A’Niyah Williamson
Camara Goodrich creates multidisciplinary mixed-media artwork that explores identity, nature, spirituality and the human experience. Through texture, unconventional materials and pieces that change under different lighting, Goodrich creates work designed to engage both the senses and emotions.
Who is Camara?
Goodrich’s mixed-media art pieces explore the mind, heart and soul. She offered a look inside her studio and creative process at her home in North Ridgeville.
Goodrich is committed to nurturing young people in the arts through mentorship, workshops and programs.
She is also an advocate for mental health awareness, author of the book “Artful Success: Mastering the Business of Selling Your Art with Confidence, Resilience, and Creative Therapy,” and an educator.
Her artwork has been displayed in museums and galleries across Ohio and elsewhere in the United States, including the Patrick Losinski Gallery inside the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the Massillon Museum in 2025.
Based in Ohio, Goodrich creates work that explores the relationship between nature and identity. Her work also examines connections between spirituality and the senses.
Art that stimulates the mind and soul
“You feel different when you look at one piece than you do another,” Goodrich said as she demonstrated two canvases under different lighting.
On the surface, the works appear one way, but when the lights are lowered and a black light is positioned over them, additional elements become visible. She also demonstrated how looking through 3D glasses changes the viewer’s perception of the pieces, with different colors revealing forms within the artwork.
Goodrich said she hopes the effect surprises viewers before producing a sense of calm.
Her creative process extends beyond paint. She incorporates materials such as cloth, fabric, string and elements from nature. The combination of materials is what makes the works mixed media.
Each piece carries a different meaning and an emotion that Goodrich intends to convey.
One painting depicts a woman who represents self-love, honoring one’s worth and making oneself a priority.
“You can’t pour from an empty cup,” she said about the piece. “Embrace self-love as the foundation for every connection you build.”
Another example is a painting of a man that was inspired by Atlanta cellist and composer Okorie Johnson, whose live performances combine storytelling and emotion. Goodrich said she wanted the piece to capture the energy she experiences when she hears notes of worship in the music she loves.
Although her works differ, Goodrich said their messages and meanings remain spiritually intertwined.
A woman of strength, belief and blessings
Goodrich grew up in a creative household where her artistic abilities were encouraged. At one point, she became an athlete, and her father encouraged her to focus more on athletics than art.
She later built a fitness career, working with private clients, teaching kickboxing and working as a personal trainer.
But athletics was not what she ultimately wanted to pursue.
Everything shifted in 2017 when Goodrich was involved in a motorcycle crash on a highway and was airlifted to a hospital. She said she was given slim odds of survival. Though she survived, she later experienced depression and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she said.
Goodrich said her mental health worsened during that period and that she turned to alcohol.
During that time, her husband suggested she return to art and reconnect with the creative spirit she had developed earlier in life.
Returning to art helped her confidence and supported her during physical therapy and recovery. People began complimenting her work and encouraging her to pursue art.
Goodrich recalled telling her husband, “Hey, that spare bedroom, could we turn it into a studio?”
He supported the idea, giving her canvases for Christmas, money for paint and supplies and, most importantly, encouragement.
She wanted to share her work with a wider audience. Her studio developed gradually as she added equipment, gained recognition and created and sold more work.
She began selling her artwork at Jamie’s Flea Market in Amherst, Ohio. She rented two $15 booths and used folding card tables and minimal equipment.
Soon, she began selling every week, and customers came to expect to see her there. Goodrich said she never skimped on supplies or materials.
From the beginning, she either used recycled elements or painted on gallery-wrapped canvases using professional paints.
“If I started from scratch with nothing, I know other artists out there have the same opportunity to be where I am now,” she said.
Art is more than a medium
“Each piece has its own intention,” Goodrich said, describing each work as a singular being in its own frame.
Goodrich is expressive not only artistically but physically. When she paints, she moves with her whole body, and she said that physicality carries into the character of her work.
She does not repeat works. “That’s the type of person I am; I have a lot of interests. I have a lot of love for different things. And I don’t ever want not to relay that through my art.” If something is important to her or she feels connected to it in some way, Goodrich said she hopes that emotion is what viewers remember.
She said she begins with intention and then allows intuition to guide the work once she enters a flow state. Her work explores mental health, self-image and spiritual awareness, themes she hopes will encourage people to be kinder to themselves.
Goodrich’s mother died by suicide in 2000, and she later experienced her own mental health struggles after the motorcycle crash. Her experiences have influenced her desire to help and teach others. She works with young people and older adults, using art as a way to connect with members of her community.
In Goodrich’s view, art is not merely a medium but a connection to the soul. Her work addresses subjects with personal significance, she said.
Art, technology and artificial intelligence
As technology continues to change the art world, Goodrich said she is not worried about artificial intelligence. “AI could never replicate, or duplicate, or be me or my art,” she said.
Goodrich said her work comes from her own mind and experiences in a way she believes artificial intelligence cannot reproduce. She said artists can print an image and place it on a canvas, but the texture, 3D elements and different materials in her work create a physical quality that cannot be replicated in the same way.
Goodrich said her artwork sometimes draws people to touch it, prompting her to place signs that say “Do not touch” near some pieces. She said she has never seen an AI poster or print produce the same reaction. Artists who are uncertain about the value of their own work might be more concerned about artificial intelligence.
Where can you find her?
Goodrich can be found on Instagram at @Camcreatesartstudio and at camcreatesartstudio.com. Goodrich accepts commissions, sells gift cards and prints, and participates in art festivals and exhibitions. Her independently operated home studio reflects the artistic practice she has built over the years.
Mentoring future artists
Her advice to aspiring young artists is simple: “Come see me!” Goodrich said there is no single piece of advice that applies to everyone trying to find their footing in the art world. “Just like art is subjective, we all have different likes and different intentions,” she said.
Artists may pursue different fields, such as tattooing, music and theater. People have different motivations for creating art and different levels of confidence.
Goodrich said that when she mentors someone, she first gets to know the person, determines where they are in their development and meets them there.
Everyone starts somewhere. Goodrich’s career reflects that.
A’Niyah Williamson is a digital artist and writer born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She studies digital media production at Ohio Media School.
