Meet Imogen Hawgood | Artist and illustrator

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

Hi Imogen, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I grew up in the countryside of Northern England, where I now live and work as a painter and illustrator from my home studio. While I paint a variety of different subjects, most of my work depicts locations which seem out of place or unusual in some way; like a helter-skelter in woodland clearing or a glowing cinema on a residential street. While I am certainly a countryside person at heart, it was a visit to Los Angeles several years ago which has had the most influence on my work. Perhaps it is because LA is different from the landscape that I grew up in, that it has fascinated me ever since and continues to inspire my paintings. I think my best work is based on my own experiences and memories, so recently I have been searching for inspiration closer to home, painting the glowing lights of funfairs and arcades, and food trucks and stalls at British festivals.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I live and work in the English countryside, however it was a visit to Los Angeles which has had the most influence on my work. I became fascinated by the iconography of the American West and have enjoyed translating the glowing neon of the Sunset Strip into my oil paintings.

Recently I have been finding inspiration closer to home, painting the glowing lights of funfairs and food trucks across the muddy fields of British festivals. I think my best work is based on my own experiences and memories. I take photos and videos of locations for reference and then work these ideas into oil paintings, both small and large, in the studio. While there is a foundation of realism within my work, I am most interested in creating an image that seems like a moment in time, highlighting the quiet beauty of the scenes that I depict.

I decided to become self-employed and start my own business, because I really wanted the freedom to create what really interested me, and the only way to do that was to work for myself. I love setting my own projects and deadlines, working towards exhibitions and producing commissions for clients. Running my own business means I am in control of my work, and I can explore what interests me. Being self-employed of course comes with its own set of challenges, but for me it is worth it to be doing the thing I love most as my job- painting and creating art.

Working in the creative industry can come with financial risks. Some months I might have several commissions on the go, followed by months of quiet. This can mean my income from creative work fluctuates a lot. Working part-time jobs helps manage this, and so does budgeting. I have found it’s important to be realistic about how long it might take me to build up my creative income, but to also trust in what I’m doing and not undervalue my work or my time. I have always thought of myself as a very risk averse person, but when I stop and think about it, I don’t think that can really be true. It’s more accurate to say I am very good at mitigating risk and preparing for different outcomes. I’m very organised, I love a list, and I’m certainly somewhat of an overthinker. But these attributes combined have helped me to manage the risks associated with working as an artist.

It’s important to me to create work which is accessible to everyone, in both subject matter and cost. When coming up with new ideas for artwork, I need to spend time in the landscape I might pant, engage with the experience and find excitement in the everyday. More and more the subjects I’m painting are intended to evoke nostalgia from the audience by showing the beauty of familiar and sometimes mundane scenes; queuing for a coffee, for example, visiting a cinema or exploring a funfair. As well as selling original oil paintings, which I am aware have a higher price, I also sell prints, poster and cards. I think original art should be accessible to everyone; I value inclusivity as a pose to exclusivity.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m not an LA local so I definitely haven’t been everywhere in the city, and there’s so much more I need to see! I visited a lot of movie theatres as research for my paintings, some of my favourites included the Los Feliz Village Theatre, the Aero in Santa Monica and The Cinema Dome- which I was sorry to see boarded up, I hope to see it up and running some time in the future.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I was lucky enough to visit Los Angeles on a study trip with my Art and Design Foundation course, which I did before starting a degree in illustration. It was completely by chance that the study visit the year I did the course was to LA, and I ca’t help but feel it was fated. If I hadn’t visited the city then, I honestly don’t know what I would be painting now. So I suppose my shoutout is to the city of LA for starting it all!

Website: https://www.imogenhawgood.com

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

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

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