In conversation with artist, Hello Chelsart

Chelsea Baker has studied many things, thoroughly. But it was her seaside collecting of natures byproducts that led her to take out her creative energy painting seedpods. The rest is very pretty history indeed. Now a happy inhabitant of my own regional home town, Chelsea splits her time between motherhood & co creating with nature. Working with an educated understanding of biomimicry, and cultivating a generous online community, Chelsea is opening our eyes to some of natures most architectural miniatures. You can read all about her artistic evolution right here.

I’d love to hear about your journey through academia, now motherhood & returning to your art. Can you tell me why you decided what to study & how you have arrived where you are?

When I was at school, the guidance councillor asked me, “What are you good at?” I would play around on the computer and I was really good with Photoshop. So they suggested Graphic Design and I didn’t really think about anything further. I did really enjoy studying that, but some of the subjects were really really good, and some of them were really shit. The ones that stood out had me making magazines of architecture and advertisements for an eco village. My dad suggested I do Architecture. Dad & I would always go on drives to look at houses as that’s his thing. He has a building background. So from there I went into Architecture.

While I was studying my undergraduate degree we did an assignment for Landscape Architecture. It was at this point that I went to talk to my convenor as I wasn’t too sure if main stream Architecture was what I wanted to do. I was wondering if I should look at Urban Planning or Landscape Architecture, but was told my uni did nothing to do with landscape. Which was a bit odd because my final assignment was working with a Landscape Architect, and I loved it! While working on that I would go to the beach to study plants, and I’d be collecting things. A ridiculous amount of sticks actually. 

I have a collection of driftwood if you would like it.

Oh I’d have it! But I’d have to get the ok from Michael. It is in our marriage vows though. He did promise not to say anything about me collecting things.

Ha! Smart woman.

So I’d finished my undergraduates and was in a state of “What should I do?”. My lecturer was like, “Why don’t you do your masters, do a lot of study on biomimicry and anything that’s different to you.” One of my assignments for my masters was on Crystal Waters near Maleny, which is all about natural living. You could build anything out there & no one would bat an eyelid. I went into the funnel of reading all about sustainability. I loved what I studied but it wasn’t in the main stream. 

Due to Michael’s job opportunities we ended up here. [Toowoomba] It was close to Mum & Dad, I’m not really a city person & we’d done the beach stuff. It was a real fork in the road, to either [apply for] Graphic Design work at the uni or be a Graduate Architect here. I did put in a couple of architecture job applications but I found if they ever got back to me I’d ignore it. You know what I mean? When I was offered a Graphic Design position at the uni I felt much more confident to give it a go. It was a great way to get my skills back.

At home Michael would be asking, “What are you doing with all this stuff?” One day I finally painted on a driftwood stick & gave it to my boss. He was like, “Did you paint this?” To which I said yeah of course, and that he could have it. He said, “You should do more! I’ve never seen anything like this.” He really pushed me to do that and I’m really thankful to him because if he hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have continued. So I gave him that stick. He said, “Are you sure? It will be like the unsigned Van Gough. I have her first piece!” Which was quite funny.

After that I’d bring pieces into work. Seedpods I’d collected on walks with my son, trying to survive [early motherhood]. Then I started collecting more and more and more. And started painting them. I didn’t ever think about it as I’d always just had them there. My family were saying I should do something with this, so I started a page. 

And here you are, selling your art. 

Yeah, though I don’t think of it as trying to sell. I think that’s what I struggle with. Having to make sure to make money. It’s lovely because people want to buy, but I don’t always want to sell them. I’m hoarding them. Recently I had a lovely lady over asking about buying various pieces. I had to say I’d allow her to buy one, but to give me time to let the other ones go.

Separation anxiety?

[Laughs] Yep. The first one that I sold was to the owner of a local yoga studio. When I went back to see it months later it was weird. It was mine but it wasn’t mine anymore. It’s a weird thing. That’s why I’m still hoarding. And that’s why I’m doing the prints. I can accept letting the prints go. 

Your print collection is a huge step for your business. How has that process felt? And how have you turned your seedpods into prints? 

I think the prints have only literally come about because people, this sounds bad, but because people have been hounding me to buy a seedpod and I’ve been quite stubborn with not wanting to. I’ve worked with others and now I’ve started taking photos, arranged flatlays (that’s an old uni skill, product flatlays) and because they look “real” people have been ok buying that. But the prints are only because of me being stubborn.

Well that worked really well. Maybe you should continue being stubborn.

Anything I do has come from people asking. I’ve been asked when I’m doing textiles as someone would like to buy a dress. Then a friend who makes dresses asked, “So when am I doing a dress for you?” Then I had my best friend ask for earrings like the ones I’m wearing. But I just had them made for myself! So a lot of these creative things I just do for me, and people are amazing because they like and want that. 

And you’ve been cultivating quite the online community. As your work & platform are growing, how do you feel?

It surprises me honestly. I feel good because I think the difference between my art & maybe any other art is that people send me seedpods. It’s an interactive community. It’s not just that people are viewers. I’ve had a lady from America send me seedpods. Portugal, seedpods. They’ve asked me to paint them. 

Do you send them back?

I sent the lady from Portugal her seedpod back. I’ve also had some come from the UK. 

There are such unique qualities to each species. Would there be seedpods from around the world that you couldn’t otherwise get your hands on?

