Meet Katie Hayes | North Carolina Printmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Hayes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, what do you attribute your success to?
Like a lot of creatives, I get flooded with new ideas all the time. There’s a constant tension in my business where I’m asking myself “is this a side quest? Or is this a smart idea that will drive my business forward?” One of the best things I did for myself when I opened New South Pattern House was to spend a lot of time on my brand up front, and put creative limits in place for myself. So, for instance, I decided that all my printmaking work would be focused on the Southeastern United States, and that I would only make environmentally friendly products. This way, if someone asks me to carve a block print of a blue Morpho Butterfly– even though they are gorgeous– it’s easy for me to say no to that project. Or, when someone tells me my artwork would look great as a plastic phone case– even though it sounds fun to design something like that–I know it’s not on brand for me. Now that my company is growing, having such clear guidelines is really helping me steer us into the future, because I know exactly who we are.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think the thing that I’m most proud of in my printmaking is my colorwork. I employ a lot of really time intensive mixing, gradient blends and puzzle piecing techniques, and I only use NC made inks in my process. This gives me a really cohesive color palette and an easily recognizable style. My favorite compliment is when someone tells me they saw a print of mine somewhere and knew it was mine before they read my name at the bottom. That really makes my day, because I think as artists we’re all hoping to put our original take on the subjects we portray.

Was it hard to get to where I am today? You bet. But mostly the thing that stood in my way was myself. For most of my life, I’ve known that making art is what I am best at, but I never saw it as a viable career. I grew up in a rural North Carolina, and to me the “art world” felt snobby and elitist. I was just a feral kid from the mountains, and I didn’t really see myself ever being accepted into that scene. So I put off being an artist for 15 years and had a whole other career before starting my current business.

Even when I started making a living by selling art, I still felt plagued by this lingering feeling that I wouldn’t fit in. Y’all know the feeling. Imposter syndrome. Where you don’t want to say out loud that you’re an artist, because you’re scared someone everyone will find out that deep down you’re just a little country girl with dirt under her fingernails and you don’t even know about wine or famous paintings, or museum exhibitions or any of the other things the imaginary (and super judgy) art patrons in my head knew about.

But you know what? I was wrong about all of that. I’ve now built my brand around being my authentic self. The one who knows how to catch salamanders and ID native moth species. The one on instagram pulling Saw Whet Owl Prints with no makeup on a Tuesday, and my clients love that. Not only my clients, but I’ve found that the more I lean into this authentic (and super nerdy) version of myself the more I’m embraced by the artistic community in my region. My work wins awards. I collaborate with cool institutions, I’ve gotten amazing press and recognition and now I have no hesitation in telling people when they ask what I do that I’m an artist

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When we wake up the first day that they’re here, I’d make them a strong cup of coffee and then definitely take them with me on my morning walk. Behind my house and my studio building is a beautiful bottomland forest with a little creek running through it. We’d go down there and search for wildlife— river otters, wood ducks, great blue herons, muskrats, and turkeys are some of the inhabitants I’ve seen on past walks, so hopefully that morning we’ll see something good. While we’re down there, I’ll explain my plans for the pollinator meadow I’m growing using only native plants as a waystation for the butterflies to rest on their migration journeys. Since this guest is my best friend, they’re probably used to hearing me talk about such nonsense by now. But, just in case they’re getting bored, we’ll transition to our itinerary, because this whole week is just going to be a thinly veiled sales pitch on why they should move to North Carolina.

Here’s all the places I’m taking them this week:
Hiking/Swimming at Eno River State Park
Watching a Durham Bulls baseball game
Authentic southern barbecue and Hillsborough BBQ
Dinner and Drinks at the American Tobacco Campus
Live Music at the Cat Cradle
Cocktails at the Mayton Inn (I designed the wallpaper for their bar/restaurant, so I’ll feel proud to show that off to them.)
NC Botanical Garden
Museum of Life and Science

When the weekend rolls around, we’ll take a short trip– either to the mountains or the coast. I’ll let my friend pick a direction, but we’re either headed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, or Cape Lookout National Seashore.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I couldn’t have done any of this without my family–my husband my kids, parents, and sisters all play a huge role in the success story of my business. So, I’t like to dedicate this Shoutout to:

My parents, Laird and Penny for nurturing my inner weirdo, buying me art supplies, and not freaking out about the terrarium of pet lizards I captured and kept in the garage as a kid.

My husband Sean for all the time spent solo parenting, taking wildlife reference photos, and being my text message hype-guy during long show weekends.

My kids, Millie and Ben for all the sweet studio snuggles, and endless inspiration.

My sister Tori for being my go-to source of wisdom for random wild animal facts and native plant ID.

My sister Kelly for insisting I learn about budgets, brands, and book-keeping, and for basically acting as my unpaid CFO.

Website: https://newsouthpatternhouse.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newsouthpatternhouse/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newsouthpatternhouse

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyvvaTMgNd2Juj88kJ6p6NQ

Image Credits
The headshot, along with the studio shots (large butterfly prints hanging from he wall) and shot of the printmaking supplies were taken by Mallory Cash All of the product shots (print only, or print with carving tools) were taken by Katie Hayes