Posted on February 02 2017
Australian born artist Kelly Stewart began life dreaming about architecture, it wasn't until she studied her BA in Visual Design that she discovered her love of screen print and illustration. In 2000, Kelly picked up her life and headed to the UK to emerge herself in creativity. She found herself in Edinburgh and soon joined the Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop where she produced a huge array or works from scenes of cities such as Bath and Lisbon to portraits of characterful dogs. Kelly Stewarts prints brighten the walls of SEED and we were delighted when she agreed to be our Artist of the Month. We asked her a few questions about her life as an artists
Can you tell me a bit more about yourself and why you began designing? Art has always been my favourite subject at school but growing up in Australia there's not so much support for the arts, nor the appreciation for traditional architecture as there is in Sport for example, so as soon as I finished my degree I bought a one way ticket to the UK. I made sure I never learnt how to type so as I could fall back on being a secretary, and I just worked hard to make a living from what I love.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? Wonder woman How would you describe yourself in 5 words? hard working, dedicated, creative, spontaneous and short. What's your motto for work? To do the best I can What would you be doing if you weren't an artist? I'd definitely be working with animals in one way or another, probably not in the veterinary dept, I couldn't handle seeing animals in pain.
If you inherited an acre of land what would you do with it? It depends where the land is, if it were right next to the beach, I would put a small house, hammock and a BBQ on it! What are your ambitions? To improve on my own style and to one day have a bathroom large enough to swing a cat. What do you do when you aren't working? I love to discover new places. Scotland is full of amazing little villages dotted all around the country. I also love to find little treasures in charity shops around town.
What are you working on right now? I'm working on my first book, its called 'Wanted; Dogs With Personality', it's going to be 101 drawings of dogs, with personality.I'm also working on landscapes for an exhibition on Morecambe Bay to be held at the Brewery Arts centre in kendal next April. View all of our prints by Kelly Stewart here.