Today we’d like to introduce you to Teale Hatheway.
Teale, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’m a SoCal girl, born and raised in Pasadena. My father was a super smart aerospace and optics engineer, and my mother is a visionary interior designer. My parents always encouraged my older brother Jason and me to think, make and create, and that’s what we continue to do!
I was fortunate to receive an excellent education and was generally “the nice girl from Pasadena,” but I was always looking to flex my strong will and independence. In college, I realized my infatuation with old buildings and their craftsmanship, but was told that beauty was irrelevant in art. I graduated top of my class with a combined arts and sociology degree from Scripps College and instantly pursued stage technical work where I excelled in physical labor as an electrician and rigger, spending my days sweating in dusty rafters. That was a turn of events! I was drawn to punk rock culture with its DIY mentality and was hell-bent on learning how to work with my hands. I collaborated with gritty mechanical art collectives, built nanometer scale actuators for Boeing and even worked with a circus for a stint. During this time, I was making bleak, abstract paintings about urban planning and the built environment.
However, my interest in beauty and ornament was always brewing beneath the surface. I grew up during the early days of preservation efforts in Southern California and enjoyed seeing historic buildings being brought back to life. The ornamental details that make old buildings unique, express the hand of their craftsmen and keep the viewer’s eye searching for more. Maybe it’s because my family has been here for five generations and I have a desire to connect to my past, but I believe we leave traces of our souls everywhere we focus our attention. Because of that, I developed a sort of spiritual connection with historic buildings. It is not entirely about the building itself, but also the remnants of people who have contributed their experiences to buildings. I feel connected to my own family history through some of those places.
Fast forward a few years and a few careers and I am an internationally exhibited artist, designer, and entrepreneur. I am an advocate of the physical trades, proponent of quality over quantity, and a life-long learner. I have been awarded grants for and designed large-scale art installations for Coachella, managed projects for television, film, theme park, live event and agency clients, worked as a manufacturing liaison for Southern California founders and placed my architectural paintings in countless public and private collections. I’m a professional mutt whose focus is always creation.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’m all about placemaking: both telling stories about places and making places themselves. My mixed media paintings are abstract compositions of parts of actual places. Details of interiors, exteriors, and street lights all become elements of my paintings that are intended to spark engagement with the built environment. Lately, my work has become more painterly and has an element of erasure. I’m feeling freer in my process and less literal in my representations. I’m having fun and I hope it shows.
I like that my creative passion draws me away from computer screens and forces me to experience the physical world in real time. I love it when my collectors share with me how my work reminds them to look more closely at their surroundings. Successfully encouraging someone to unplug and be present – I consider that to be a big win for my art.
My most recent endeavor is the launch of Pearl and Maude, my design studio. We currently offer wallpaper and fabric based on abstractions of my paintings. The designs are funky, fresh, colorful and spraypaint-y. The textiles feel like a party, and echo architectural tradition. I think that beauty is a complex, deeply personal subject worthy of celebration. I’m excited about Pearl and Maude! After all this time making art about memorable places, I now have new materials to use in the actual creation of memorable spaces. It makes perfect sense.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I believe the role of the artist is to be true to themselves and put in the hours. Everyone has a different mission, artist or otherwise. I believe that where you focus your attention becomes your life experience. I choose to create work that focuses on elevating the spirit, pays homage to beauty and has something emotionally intelligent to say. I value history and culture and for that reason, I donate a portion of my sales to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, so I can help protect the heritage I treasure.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I regularly exhibit paintings and installations in Los Angeles galleries, museums, alternative and non-profit spaces. Pearl and Maude just made its first trade show appearance at the Las Vegas Market and we are working on several opportunities to expand our offerings into other services and goods.
My studio will be open during the Brewery Spring Artwalk, which is right around the corner! April 6 & 7 from 11am – 6pm. You will be able to see both my art and design under the same roof. You can also see my work online or by appointment. Please visit my web sites for contact info. I’d love to welcome you into my studio!
Contact Info:
- Website: tealehatheway.com ; pearlandmaude.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tealehathewayart ; https://www.instagram.com/pearlandmaude
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TealeHathewayArt ; https://www.facebook.com/pearlandmaude
Image Credit:
Marshall Vanderhoof
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