We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kweenie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kweenie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

Would I want a “regular” job?
Let’s just say… I had one. But it nearly broke me.

I spent years in art education, working my way up to the point of running a creative arts department.
On paper, I was winning – climbing high, respected, successful. But inside? I was burnt out, boxed in, and slowly vanishing. The systems were broken. The culture? Even worse. A narcissistic boy’s club enabled by women who’d sold their souls to climb the ranks by stepping on others (you know the type?)

It wasn’t just a job, it was a total soul erosion.

I felt like a ghost in my own life – until I started painting again.
It wasn’t about proving anything. It was about feeling somehow whole again – I don’t know, maybe you’ve felt that too?
It started with colour. Then came the voice. Then came the kweens.
Iconic black and white images of women from history who had lived and lost, loved and rebelled.
They weren’t just muses. They were me.
Each one held a piece of my story – rage, grief, resilience, rebellion.

That’s when the big fuck-it moment hit.
I walked away from the “security” of a job that stole more than it gave.
And I built kweenie from scratch.
A full-time artist, finally painting from the inside out.

So do I wonder what life would be like if I’d just stayed in a regular job?
Of course. Usually when I’m knee-deep in postage tubes, late-night deadlines, or wondering HTF some bit of tech works!
But then I remember:
This life isn’t easy, but it’s mine.
It’s mad, it’s messy, it’s defiant AF – and I’m free!

I didn’t choose comfort I chose freedom and I’d 100% do it again in a heartbeat (but much quicker next time!)

Kweenie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Born of the Sisterhood
I’m the youngest of 3 girls. our house buzzed with big hair, bigger opinions, and major strops over “borrowed” tops and nicked eyeliner, but under the drama was huge love and we always had each other’s backs.
Family was – and still is – everything to me (even when you had to sleep in your favourite jeans for their safety!)

Raised by kweens
My Mum and Dad were both self-employed (back in the days before entrepreneur was the buzzword) our kitchen doubled as mum’s hair salon and was the HQ of a secret matriarchy.
The women in those chairs? glamorous, bold, totally in charge (whether their partners realised it or not)
This is where I learned who really runs the world – girls!

The OG kween
I went to art school and studied Jewellery & Silversmithing. For my degree show I came full circle – right back to my mum’s kitchen, this time creating crowns, tiaras and silver rollers (some with barbs, obvs) that honoured the women who shaped me.
My mum styled the hair for my collection’s photoshoot.
She was the OG kween – styling hair for decades, lifting women from the inside out, teaching me what self-transformation looked like and what a crown really meant!

Loss & Legacy
I became a Mum for the 1st time. And before I could even get my head around it, I lost mine… my Mum died.
Too soon. Too suddenly. None of us were ready!
My sisters and I were all new mums at the same time, juggling everything and figuring out life as we went.
Losing the woman who had been the glue? Your heart doesn’t bounce back from that – not in one piece.
But we rebuilt. slowly, painfully – together!
And then some years later, my Dad passed too (I still swear it was a broken heart)
I don’t know why (maybe it’s ‘cause I’m mad) but I kept my Dad’s wee ink business stamps.
And my sisters and I? We rebuilt again.
‘cause that’s what kweens do. We rise. We rebuild. We stand stronger than ever.

The Career I Loved – until I didn’t
Fast forward: I built a big career in art education, I found myself running a creative arts department, climbing high but feeling low.
Burnout hit hard.
Let’s just say it involved broken systems and the toxic culture of a narcissistic boy’s club with women who enabled them, crushing others to climb. I lost my way – until I started creating again…
I wasn’t trying to please anyone. I was just trying to breathe again.
First came abstracts, then words, then suddenly… women. iconic, black and white images, fierce.
Marilyn, Elizabeth, Dorothy, Nina, Audrey, they weren’t random – they were me!
Each one reflected something I’d lived – and something I was still fighting

The Big F*CK-it Moment
Losing the most precious people in my life, without warning, made one thing crystal clear: I didn’t want to exist – I wanted to LIVE!
I left that toxic job and stepped into the studio for reals and what started as a personal rebellion became a whole kweendom!
I chose art. I chose rebellion, I chose me! (cue Ewan McGregor voiceover, Trainspotting style, and no I didn’t choose the “the big f*cking television” or “leisurewear and matching luggage”)
kweenie was born in that storm.
Not out of grief – but out of fight. Out of refusal. Out of a deep, stubborn belief that women deserve more
Deserve to be seen, celebrated and crowned FFS!

