We are very excited to be working with Erica McCarrens. She has been busy painting Kettle Moraine 100 trail artwork. We will use one of these pieces for our race bib, and another will be used for our Overall and Age Group awards. We wanted to give you a chance to get to know her!

Tell us about how you started painting? I started painting when I was in 4th grade. I got a set of oils for my birthday, and painted a terrible landscape. I had no idea you cleaned oils with mineral spirits, and ended up throwing away all my brushes in frustration.

Fast forward to 2001, I accepted a generous scholarship from the Memphis College of Art. An odd choice for me, having grown up in Chicago-land, and never even giving Memphis a thought in my life. I didn’t even realize Elvis was from here! I graduated as Valedictorian with a BFA in 2006.

What kind of art forms do you do? I do all kinds of art, but my favorites are these site-specific illustrations, and large paintings of paths that lead to a bright light. I love connecting with my viewers. Many people ask what my art means, but that’s my story. I want to hear the stories that come to my audience’s minds.

You are registered for Kettle 38 mile run, but you have a trail race coming up. Can you tell us about your race? Yes! A beautiful, glorious, muddy, rainy, cold 50k trail race in Memphis TN! It is my first ultra run, and my husband and I are running it together. We completed our first marathon in December and immediately registered for 3 more races. Like any good ultra noob, I’ve over packed and over prepared.

Tell us what inspired you to do the Kettle Moraine 100 artwork? My inspiration for Kettle Moraine started with just looking at the landscape and race photos. But I dove into the history of the trail, the maps, the route, the surrounding towns, and I felt like I was transported there. It has been one of those projects that is more love than labor, and I found myself pouring over it 9 hours a day.

This marriage of my 2 favorite things in life is like a dream come true. I started running during my husband’s first long stent away in the military, as a way to de-stress and clear my mind. But I quickly realized that running also cured artist’s block, and I started painting better than ever. My friend introduced me to trail running, and slowly, my art started to morph into trail landscapes with majestic canopies. So, in short, I run to paint and I paint my runs. I am so honored to paint images of Kettle Moraine. I wish all the runners, volunteers, coordinators and director all the luck and love!