Elegant Designs | Kerrie Hess, The Brisbane-Made High-Profile Artist

Author // Shannon Edwards, Place New Farm

Inside a studio adorned with bright pastels, striking copper furniture and a dreamy pink velvet lounge, Kerrie Hess has built her art haven.

Kerrie’s pure talent combined with time in Paris has built on her bountiful imagination, which sees the creation of breath-taking illustrations.

Totally modest about her successes, Kerrie has collaborated with big names such as Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Kate Spade.

Kerrie’s love for art is a passion so pure it radiates as she smiles telling us her story.

Tell us about your background?

I was born and raised in Brisbane and found my love for painting from a very young age.

I asked my parents to do art classes on weekends when I was only five years old.

I loved those classes - I remember my art teacher telling me to sign my work because I was ‘now an artist’ - it’s adorable when I think about it now.

I’d only dreamed that one day I’d be painting for my career - never did I think it would be possible.

I studied Graphic Design at Griffith University, which later took me to London where I worked for independent newspapers.

One day I drew an illustration to fill the space of a missing image for a magazine.

After that, I got into illustrating for the store windows of retailers such as Top Shop.

That was the moment when I thought, “maybe I CAN do this as a career?”

I saved money for a while to back myself so I could give it a shot. It was my plan to commit to my illustrations for a year.

That was a long time ago now and I’ve been working as an artist ever since.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in anything and everything, but travel is a really big factor.

I’m mostly inspired by Paris - I lived there for a little while and am lucky enough to fly over a couple of times a year to visit clients.

Because of that, I think my illustration style has a Parisian feel to it.

Why Paris?

Back when I was 11, I visited Paris with my parents and wrote in my diary, “I’m going to live here one day.”

I loved the city so much - It was unlike anything I’d ever seen.

I’m a bit of a romantic at heart and adore that everything in Paris is beautiful.

There is beauty in every corner of the city.

From the haute couture fashion to the beautiful ancient architecture - even when you buy a bunch of flowers they’re packaged perfectly.

It seems like you’ve got such a glamorous lifestyle!

It may look all glamorous, but most of my time is spent in my studio in old jeans and a t-shirt covered in paint.

There’s about 5% of real glamour after you’ve worked really hard on a project for a month and at the end there may be a lovely event for the piece.

To be honest, I’m happiest in my old jeans.

I’m a homebody through and through and feel so lucky having my studio at home where I can be close to my son.

There are moments when I get to take a quick break and enjoy a cup of tea on the lounge and think to myself, “well, isn’t this nice?”

Tell us about some of your biggest collaborations?

I recently worked with one of my biggest dream clients, Cartier - it was an incredible experience.

I was sent a huge selection of their glamorous pieces and was told to paint whatever came naturally to me.

I tell you what, I slept with those Cartier jewels next to my bed.

There was no way I would let anything bad happen to them.

On top of all your masterpieces, you’ve written a book, Shoestring Chic?

I wrote Shoestring Chic when I was in Paris.

My wardrobe was tiny, as many of them are in Paris, so I was always wondering, “how do Parisians always look so chic?”

To me the city’s style was the perfect balance between polished and unpolished.

They invest in great classical basics as there’s no room in your metre-wide wardrobe for anything you don’t love.

My book is about how to live the fashionably luxe life for less.

What’s next for you?

A big thing for me is creating limited edition prints that I sell through my online store.

I also have a gallery of original prints.

Ultimately, painting originals on a big canvas is what I love doing the most - I want to do more of that.

2017 will also be the year of some exciting commercial collaborations.

To find Kerrie’s gallery go to www.kerriehess.com.au

Video credit: Bonnie Cee

Photo Credit: Grace Alyssa Kyo