Meet Kaitlyn Robicheau-Hall | Fine Artist & Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kaitlyn Robicheau-Hall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaitlyn, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Throughout my life I have explored many different areas of work and skills, but nothing creates joy as much as art does. Sometimes there are rough weeks where I go without creating anything and once I do I feel like I can breathe again. Like I hadn’t know I was holding my breath. I don’t know what my life would be without art, which is why I am so grateful to everyone I’ve know who supported my art while growing up. It was due to my amazing art teachers throughout elementary and middle school I decided young that I wanted to be an art teacher. I wanted to inspire others to develop their own creative minds as my teachers did for me. I am especially grateful to my parents who cheered me on throughout my development as an artist, allowing me to express myself through a multitude of materials. While I did not become and art teacher, I developed into an illustrator instead, within this career I can still inspire others through art to dive deeper into their own interests and add the spark that illustrations create when bonding with a new interest.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
From what I have experienced I learned that being an artist is never easy, similar to writers it takes courage to create work that you share with the world, as you pour your soul into each illustration. It can be difficult to share and even sell work that wasn’t built for the public eye, exposing work that was built only from the soul and not for a specific purpose, to share it with the world that you know will pick at every single thread of canvas, can be terrifying.

I have learned to be proud of the work that I have made and how I have developed not only as an artist but as a person. Throughout my education I have met so many amazing people and viewed incredible work, something I have learned is that everyone has imposter syndrome, or has at least experienced it. Without it, it’s harder to push yourself to improve, consistently comparing yourself to the others that you connect with helps you understand where you can improve and where you excel. I believe that’s why artists always live close to each other, even if they don’t always get along. We each need someone to expand our views of the work we make and help explore the best way to connect to the rest of the world. Without a good art community to create within, even if you have a good support system of non-artists, it gets really lonely.

I believe the hardest part of being an artist is creating brand, why you create, what it means, and how it supports the community around you. Truly understanding the point of why I create, was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn.

I create work to intrigue viewers, either through editorial illustrations or fine art; I enjoy creating ways to cause the viewer to lead with curiosity and tempt them into learning something new. Through learning what I truly want to express at the base for all of my work, I was able to loosen the grip on the requirements that I felt I needed in order to be understood as a professional creator. I am still developing as an artist and while it has been difficult I know there is still a long way to go before I am happy with what I will leave behind. I have learned that I will always be an ever changing artist, I have accepted that I will probably never have an exact subject of work. And if in the future I do find a subject that I am happy to spend the rest of my life working on, then I will be glad of all the adventures that I had while getting to that point.

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.
If my best friend was visiting New Hampshire I wouldn’t be able to stick to just one city. I would first take her on a walk through downtown Nashua getting brunch at The Yolk and then visiting all of the different shops there that are all to expensive to do anything but window shop at. I would then take her to the oldest corner store in Nashua, Jeanottes, where we could order an amazing sub for lunch or any other drink or treat we wanted. I’d take her to Greeley park for a picnic and show her the large willow tree and historical structures where we used to hang out and take photos in as children. Then stop at Milanos for dinner as they have a very extensive menu filled with great food, the Fired Haddock being my favorite.
The rest of the week would probably take place exploring the museums around the area such as the Currier Museum in Manchester, the Museum on Art in Boston, and even a day trip to MassMOCCA (my favorite art museum) in North Adams.
If she visited in the fall, maybe even a trip on the Leaf-peeper’s train from Meredith through Plymouth stopping at the Common Man for Lunch. Possibly even heading to Clark’s Trading Post to let her experience the Train Ride featuring The Wolf Man personally, there is just something bonding about sharing someone’s first experience with an old man chasing after you in a beat up car in the woods.
I would take her to Ladders, the thrift shop I survived on in college within Plymouth, and many other thrift stores in Nashua. I’d take her to Ava Marie’s Handmade Chocolates in Peterborough for Ice cream and some amazing options of chocolate, since I know they have less sweet options like she prefers. As well as stopping at the Peddler’s Daughter in Nashua as they have some of my favorite beer and seasonal sangria.
While some of these places seem a little chaotic, they resemble the home that I grew up in, and I hope that when my best friend does actually come up to visit some point in the future, we can visit all of these places together.

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 am dedicating my Shoutout to my Professor Tom Driscoll, he was my first painting teacher who lead me to develop my love for oil painting and helped me gain confidence in my own work. While at University I was finishing my focus in Printmaking when I took my first Painting class, within the first hour I knew I wanted to make it my life. Whenever I was learning from Tom I felt like I could meet any challenge, and when I had concerns about the differences in style of my work or even being able to create a personal and obvious style; he told me that every artist breathes themselves into their work. It is your style and your work because YOU made it. Make art because you love it and keep making it until you’re happy with the outcome.
Even after he retired his advice is consistently on my mind, and even though I have had many other teachers after him, it is his advice that I follow now, even if I am developing as an Illustrator instead of a Fine Artist.

Website: https://www.kaitlynrobicheauhall.com/

Instagram: @initiallywrong

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlyn-robicheau-hall-5a76811a9/