Boardwalk Interview
With a background in theatre, mural artist and colour addict Molly Hawkins talks us through using the world as her canvas.
Originally from Sheffield, Bristol’s plethora of theatres initially attracted Molly to Bristol, and after making the move a few years ago, the colour kept her well and truly hooked.
“The energy of theatre is so inspiring to me. I studied scenic painting at Uni, so I had a love for painting huge spaces and whilst collaborating with a few touring companies, I was able to create these amazing, huge backdrops for productions, as well as costume design. Bristol’s theatre and creative arts scene is so unique and unlike anywhere else I’ve experienced. Bristolians value making their community neighbourhoods as aesthetically pleasing as possible. I find Bristol really supportive, especially for excelling women and their art, Upfest is just one of the amazing platforms that showcase this.”
So, with her theatrical background, it wasn’t long before Molly was going mega-scale.
“I absolutely love the scale of the designs and the imagination that comes with set design, which is similar to mural painting, it’s a true expression of emotion through colour and movement in order to tell a narrative. It was actually then a friend who wanted a flamingo on her wall that lead me down the mural path about eight years ago, and it’s just developed from there. At the start of the pandemic, I had about six months of just being as creative as I wanted and trying lots of different styles and techniques. As the world opened up again, I found there was a demand from so many to transform their spaces, indoor and outdoor after being stuck with the same four walls for so long. The people I work with usually have a colour pallet and a general idea of what they want in the space, so the creative freedom is amazing. They know my style and have usually chosen me to collaborate with their existing style.”
Coming from an artistic family, Molly’s had the support and encouragement from those closest to her from the start and through the years as she found her artistic voice.
“My mum joked that she popped out an artist, I took a while to learn how to read and write but had this natural pull towards drawing and painting. My family ran a community arts theatre so it was fascinating for me to see how to make a career out of the arts from a young age, which I think only contributed to my drive to keep pushing myself as an artist. I was afraid of using bold colours when I was starting out, so hid behind pastels. I was forcing myself to follow suit of others by using a tablet and programs like Procreate, which work perfectly fine for others, but I felt like I found my visual language after discovering I prefer working in a tactile way, being able to touch materials is so much more important to me as opposed to using screens to draw anything. Collages work best for me, I love creating the design with my hands, then scanning it in, and blowing it up on the chosen space as opposed to digitally designing.”
With her signature style sorted, we wanted to know more about Molly’s inspiration.
“Colour is incredibly important to me, it makes me feel safe, not only in my art but also in my clothes, accessories and home, although I have to keep my home to just a few colour walls, otherwise I won't stop! I’m a colour Magpie. Interior design fascinates me, and recently I would say the use of colour in the home has developed my designs, it’s something that needs to be tailored to fit and compliment the rest of the interior design style. More is more. It’s always been so interesting to me that you’re able to invoke certain emotions and feelings using different arrangements of colour, capturing a mood and using colour equations. I’m inspired by travel, I’ve been lucky enough to work in Mexico and India on international projects. There’s culture spilling out of places through colour, shapes, movement, and illustrations, which absolutely inspire my work today. I like your eye to constantly be taken on a journey around each piece.”
Like so many others, Molly finds peace in painting, but has it always just been with brushes?
“I tried my hand at spray paint, and as soon as I got the hang of it, I detested using a paintbrush again. Spray paint was so much slicker, so much punchier with colour and easier to use, but there's something so therapeutic about painting with a brush. Personally, I find it almost an extension of myself when creating, making it easier to connect my inspiration and the piece. I find sometimes I almost transport to a bit of a trance state, painting for me is an attempt to express my internal feelings and emotions, physically. I like to use colour, movement and texture to create a large-scale piece of art that can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. I’ve been working on a heritage project, capturing the stories of Bristol, and it’s just reaffirmed the embodiment of joy that Bristol means to me and the part that colour plays in that.”
Photographs by Boardwalk.