Why kweenie’s are Different
There’s no doubt my kweenie’s will look amazing on your walls, but she’s not just for decoration. she’s got something to say.
Each one is a layered story, a defiant middle finger to the idea that women should be seen and not heard (f*ck that!)
Every kweenie artwork layers bold colour and symbolism with a black and white vintage portrait, crowned like the kweens they are.
The vintage glamour? It’s just the surface. Underneath, you’ll find grief, heartbreak, rage, courage, sisterhood, sensuality and pure f*cking sass!
They are all painted with resilience, revolt and real-life feelings I’d never dared to say out loud before.
And each one holds a secret: my Dad’s wee ink business stamp goes into every kweenie. A nod to him. A piece of my past stamped into every piece of the future.

Long Live the kween
kweenie isn’t just a brand – she’s a love letter to a legacy…
The “K” is my first initial, the “W” is an upside-down “M” for my mum, ‘cause she was the first true OG kween.
She’s my mum’s spirit, my Dad’s work ethic, my sisters’ fire, and my own voice blaring at like a bazillion decibels.
kweenie’s a tribute to the women who shaped us and raised us – fierce, flawed and unforgettable.
This is art that crowns the underdogs, tells the untold stories, and lifts other girls as it rises.
So, if you’ve ever been underestimated? You’re in the right place kween!
Welcome to the rebellion – long live the kweens!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

That artists are supposed to starve.
That selling my work would somehow cheapen it.
That to be a “real” artist, I had to suffer for it and wait to be discovered – probably when I’m 6 feet under!
That’s the toxic myth I swallowed early on, without realising it. And it took me years to cough it back up.

I left art school with zero clue how to actually sell my work. No one taught us that. We were just told: make good art, and maybe one day someone important will notice. But that someone never came knocking.

So, when I did get an opportunity – like a note, at my first post art school exhibition, from Virgin Brides (yes, that Virgin) asking me to get in touch – I panicked and ran. I didn’t feel ready, or worthy, or ‘business’ enough. I thought selling would mean selling out.

It was drilled into us: real artists don’t make things just because they’ll sell.

I once created a more affordable line of jewellery at art school to raise money for a trip – it did really well. But instead of being praised, I was told I’d “sold my soul” for making something people actually wanted. The message was clear: stay poor, stay pure!

But here’s what I’ve unlearned since, it’s been a slow burner but also a game-changer for me:
Artists don’t starve. Not unless they believe they have to.

Selling isn’t shameful – it’s a conversation. It’s an invitation. It’s giving someone something they connect with, something they want. That’s not dirty or desperate – that’s human.

I make work that says what some people don’t dare to. It’s raw, unapologetic, and if it hits home for someone – it’s not a hard sell. It’s a heart match.

So now, I sell without apology and I price with pride.
Because if I don’t value my work, how can I ask anyone else to?

I don’t see selling as icky anymore. I see it as empowering.
And trust me, nothing flips the starving artist myth on its head like building a business around your art.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Pop art often gets dismissed as shallow, but every piece I make has a story layered into it – mine, to begin with.
I use bold, playful, symbolic imagery, but behind every painted collage is something raw and real: survival, defiance, love, heartbreak, and healing.

Each of my kweens might look like vintage glam with an urban edge on the surface, but they hold truths that are deeply personal and universally felt. It started with telling my story through these kweens. But I want to bring that full circle and tell the story of someone who shaped me… my mum. She’s not famous, but she was fierce in her own way. And I want to create a piece that honours her love and resilience the way I honour all the kweens in my work.

Eventually, I want others to be able to do the same. Commission a kweenie to tell the story of their mum, their sister, their bestie, their chosen family, their person – whoever their personal kween is. Because your walls shouldn’t just be pretty and match your cushions. They should say something. They should remind you who you come from and who you’ve become.

That’s what drives me. Not just making art – but creating a visual legacy of strength, rebellion, and self-worth, one kween at a time.

And if my art can do all that and be “pretty enough” to match your cushions then f*ck yeah I’ve reached my goal!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kweeniestudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kweeniestudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556187753893
• Other: Blog: the chronicles of kweenie:
  https://kweeniestudio.com/blogs/news