I will say we’re incredible lucky in Australia. We have about 85% of the best seedpods. Being Australia, being arid, our seedpods are made to last. Whereas the majority of places, not all, but most others have quite brittle or frail seedpods. Or they break down really easily. Whereas some of our seedpods have to withstand fire. Like that one there [gesturing to seedpod collection] only opens when burnt. I think that is so beautiful, almost like a phoenix. 

So that’s what I love about my art. People send me things. Most of them don’t want anything, even though I offer to pay for postage or freight. But they just want to see what I do with them. 

When you pick a seedpod, where do you start and where do you draw inspiration from for your unique patterns? 

It’s really hard to answer, that question. [Laughs]

Sorry you probably get it a lot.

No! It’s just that I have so many seedpods. You can ask Michael, I’ll just be staring at them. Just looking at their qualities and their textures. They’re all unique but they’re also very alien. Half of these things you would have seen, but because they’re on a tree or they’re discarded you don’t necessarily take the time to look at them.

There are definitely some here that I remember standing on at some point, or think that one’s hit me in the head before. But the majority of what you have on your desk, if I’ve seen it before I couldn’t tell you where or when, or what tree it comes from. 

Isn’t that refreshing to go, “We have this? And I’m just not looking hard enough!” 

It does come to me, the designs. I struggle to paint anything too rigid. There have been times when I’ve gone out of my comfort zone & tried something geometric but biomimicry is all organic, always flowing. I think that’s why I like circular things. Anything geometric has too many rules.

Do you think your study of biomimicry is directly responsible for you engaging with seedpods in an artistic way, rather than just appreciating them in their raw form? 

I don’t think I would have taken the time… That’s why I don’t think they are wasted degrees. I would have just thought they were pretty. But because I had to study biomimicry in all the theory, all the principles, all the examples and actually do architectural designs on them I learnt how hard it is to replicate nature. How hard it is to make something look “natural”. One of the principles within nature is odd numbers for example, which does translate to design. So most of the dots or the lines that I paint will be grouped in odd numbers. I think by having that foundation I was more comfortable doing this because I knew what looked natural. But it’s very hard to make something look unordered because humans by nature put things in boxes. So you’re fighting your instinct. 

Personally I sit back in awe and watch as your practice grows, and you’re growing as a mother at the same time. You’re growing your business as well as your husband’s business. 

I’ve wanted to give up many times!

How has becoming a mother changed or inspired or directed you?

I can say 100% the only reason I have done as much as I’ve done is because I’m a mum. Not because they give me inspiration, no. They give me, “You need to get this done now otherwise you cannot.” With uni assignments for instance, I could not do it until last minute. Now really you have 10 minutes where they go down everyday, and you will have 10 minutes. You have to get something out. Usually that pressure would be too much, but I used to do creative exercises where I’d grab a seedpod and one paint colour or three paint colours, think of dots, and that was all I was going to use.

I did that so often that now I don’t feel the pressure. It’s almost like, you’re lucky to get this brief moment in time so let’s use it. Whereas before having kids I’d have the whole day. I wish I was this productive before kids, but I don’t think you have that drive. 

It’s nice to hear everyone’s take on that question, because everyone has felt motherhood in a different way. 

I think when they get older it will be nice. I collect seedpods with my son and can actually see now his interest in it. It brings a different level to it. If we’re going for a walk he’ll make me stop, get a seedpod that I haven’t even seen. He’ll be like, “Seeeed pod. Mumma. Paint? Nice.” 

That’s beautiful!

Yeah! Or I’ll have brought prints home to show Michael and he’ll go, “Wow wow Mumma draw!”

I get the sense that your painted seedpods are only one part of your plan. Where are you hoping to take Hello Chelsart next? 

I’m really hoping to get into textiles to be honest. If you ask any of my friends they’ll say I’ve only seen Chelsea not in a dress maybe once a year. Maybe. I love dresses. I think it’s more a laziness factor because it’s only one piece of clothing. I’ve always loved pattern design, and that comes from graphics. I used to create patterns for some of my assignments. I would mock up patterns intended for fashion, but they were designs I was never happy with. They just looked like all the rest.

I’ve had a lady approach me who created that pattern there [Chelsea points to a roll of patterned fabric] who said, “I just drew this of your art, I traced over your art & created this pattern.” I was floored because that is exactly what I was going to do, but here she’d done it for me! She said she’d just thought my art would look good as a textile. I think that’s what I’m finding is that everyone who follows me seems to be on the same trajectory. They want dresses, they want clothing or earrings. Wearable art.

That’s beautiful because that’s people saying they would like to take ownership of your art & we are proud to wear it. That’s very cool!

It quite literally floors me. Mum actually says when I get into painting I enter this zone. I look at my art even and sometimes think, “Who painted that?” It’s alien even to me. I think it’s pretty but I can’t even remember drawing it. I think that’s why I got into it. In all the chaos of everything, that was my control. 

Do you have a favourite seedpod?

That’s like asking if I have a favourite child! Do I have a favourite seedpod? Some days I love the white and gold because of their simplicity. Other days I love the iridescent crazy one. Some days I hate it. But I think I’m allowed to do that, because that’s what makes me paint different looking art. 

Make sure to follow Chelsea on Instagram and check out her website hellochels.art to purchase selected seedpods and her incredibly accessible range of prints.