As an autodidact artist, he abandoned a lucrative Wall Street career to respond to the call of the homeland, through a paintbrush. Portrait.
He thought he could keep it inside him forever, reckoning with the force of this passion living within since childhood. Finally, at the age of 56, (he is 66 today) Carl Craig started making a living out of his passion, painting. The spark? A journey through Haiti, the country where he was born, but left at an early age. The return to his roots prompted his settlement to Haiti, and between the years 2004 and 2006, he worked as a consultant in the transitional government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. Carl rekindled with his homeland, re-experienced the beauty of his country, his culture, and savored the humility of his compatriots.
Joyful family, hostile environment
It is within the striking contrast of these two realities that the childhood of Craig Phillipe Carl began to unfold. The first blow, and first warning sign of difficulty ahead, the passing of his father, Emmanuel Pétion Craig who died only eleven days after the birth of his son. The dashing Cuban-Haitian had met his wife Renée Germain in Haiti, where they lived a short time after their wedding, before leaving for Santiago de Cuba, where a large part of their family still resides.
Surrounded by his three brothers and three sisters, a few aunts and uncles, a multitude of cousins and above all, his mother, the youngest little one grew up in the love and warmth of family. “Their warmth filled the emptiness left by the loss of my father,” he says. Seized with melancholy, he adds, “in our neighborhood, we had the impression that fences and walls did not exist; it was an open community which, at the time, facilitated cohabitation. Education, music and sport were a part of our daily lives “.
Then, fear gripped the country when politics took the upper hand, and corrupt politicians imposed their laws. His uncle and his mother’s cousin were murdered. Faced in this hostile environment, the family left the country, and moved to the United States in 1966. At 15 years old, he was confronted with a totally different universe, with hurdles at every turn: the cost of survival!
Wall Street
As Carl began to overcome life’s hurdles, he was encouraged by Pierre Carrie Sr. “One of my mentors”, and joined the US Air Forces in 1973, during the Vietnam War, serving five years. A purely strategic decision, according to Carl: “For me, it was an opportunity to receive an education that was more formal and strict; it was absolutely not about pursuing a career in the military.” After completing a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance and International Affairs at Florida International University, he launched a successful career in the financial market, working under the leadership of another mentor, Max Bayard Sr. “I was always fascinated by the mechanical aspect of finance, a domain without emotion”. Still, he spent sixteen years in that field, rising to the top ranks of Wall Street, becoming the Principal Financial Consultant at Merrill Lynch, a leading US investment bank.
