Tell
us a little about yourself and what you do.
I am an artist and designer running my art and
design studio – creative hardt studio .
Included in this is running the Australian Coloured Pencils
Network www.colouredpencils.com.au.
I am a volunteer on the committee for the Central Coast Art Society as the Newsletter
and Website Editor, and I am also the mother
of 2 young boys. I guess you could say I am rarely bored! J
Who
(or what) inspires you to do what you love in your own creative business?
Fundamentally underneath in all my areas of work I
love helping /sharing myself with people in various capacities. In design I love being able to come up with a
design or technical solution (that can sometimes be incorporated with my artistic
abilities ) and for them to walk away as a happy customer. As an artist I love
seeing people’s responses to my art and finding out what they take away from it, the
joy or reminders it can bring people when they view it. I love love love teaching people coloured
pencil techniques in my workshops and sharing my coloured pencil knowledge with
other like minded artists which why I started the ACPN.
My volunteer work is really about giving back to the community and helping
people out with all the experiences I have acquired to help them bring and
develop art in my local area.
Where
do you get your inspiration from when you design/paint?
Usually it’s a theme or an emotion a “moment” that
draws me in to want to capture that. With still life work, I notice colours or
textures of subjects such as flowers or fruit, that don’t last very long or can
easily be overlooked that I feel I want to try to capture in detail to
highlight their beauty. My contemporary works are often about women and
emotions that many of us go through in our lives - I like to express that and find that can
provide something that others can relate to.
What
are the five words that people who know you would use to describe you?
Caring, honest, kind, “a woman of many hidden
talents”
Swirl Pot
Tell us about
your very first job and what path have you taken since then?
My first job out of design college was a web
designer for a large ISP back when we handed coded all of our html and the web
was just taking off. From there after
many people wanting websites I started my own business and have continued as a web/graphic
designer which had both design and technical skills - (which wasn’t usually that easy to come by)
. About 10 years ago when the internet boom died off I started to get back into
art as well after discovering some wonderful coloured pencil artists overseas
and have been hooked on and ever since.
Describe
a typical day in your studio space?
I am most creative early in the morning so I will
often be up at 4.30-5am to get a couple of hours in first thing. Usually with some day pages and a bit of
exercise. Then I stop for a bit of family time and to get the kids off to
school etc. During the day I will often be doing client design work working or
specific projects. I block off my hours into chunks and give priority to
certain tasks, before stopping again mid-afternoon for school pickup. In the
afternoons, my brain is usually abit jammed up so then I usually will be doing
less brain intensive tasks such as filing or emails for the afternoons, and i
generally try to stop about 4.30 till about 8 which is family time.
Depending on the day I will either fall into bed not
long after that or sometimes I can fit some painting in J.
As
an Artist, what is your biggest frustration?
For me at the moment its basically time and energy. Due
to all of my commitments I find it difficult to spend large periods of time
artistically, so it’s all about short bursts (which is why i find
colouredpencils so good ). It’s frustrating with so much on my plate I know I
am in a bit of a transition period with young children for the present time and
I am ok with that J I also have to be mindful
constantly that I need to support business my family so I often trade my “art” time for working on “design” or business projects
so it is a bit of constantly juggling act.
Tell
us about how you prioritise your work.
I have worked out that I am most creative in the
mornings, so i try to sketch out ideas and concepts in the mornings this is
when I am most fresh. In the afternoons I may do things like preparing
materials painting canvases etc so I am all ready to go for the morning
session. As well as all the admin and marketing tasks I need to do for art and
the ACPN keep me very busy so I have weekly and daily review sessions with
myself to work out what needs to be done that day.
Like a rose
Can
you please tell us about how do you connect with other artists, and your
customers (i.e. how do you network)?
I connect online through the ACPN (which is one of
the reasons I started it) as I specialise in coloured pencil artworks I
couldn’t find any other local Australian CP artists so I find that a wonderful
way to connect. I connect also through my volunteer work with the CCAS
(artcentralcoast.asn.au) and attending local exhibitions and being involved
when I can. I also have a few artists that i follow and connect with on facebook
and in real life so this is also fantastic way to connect with people.
What
advice can you offer other creative people who are just starting out and
following their passions?
Spend time working out what your passion is and
follow it. Don’t worry too much about the other stuff, that will come if you
love what you do!
What
dreams do you still want to achieve or fulfil in your life?
I would love to hold one day a real life exhibition
for Australian Coloured Pencil artists like they do in the UK & US. I would love also to one day attend their
exhibitions and travel again.
What
is your proudest moment so far?
Earlier this year I was asked to attend a school where they had been studying my
artwork in their classrooms as an “Australian Artist”. I got to speak in front of the school and see
all the artworks done by the children which was work that had been inspired by
me. I did two sessions with years 5
& 6 and talk about my art and process. Loved it!
Who
do you most want to meet and why?
I would love to meet some of my coloured pencil art
friends from the US such as cp artist Arlene Steinberg and Ann Kullberg, they
have been such an inspiration to me.
Luscious Pear
What
is the most important lesson in life that you have learned?
Trust my gut, if it doesn’t feel right, it most
likely isn’t!
What
book are you reading right now, and do you have a book you would like to
recommend?
I am currently reading for the second time “You can heal your life”
by Louise Haywood.
That is such an inspirational book!
Tree Girl Orange
Where
do we find you and your products?
I try to separate my business and my art information
somewhat (tho sometimes they are blurred)
