Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica McRay.
Hi Erica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Erica McRay. I am a 21-year-old visual artist. My story as an artist started at 4 years old. My dad is also an artist, and I grew up in his art studio. My brother, Ethan, and I would paint there. I would make these large abstract pieces. These pieces landed me in the local newspaper at 4 years old. Since then, I knew art was for me. I explored other avenues growing up. I wanted to be a chemist and a chef. But I always turned to art. 7th grade was when I took art more seriously. I submitted my art to a “No to Drugs” art contest and won 3rd place. Then when I got to high school, I took art classes each year. I also took it into my own hands to learn art and practiced at home. During this time, I was known for portraiture. That was my main subject, and I felt like a lot of others my age were into it too. In my junior year of high school, I won the “People’s Choice Award” for my most well-known piece to this day called “Confidence In My Crown”. It is a picture of an African American woman with a large afro looking fierce in front of a gold background. That piece truly jump-started me into my art career. I met Deborah Ross, and she presented the award to me, and that piece was hung in Videri Chocolate Factory for a year. This was in 2022. During this time, I figured that, “Hey, I can profit off this!” and I started my business, “Erica McRay Art”. I started off by selling just my original art and prints. I would sell at Raleigh (and surrounding areas) markets and then make a website. After trial and error, I ended up with my current site: www.ericamcrayart.store. Then, a couple of years later, in 2025, I discovered the art style and subject that truly is “Erica”. For Christmas of 2024, my dad bought me a huge set of acrylic paint markers. I was so happy to receive them. I didn’t consider myself to be the best painter, but more of an illustrator, so these helped me. I created these vivid human and animal portraits with the markers. This was when the “Spirit Animal Series” was born. After that, I created my largest painting, 30 by 40 inches, with the acrylic paint markers and acrylic paint called “Ephesians 5:9”, which is a painting of fruit, and the title is this verse: “for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth”. In the midst of painting that piece, I started another series, which is what makes me known as the “butterfly girl” now. This series is the “Butterfly Series”. The series uses the paint markers along with other materials. It was something small at first, but then I became addicted to creating these pieces. Now I have created almost 110 butterfly pieces. I turned these butterflies into my brand. I also now sell them as originals but also as prints, stickers, tote bags, keychains, and magnets. I have these merch items in other subjects too. My business has progressed so much over the years, and I’ve gotten lots of publicity. I have a multitude of viral videos on social media, I have gone to the National Undergraduate Research Conference this year with my art, I got an internship at Artspace this summer, I am the president of the Creative Club at my college, and I have done exhibitions and markets with my art. I am truly thankful for my main supports through this journey: my boyfriend, Sean Stewart, and my close family. I don’t know what I’d do without them. I am also going to get my master’s degree in Industrial Design, and I will have that as my “main job” with art on the side. Art is everything, and it’s brought me through so much. I always tell others that all of my art are self portraits that aren’t directly looking like me, and you’ll see different stages of my life in my art.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. I wish I could say that. I struggled with mental and physical health for years, and I still somewhat struggle. This affected my performance with art. I dealt with many “art blocks” or lack of motivation and inspiration. Fortunately, I have been able to push through and continue to create, despite the struggle it can sometimes be. I also sometimes struggle with selling my art. I sometimes wonder if it is my skill or if people don’t like it, but then I remember that I haven’t truly found my audience yet. I have ups and I have downs, but I appreciate the journey it has taken to get me here now. Currently, I feel the most motivated I have felt in a long time, and I am constantly working towards the goal of selling at least one thing a day. It can be a sticker or an art piece. It doesn’t matter to me. I know I am successful, but my goal is to be more successful every single day and prove my yesterday’s self wrong.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a visual artist. I specialize in creating with acrylic paint markers and acrylic paint. As explained in the previous section, I am known as the “butterfly girl”. I create butterfly art pieces of all different sizes and materials. I am extremely proud of this collection, along with “Ephesians 5:9” (my fruit piece), my “Spirit Animal Series,” which is 8 pieces, and the piece that set off my art career, “Confidence In My Crown”. What truly sets my art apart from others is the vibrant colors I use. My colors reflect my bright, kind spirit. I use colors together that people might not think to use together. I feel like I have mastered color theory. I even have a YouTube series on it that I’ve done (Erica Elizabeth is the channel name). My butterfly art sets me apart, too. I know people can take the series seriously, knowing I have done over 100 pieces in almost a year. My work ethic truly sets me apart. I like to use other materials in my art, other than the acrylic paint markers. Sometimes I do digital art with Procreate, oil pastel art, graphite art, and more. I also do portraiture, still lifes, landscapes, and more.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
This is a great question! I perfer not to use the word, “luck” but instead, I use the word “blessing”. As a Christian, I feel like God has blessed me on so many levels within my life and business. With my life, I have been blessed with the support of my partner, family, and friends. I have been blessed with a home to even create my art in, along with food and water to drink. I have been blessed with resources to even get to this point in life. I am a college student, and I am a role model for lots of others around me. That’s a blessing in itself. For my business, I have been blessed with opportunities like this one and others like my internship at Artspace, exhibitions, competitions, vendor markets, my showing at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research, and more! Don’t get me wrong, I am not giving God all the credit. I have worked hard to get here. When it comes to luck or blessings, you receive them based on hard work and effort. It isn’t just given to you. I can definitely take pride in the fact that I have worked my way up to the top. I have had “bad luck” moments, too. Not many, but some. And it happens to all of us, but I kept pushing. That’s all we can do.
Pricing:
- My website has all of my product on it with pricing: www.ericamcrayart.store
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ericamcrayart.store
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericamcray.art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eemcray
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-mcray/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ericamcrayart
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ericamcray.art
