can go within art and design.
Halfway between art and English
I specialised in illustration for the rest of my degree because it was a nice halfway between art and English. I like the analytic side of English; working out what words mean and how that can be visually displayed. Illustration seemed like a nice halfway because you could incorporate text with images, and there weren’t any restrictions on the type of work you could produce. I was quite interested in textile design as well, but I decided illustration was a better fit, as you can do anything with it. The best thing about art school was making good friends. Being in a space full of people with such diverse creative experiences and being able to bounce ideas off of each other and receive feedback was amazing.
“Being in a space full of people with such diverse creative experiences and being able to bounce ideas off of each other and receive feedback was amazing. ”
- Cara Rooney
The most challenging part was figuring out my process. In second year, I struggled because I was still working in a way that high school had taught me and spending ages on a final drawing. It was our tutor Tommy Perman who told me things didn’t have to be complicated and that sometimes the best way to communicate an idea was through a simple drawing. He showed me people like Jean Jullien who communicate complex concepts through simple drawings and told me I could use a drawing from my sketchbook as a final piece. This was amazing for me as I always prefer my sketchbook drawings to final drawings.
Pandemic graduate positivity
Graduating in 2020 was tough because, due to the pandemic, we weren’t able to celebrate with friends. I also had Pinterest boards full of degree show inspiration, so knowing that was not going to happen was upsetting. However, we had to just make the most of the situation, and there were so many other opportunities that arose because of it. Lots of online opportunities became available that we never normally would have had access to. I went to the Bologna Children’s Books Fair, took part in an American online degree show and had a tutorial with an editorial illustrator in New York. Although we were restricted to doing things online, there weren’t any restrictions on where online could take you or who you could meet, like there would have been in a physical space.
Working for Alzheimer Scotland
I started my job with Alzheimer Scotland in 2017. I had some volunteering experience working with patients with dementia, and so when a job came up, I went for it! I worked in their day service for three years alongside my studies until 2020 when the pandemic hit. When everyone was isolating in their homes, we switched to doing telephone support and began phoning people to make sure they were okay. As it went on for longer, we realised we had to adapt the services we were providing into a digital format and began hosting music groups and chair exercises over video calls.
I was furloughed for a few months and, when I came back, my manager was keen to use the skills I had developed at art college to create an activity group for therapeutic support for people with dementia and their carers. I developed a Creative Christmas workshop where each individual chose a place they loved, and I found a snowy photo of it and drew it out on a canvas before delivering it to their door with some art supplies. During weekly sessions on Microsoft Teams, I’d then show some painting inspiration, with emphasis on work which was about enjoying the process rather than a perfect final result, and we would sit and paint together virtually.
“A lot of these people didn’t even have access to laptops before the pandemic, so explaining things like spam folders and mute buttons has been tricky but so rewarding.”
- Cara Rooney
Everyone grew in confidence through this workshop, and it had some unexpected outcomes. For example, one man decided to paint a picture of the Law in Dundee for his daughter, who he hadn’t seen in months because she lived in Wales. After it was finished, he delivered the painting to her, and it helped reconnect her to her home and her father. Since then, I have organised a memory book project with McManus Art Gallery in Dundee and I’ve started doing one-to-one painting sessions with a woman on the Isle of Beaut. I also run weekly sessions about different musicians, and it is quite surreal to be sitting at a computer with 12 elderly people chatting about Frank Sinatra.
It is very different from the way things used to be, but it is nice to see how well everyone has adapted. A lot of these people didn’t even have access to laptops before the pandemic, so explaining things like spam folders and mute buttons has been tricky but so rewarding. They have been nice for me as well because it has been a while since I have just painted purely to enjoy painting. I have a bit of an obsession with things being perfect and I’d love that to be the case but it is just not very realistic. It is about accepting that, even if something goes wrong, you learn from it. It is all experience that will help you in the future.
Creative advice
My advice for a young person wanting to follow a creative career path would be to listen to some creative podcasts. I have learnt so much about the business side of illustration and how people have built up their careers through listening to podcasts. I love The Illustration Hour and Handsome Frank podcasts. Learn as much as you can about the different disciplines, too. It is good to be aware of how many opportunities there are and how diverse they are.