Meet Mandy

Crafted with grit, grace, and trial by fire (literally).

Hello, new friend!— I'm the artist behind Carpe Amorem, ("seize the love" in Latin) - everyone gets so excited about Carpe Diem...why not put that same energy into making someone feel loved?

At the heart of what I do is a simple idea: when there's an opportunity to show someone they matter, take it. For me, that often looks like showing someone they are seen, appreciated, and that details matter. Turning something that might have been thrown away into something worth holding onto.

I grew up near the ocean in New England, and when I moved to Wilmington more than a decade ago, I found myself drawn back to the water. I started creating pieces inspired by the coast—first out of curiosity, and then because I couldn't seem to stop.

Almost 90% of my work starts with an upcycled box. I layer the cardboard by hand—sometimes eight layers deep, sometimes ten, sometimes twenty—and bring it together with resin, acrylic, reclaimed wood, sand, shells, and other materials that carry a sense of place.

Sometimes the sand comes from a shoreline that means something to someone. Sometimes a piece holds handwriting, sea glass, or another small part of a person's story.

Port City Daily shared a beautiful look inside that process, including the scorched plywood, smoldering cardboard, experiments, mistakes, and persistence that come with being a self-taught artist.

I talked more about that journey in my interview with CanvasRebel. Curiosity brought me to the work. Grit helped me stay with it.

Much of what I create is commissioned—dog portraits, coastal maps, home portraits, and deeply personal pieces made with someone's own sand, sea glass, handwriting, or memories.

You can also find my work around Wilmington at PinPoint, JohnnyLuke's, and Bento Box.

Through Engraving By Mandy, I create laser-engraved keepsakes designed to hold onto the names, places, and moments people want to outlast us all.

The tides have carried this work farther than I ever expected.

My first exhibit, Ebb & Flow, found its home at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. From there, it evolved into Rise & Return, created for the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island—a collection shaped by a truth I'm still learning to trust: growth is rarely a straight line. It rises, it falls, it pauses, and it returns, transformed by everything it passed through along the way.

"I'm still learning to trust: growth is rarely a straight line. It rises, it falls, it pauses, and it returns, transformed by everything it passed through along the way."

Seeing the aquarium's announcement of the exhibit still catches me off guard in the best way.

A portion of the proceeds from both aquarium exhibits went back to ocean conservation. It felt important that work inspired by the sea also give something back to it.

Curiosity continues to lead me toward materials I've never worked with before.

Most recently, that meant saying yes to reimagining retired surfboards through Cape Fear Surfrider—giving something headed toward the landfill a new life as art.

I said yes before I knew exactly how I would do it.

That curiosity (and fear) is how some of the most meaningful, fun, inspired pieces begin.

Alongside my art, I work as an operations leader for a marketing agency. I also proudly claim the title of Chief of Fun Operations for Bounce House Wilmington. You can find more of that side of my life on LinkedIn.

A portion of every art sale is donated to organizations doing meaningful work in the community, including Plastic Ocean Project, Freedom Bridge Animal Rescue NC, and Communities In Schools of Cape Fear.

For me, gratitude isn't just something I feel.

It's something I repackage to make others feel seen.

You can follow the work, the experiments, and everything still unfolding on Instagram at @carpe_amorem.

Seize the love.

Be known as the person who gives the most thoughtful gift for any occasion. Leave it up to me and you'll have something on their wall forever :)