Sharon Hegarty Art
Website: www.sharonhegartyart.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sharonhegartyart Instagram: www.instagram.com/sharonhegartyart Email: info@sharonhegartyart.com.au HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MAKING YOUR PRODUCT? I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember. Always experimenting, trying new things, new mediums. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED? After working as a graphic designer in London & Sydney, We moved to the Sunshine Coast to start a family. That was when I realised with no family here I needed to work for myself, to be home for my boys. So I basically created work for myself, illustrated a few books, then spent almost 10 years doing hand painted fabrics, I literally summoned up the courage to walk into a local shop & say I can do those! Ended up supplying 5 stores at one point and even had a Christmas with an exclusive range for Myer Maroochydore. I started painting canvas for friends and some local stores and it took off. These days I teach small fun informal workshops from home, as well as painting watercolour & acrylic artworks & discovering ceramics. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST INSPIRATION? My inspiration… I literally find it everywhere, from traveling, from different cultures, from nature, from fashion & interior design. WHAT IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE TO OWNING & OPERATING YOUR BUSINESS? Biggest challenge running a creative business for me is marketing & social media. Oh and time management, I’m easily distracted! WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT OWNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS? Best thing in the past has been being here for my family, being involved with school & sport as the boys grew up. These days working from home allows me to work when I want. My husband works away so when he’s home I can spend quality time. Truly blessed. |
Art has been a part of my life for as long as I remember.
I grew up in Surrey England in one of those idyllic picture postcard places. I completed a Higher National Diploma in Point of Sale Graphics and went on to be a graphic designer in London. (that was back in the day when cut & paste meant cut with a scalpel & paste with cow gum & we worked at drawing boards not computers & spent half the day in a dark room.) I married an Aussie backpacker whom I met in our local pub that was 32 years ago and he’s still the love of my life. I worked in London & Sydney for major packaging companies as a graphic designer. We moved to the Sunshine Coast and started a family, that’s when I realised with no family here I needed to work for myself. To be perfectly honest I winged it! I Illustrated several simple children’s books. Hand painted fabrics, I was a colour consultant & stylist (before that was even a thing), and as a result of my colour consulting work I realised there was a need for affordable original artworks. Working in acrylics, I pretty much taught myself to paint. I basically knocked on the right door (literally) one day and spent the next 5 or so years painting for interior designers all over Australia, homes, resorts, apartments residential & commercial. My biggest coup was 500 pieces for a resort at Airlie Beach. I said YES then thought how on earth am I going to do this! It was such a buzz seeing my work in glossy magazines. Since then I’ve spent quite a bit of time teaching. These days I’m still winging it, experimenting with lots of different mediums & styles. Also more recently ceramics. Painting & creating is my absolute passion. When I paint I have no concept of time, I'm lost within it... And I love that! |