Festival of Hobbies - Painting (Featuring Pia Dowse)
“My dad was an artist and my older brother was an artist, so it’s fair to say it runs in the family. I grew up with it - my dad had a studio and so I was surrounded by it”
Pia Dowse - a Harland Works tenant - is an artist, working from her second story studio overlooking the courtyard. Like many artists, Pia shares the studio with two others and upon entry you are greeted with a burst of colour from the eclectic mix of art that adorns the walls and desks. There is a selection of Pia’s own work here too - works in progress that allow a peek behind the curtain at her creative process. It’s clear that art is a large and very important part of her life; but painting isn’t Pia’s 9-to-5. I joined her to talk about what painting means to her as a hobby, and the path to turn her passion into her job.
It’s notoriously hard to make a living from a creative passion like painting and Pia admits that it’s a laborious process; albeit a labour of love. “My 9-to-5 involves working as a painting conservator, for a small business in Heeley, Sheffield” Pia explains. “We restore old paintings for Sheffield museums, as well as museums in Leeds and Hull. In fact, the Maritime Museum in Hull recently sent over about 80 paintings. We also get private clients from far and wide”.
Pia admits that it’s no coincidence that both her main source of income and her spare time revolve entirely around art - it would seem it’s in her blood. “My dad was an artist and my older brother was an artist, so it’s fair to say it runs in the family. I grew up with it - my dad had a studio and so I was surrounded by it” she laughs. “I did a fine art degree, it’s just what I’ve always wanted to do”.
“Joining groups is a good idea, you meet like minded people, you’ve made a commitment and that will give you a boost - especially at the start”
Painting is becoming more than a hobby for Pia - as demand increases, so to does word of mouth and exposure. “I am working on this commission at the moment that I’m hoping that will lead into more commissions, that’s always the hope. That’s how you get work” she says. Taking your hobby to the next step can be very time prohibitive, and it’s often hard to strike the right balance between what is for work and what is just for you. “I Used to show with a gallery closer to home, in Wales. Every year I used to do an exhibition in the summer but haven’t had time over the last few years. Time is a big issue” says Pia. “If you’re serious about painting, you’ve got to be really organised with your time - the opposite of what artists are known to be! I just tell myself that Monday to Thursday are my working days. They’re my 9-5 at the conservation business. I spend the evenings preparing for what I’m going to do on my Friday in the studio, and then I make sure that on Friday I’m disciplined and treat it the same as I would a job. I turn up at 9am and I stay until 5”.
Pia is not a Sheffield native, but has settled here comfortably and praises the artistic community Sheffield has to offer. “There’s loads of opportunities for people who are wanting to explore painting as a hobby in Sheffield!” she says. “The Art House in town is fantastic. They offer loads of courses and workshops in areas like water colour, acrylic, life drawing and portraiture for people from a range of abilities”.
Something a lot of new artists bring up is that a little bit of communal encouragement and motivation also goes a long way at the start of a new hobby, and Pia agrees, adding “Joining groups is a good idea, you meet like minded people, you’ve made a commitment and that will give you a boost - especially at the start. That could be life drawing once a week, or even just once a month. But that commitment should motivate you”.
“Painting and other hobbies are all about reflection and doing something that is just for you. It’s all about taking stock, spending some time with yourself”
As well as the social benefits of starting a new hobby, Pia stresses the positive impact that a new hobby can have on your mental health. “It’s important for people to have hobbies, especially creative ones like painting, because It’s a mode of expression. I always used to feel that in work, you're restricted by what your position is and that might not be reflective of who you are as a person - you’re there to get the job done. Having a hobby is a way of doing something that I love that is a true expression of myself”. Pia also adds some advice: “Be selfish - give yourself time to do something you want to do”. The impact that having a creative outlet has on our mood is well documented and Pia concurs, saying “I have been so much more happy since having my own studio and being able to do my own thing. Painting and other hobbies are all about reflection and doing something that is just for you. It’s all about taking stock, spending some time with yourself”
So what’s next for Pia? For one, she’s keen to turn her hand to leading some workshops, specifically around making and using your own paints. “Next year I want to start running some workshops, so that emergent artists have a chance to try something new. I want to focus on making paints, using knowledge from my conservation work, and on traditional painting techniques - about all the different materials, paints and methods you can use”. Conservation is certainly something that is informing Pia’s creative work more and more recently. “If you learn the basics, you can produce your own paints to use in your work. Often, we are quite dissociated from the paints and materials we use; as an artist, you can just go and buy them and have no idea what's in them. But up until around 100 years ago, artists would regularly make their own paints. Artists would be much more involved in creating the paints and materials they use, and that's been lost along the way. I’d like to do workshops around those themes”.
Be sure to keep an eye out on the Harland Works blog this new year for information on Pia’s workshops!
To see some of Pia’s work and for a glimpse behind the scenes at her process, you can follow her on Instagram @piadowse
For more information on the Art House Sheffield, you can visit their website here.