INTERVIEW WITH KAYLENE HELLIWELL

from Artists Down Under - Australia and New Zealand - July 2023

COSMIC CEPHALOPOD

By Maureen Maxwell

Thank you, Kaylene for doing this interview. You’ve been a member of our Artists Down Under Group since 2021. In that time, we’ve seen many of your art works in our ADU Monthly Magazine and on our Facebook page. You are also a member of the International AWAKE group.

You live in Hamilton, in the North Island of New Zealand.

HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY, AND THEN PHOTO ARTISTRY?

My mum loved photography and gave me my first camera, a Kodak something, after I borrowed my brother’s camera to do a modelling photoshoot of my dolls at around 12 years. Been shooting since. Digital cameras became affordable, took a photography night class and now I shoot thousands! I always loved playing with my images and saw an ad on Facebook about Photoshop Artistry and haven’t looked back.

OVER YOUR YEARS IN ADU AND AWAKE YOU’VE COVERED A WIDE RANGE OF ARTISTIC GENRES, RANGING FROM STEAMPUNK AND SURREAL TO MANY OTHER STORY TELLING IMAGES. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE GENRE, AND IF SO, WHY?

I’m kind of all over the place, short attention span but I guess my favourites would be the styles of Jamie Heiden, and Cheryl Tarrant, Vanessa Rivera, Joel Robinson, RafyA and Even Liu.

YOUR IMAGES TELL INTERESTING STORIES. DOES THE STORY EVOLVE AS YOU CREATE, OR DO YOU VISUALISE FIRST, AND THEN CREATE THE STORY? OR DOES IT VARY?

It varies but mainly it evolves as I create as some ideas don’t work or it’s beyond my knowledge of photoshop. I just play.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE A FEW OF YOUR FAVOURITE TECHNIQUES AND PROCESSES USED TO CREATE YOUR DIGITAL ART?

I start with a blank page and one texture then gather all the extracted pngs together and develop it from those things. I love to use fog textures and brushes if I’m telling a story with children and animals. I use lots of textures from the Photoshop Artistry Course, so I try to use my own images of animals and children or at the very least one image I have taken in each piece.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR CREATIVE JOURNEY TAKING YOU IN THE FUTURE?

It’s quite nice to sell pieces but mainly I just love playing so no real plans.

AS A MORE RECENT MEMBER OF ADU, WHAT DOES BELONGING TO ADU MEAN TO YOU?

It’s been great being a part of a very supportive group, especially with people nearer to home.

PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF, YOUR BACKGROUND AND WHERE YOU LIVE.

I live in Hamilton NZ (since 1993) (Auckland born) with my hubby and 5 cats (I am actually a dog person not a crazy cat lady!) We have 3 children, 2 here and 1 in Auckland (no grandchildren). I worked with a local charity (budgeting, food parcels, community garden) until the end of 2020 when I retired early. It’s nice not having to rush. I love my garden (especially the trees that attract birds for me to photograph) but I’m not a gardener! I like to go on bike rides and bush walks and photograph the lot!