16 August 2019

Designer Spotlight: Kb Handmade Art

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Hi, I am Kirby Atwood, and I create simple, beautiful, Australia-flora inspired art. More than the product, I’m learning that I help create moments and inspiration for others to see a little more beautifully. I often post under the hashtag #naturesdelights on my Instagram (@Kb.Handmade.Art) to encourage people to see the beauty in nature around them that is there for the noticing if you take the time to see (even in the city!).

I live in the Inner West of Sydney with my family, but my roots are in the Blue Mountains where I grew up. It wasn’t until I moved to the city that I realised how much I missed the bush! It was something I had always taken for granted.

I am a solo artist, but often have three little helpers in the form of my children (all young boys at home!) This makes for limited time and space for my creative endeavours sometimes, but I find having this outlet so helpful as a mum, and I make do with what I can. Art has helped me to express myself and build confidence, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. My wonderful husband also deserves a mention as my photo editing guru, social media consultant, IT support, and cheerleader.

We have a stick insect named by one of my boys as Noisy (quite ironic) and I love his home in our home – an awesome excuse to have eucalyptus leaves in the house!

I have been selling on MadeIt since October last year. I started with a Christmas card range and have been steadily making more items available.

As a solo-artist, I’m more and more realising the importance of collaboration between fellow creators! Madeit is a wonderful platform to be involved with – I love that it’s Australian, I love that it’s a place where I can share my passion with others, and it’s a place where I am known, in a sense, and has given me opportunities (like this Designer Spotlight!) that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

I sell prints of my art, however I am striving to always have at least one original art item in stock (currently my bookmarks) to keep true to my name. I also find it a joy to add little hand drawn touches to my packaging to convey that sense of handmade and loving creation.

I am keen to promote sustainability and seek to do that by sourcing locally and sustainably when I can. I use cellophane as my protective sleeve over the cards instead of plastic, recycled paper envelopes, and carbon neutral frames to display my prints.

In my workspace, I am surrounded by wood grains, dried leaves and natural light…and Lego, unfolded washing, and children. I have made the most of our small city townhouse by using our dining room table and some nooks and crannies in some cupboards for my artwork supplies.

I often take over the table in the evening to lay out my painting, and if I get a few minutes in the day, I use my ‘standing desk’ for my drawings (which is the top of our sideboard cabinet – out of reach of little hands!).

I occasionally take my drawing out of doors too. I have taught myself to savour the slow moments, and the small beautiful things. My art and my workspace are evidence that often the most wonderful things are hidden amongst the daily chaos.

I am inspired by the natural beauty around me, especially Australian native plants. I have long been fascinated by the colours that occur together organically and how, no matter how strange the combination, it just seems to work. I try and capture this in my technique using acrylic washes – the contrasting pigments dry in organic ways, and that is what I use as the basis for my drawings over the top.

I love leaves – we have some beautiful gum trees in the park near our house and we’ll often collect leaves as a family (as my boys know I love them!). I am mesmerised by their tones and the imperfections that make them so wonderful and unique. They remind me to roll with life’s surprises, because the most beautiful things in nature are its irregularities.

Moving to the city has helped me value the place of my upbringing so much more than ever before. I took the leafy outlook and tree covered valleys of the Blue Mountains for granted, and so my art has formed out of a longing to appreciate what I missed. I’ve even found that through my art making, I notice more of the natural beauty around me.

I am so grateful to live close to a park which has a heap of gum trees in it. I’m constantly drawn to these trees and their beauty. I enjoy spotting Australian native plants on verges and yards and parks and unexpected places.

I have always enjoyed art and been creative, and in my primary school ‘what will I be when I grow up?’ painting, I was going to be an artist! As I got older, though, I wasn’t convinced of the value of art, and didn’t feel encouraged to pursue it. I ended up studying civil engineering at university and working for a few years.

Through that time at university, I became a Christian, and getting to know Jesus helped me understand that creating and art and beautiful things have immense value because God has made these things. I am a creator, made in the Creator’s image, and therefore creating has immense value! This has spurred me on to pursue making and sharing my art. I’ve also learnt that appreciating beauty in the world is a gift, and that makes it all the more precious.

I absolutely love the idea of handmaking things. I will always want to have a go at making something from scratch and very much dabble in all sorts of crafts. I find it so much more satisfying to see an outcome from a creative endeavour than buying something mass produced.

There’s time and effort and history in something that has been hand crafted, and it’s especially wonderful to gift someone with not just a product, but one with a story and meaning and evidence of fingerprints from a fellow human.

Visit Kb Handmade Art to find artworks and stationery inspired by Australian flora: KbHandmadeArt