Meet Hailey Hosken | Artist

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

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My journey into being a professional artist has not been super straightforward, and it continues to evolve in ways that I never would have been able to forecast. I’ve always been creative and artistically driven, but had long believed I would end up with a career as an educator or scientist. After growing up in Anchorage, Alaska I went to college in Montana to pursue a degree in Fish and Wildlife Management. I’m fascinated by biology and earth science, but after two years of study I realized that my heart wasn’t in it and needed to make a change. At a loss, I turned to something I had always done—art. So I signed up for the Graphic Design program, thinking this would be a good pathway to a career which could be both financially sound and creatively fulfilling. I graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design from Montana State University in 2016. These days, I am less interested in advertising and branding, but am so grateful for the technical, interpersonal, and business-minded skills I learned during my years in the design program.

For several years after college, I made personal art in my free time while working on freelance graphic design projects and maintaining a full time job to pay rent. I feel very privileged that several years ago I was able to take the step to put more time into my personal work, with the goal of expanding it into a career. Rebuilding my website and online presence was a huge undertaking for someone who is reluctant to be active on social media. I’m still trying to find the balance between sharing content for the betterment of my career and keeping things private for my own mental health.

Eleven years after arriving for college, I still love my hometown of Bozeman, Montana. It’s an outdoor playground with incredible access to beautiful wild places, which are the main inspiration for my work. On the most basic level, I enjoy rendering detailed, whimsical depictions of the wild places I loves most: I primarily paint bright landscapes in watercolor and ink, but also enjoy mixing medias and materials to utilize paper, collage, wood, acrylic painting, gilding, and other techniques. My work brings together the analytical and the organic. For me, getting lost in meticulous detail and linework is like a form of meditation. Living and playing in the mountains heavily influences the content of my work; rendering detailed expressions of the places I’m inspired by allows me to reflect and share. My landscapes reflect the physical beauty of the world around me, but also allow me to consider personal themes involving my connection to others, or to a place. Common themes I’ve been exploring lately with my work include memory, experience, passage of time, and (im)permanence.

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.
I’m lucky to live in a place with so many opportunities for outdoor recreation nearby. Bozeman is one of the main stops for the millions of tourists which make pilgrimage to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks each year. So if you’ve never been, it’s pretty mandatory to make a trip to “the park”, as we say around here. In the eleven years that I’ve been a resident here, I’ve watched my little college ski-town grow tremendously as people migrate to experience their own little piece of the mountain west. While this has its own set of drawbacks, it means that Bozeman has been able to foster a vibrant community of outdoorsmen, ranchers, students, artists, and business professionals alike. If you’re downtown, be sure to check out the multiple art galleries on main street. The Museum of the Rockies is recognized as one of the world’s finest research and history museums, and has extensive collection of dinosaur fossils, many of which have been found locally. Bozeman also happens to have a ridiculous number of breweries. You won’t go wrong, but one of my favorites is Outlaw Brewing. But maybe that’s because I’m proud that my largest painting to date, a 20×5′ canvas, lives upstairs in their balcony.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m lucky to be surrounded by plenty of creative and entrepreneurial people in my hometown of Bozeman, Montana. My good friend and professional freelance writer Maggie Slepian, who wrote the article about our bike trip, deserves a shoutout for her friendship, support, and guidance through the years: https://www.maggieslepian.com

Kaitlyn Webb, who I a refer to as my art bestie, is a talented watercolorist and all-around good human whose work deserves to be seen by more people. Thanks to Kaitlin for your openness and willingness to figure out this “professional artist thing” together: https://www.kaitlinwebbart.com

Website: https://www.haileyelise.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haileyelise.art/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haileyelise.art

Image Credits
Ty Morrison-Heath