Violet Carson: From the missing splendour of the catwalks, to the greatness of the books
Violet is one of those girls, who grew up on the farm, but with a desire for beauty. Childhood memories seem to have quickly turned into an ambition for the world of beauty. But the catwalks and fashion quickly disappointed her, being far from splendour and glamor. From the time of university she had another passion, writing. Investing already, she managed to bring the first bosk, “Whatever you think this is”. A book dedicated to every woman and the challenges she has with herself, but also with the world. Violet is already preparing a second book and is ready to amaze us all.
As a former model who became a writer, when did you realise you had this other talent, and what was the turning point for making the change?
I realised that I loved writing during my second year of university. I chose the option module ‘collection’ and started making a collection of site specific poems which had an illustration next to them. After I wrote these, I started writing longer passages about my feelings with people and situations. That collection of poems was the highest mark I had ever gotten during my time at university. I had a creative writing block during my time modelling and this ruined creativity for me, as I was trying so hard to keep on top of both of them. After I quit modelling, I filled that gap with writing.It just felt right.
How was your childhood? Was it more driven by beauty and dreams of catwalks, or by reading, and also by writing?
Strangely it was a bit of both, my family and I lived on an old farm with no other houses around it for miles. Even though I am a country girl at heart, I would put on a pink tutu and a bikini and run around the garden in the midst of winter. My sister and I absolutely loved America’s Next Top Model and we would dress up in our and our mother’s clothes, performing catwalks for her in the kitchen.
But on the other hand, I would make up my own songs,as well as tell random stories to my mother to her utmost hilarity. I asked her about these eventually, and she said: “I have absolutely no clue where you would come out with these things, but they made me cry with laughter and bizarreness.”
Tell us a little about your journey in modelling and what is hidden behind the brilliance of beauty?
Modelling is nowhere close to what you expect it to be – it isn’t all glitz and glam – it is more of a painstakingly patient and repulsively narcissistic job. I have never been a very confident girl, but I have always been relatively humble. Doing that job made me feel as if I was the ugliest person in the room and it brought out this competitive nature of beauty I didn’t enjoy. I didn’t like comparing myself to beautiful women, and I don’t think they really liked doing that to me.
My worst experience was my third ever test shoot at an older man’s house and when I got there I felt immediately uncomfortable. I was 19 and doing semi-nude images with him whilst he was asking me to come over the next weekend to stay over at his house and ‘party’. It revolted me, and when I told my agency about it, the girl that was a similar age to me rang up the previous young girl that went to see him. She sent the location to her boyfriend in fear. The owners of my agency, to my knowledge, never did anything about it.
How did you come up with the idea of the book “Whatever you think this is”? Why did you choose this title?
Whatever you think this is came from writing an online journal for myself, and when I went into my third year of university I wanted to carry it on with my own practice in art. Although the course I was on was very conceptual and when it came to talking about what it was, the form of it being an art piece became complicated. My tutor asked in a seminar well what was it? It’s not a book or an art piece? I replied that it’s whatever you think this is. That is where it began, I just couldn’t categorise it as either. To me it was just a form of artistic expression.
Who is your audience for this book and why? What kind of reading experience will it be for them?
The audience is for young women, I’d now say around 16 and over, although some of the content could arguably say was for 18 and up. Yet, young women these days (including myself) are doing all sorts of ‘mischievous’ things, it will be a relatable experience for them. It will make them feel like they are not alone, 1 in 5 teens these days experience some sort of mental health issues while at the same time trying to experience the joy of their youth. I felt like it was a lot of pressure and I am sure they are feeling it too.
What are you currently writing?
I am currently writing a book based on my own experiences and watching other ladies’ relationships with men. It is going to be a guide to finding your ‘perfect’ man in the 21st century. If you are like me and have found it incredibly hard to find the man of your dreams, it may be the book for you. It is a book to make you go deep into yourself, to look at your past traumas and tribulations and to come to the conclusion that no man is actually perfect. There are just qualities that you can figure out that you need rather than what you desire. It is going to be a guide to help you figure that out.
What are your passions and how do you choose to spend time as a young girl?
Even though I am a young girl, I do sometimes feel like I am in an older woman’s body (I think that may be because I am a Cancer star sign though). I love going out for coffees and enjoying coffee culture, going on long walks by the beach and spending a lot of time in nature. My biggest passion though is people; I have a huge love for watching and meeting new people.When I make time for myself I realise that I end up talking to someone and am never actually alone. I quite like that.
