We were lucky to catch up with Rebecca Dowman-Ngapo recently and have shared our conversation below.
Rebecca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?
Finding acceptable balance. Balance between my art and my family. Balance between my mental and physical health and the things I want to accomplish. Balance between the types of work I do.
When my daughter was born, I was very focused on being a good mother/parent but I felt myself slipping away. Attending a chance watercolour workshop, I turned to watercolour as a means to reclaim myself and my love for the medium grew and developed from there. Last year my daughter started school, I went from painting 2-3 part days a week to 5 days in between school hours. I’d dreamt about the time when I would have 5 whole days to be creative; however I had to learn how to block out time for weekends, whole weeks and weeks when it was school holidays, or if my daughter got sick. Sometimes I do need to work weekends and nights nearing deadlines, but by keeping my planner close by and taking time to schedule in work and talking with my family, I keep those times to a minimum and make sure I also schedule quality family time during or right after.
My body and mind need to be balanced so getting out for a bike ride, a walk, doing some yoga or heading to the gym is essential, especially if I am sitting painting for long hours. My husband starts work at 7:30am so unless I get up earlier (rarely for this night owl!), my daily exercise falls into my work time as I am on the morning hustle until 8:45am getting breakfast eaten, school lunch ready, hair and teeth done and off to school. In the past I often lived with anxiety, depression and I have chronic pain on the left side of my lower back so the balance has been mentally to let a small bit of my creative time be absorbed for my health and wellbeing. I had to start thinking of that time as just part of my job as without it the other doesn’t work well either.
I had wanted to continue a personal body of work that I had made 2 pieces for previously but work that paid the bills kept getting in the way. I would block out times in my calendar to work on it but then a commission would come in, or the gallery would request some specific work. Thankfully, in 2022 The Artistry Huddle started up, a critiquing group of artists that meet monthly to share work and provide feedback/feedforward. I applied and was accepted so now I am accountable to keep my word to myself and continue exploring my heart art, (alongside the commissions and paid work) experimenting with surfaces and exploring what watercolour can do beyond paper. It is exciting to regularly get out of my studio, create community and share what I’m making and giving and receiving inspiration from fellow artists.
It is an ongoing process but I now feel, for the most part, I am creating an acceptable balance, a give and take between myself, my art and my family. It is in a constant state of fluidity but I have an incredibly supportive husband, monthly accountability dates which I work towards, I schedule fun, meaningful times in school holidays so I book in work around these dates, my daughter comes to exhibition openings and events I am part of. I am hopeful she will grow up seeing there are options that are not just the 9-5 and that being creative and working in a creative field is a valuable contribution to society.
Rebecca, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have always been creative in some way, shape or form. Pattern drafter/designer/sewer, camp counsellor/assistant director, woodworker, teacher, etc I have been very nomadic. In 2017, my daughter came into this world. A new born is all consuming and I was desperate to feel a bit more like my old self so my husband suggested a watercolour workshop he had seen. I had never tried watercolour before as it seemed boring and dull and I had been working with bright acrylics and house paints. However after attending this workshop, which introduced an Asian style of watercolour, I found out how wrong I was and I was hooked, excited by the potential watercolour offered. I set up a corner of our small dining table and snatched 20 min of painting here and there if/when my daughter napped. In 2018 I had my first exhibition at a local gallery titled, ‘While She Was Sleeping’ a nod to my new lifestyle as a mother and artist, a Martist.
Over the years I have developed my practice, inspired by artists such as the late Nancy Tichborne, classics like Egon Schiele and modern pioneers like Ali Cavanaugh. I love exploring surfaces and trying to push the boundaries and expectations of watercolour and I have sought out like minded watercolour communities online, especially during the lock downs of 2020/2021.
It was during the initial lockdowns, with galleries being closed and not feeling so creative, that I realized I had time to explore love of my portraiture. I joined Ali Cavanaugh’s Patreon where she provided regular challenges which nurtured my creativity back to good health. Months later, during a chance conversation with a galley I work with, Welcome Swallow Fine Art Gallery, they presented me with an opportunity to paint a portrait of the amazing Lady June Hillary, the wife of the historical Mt. Everest climbing, Sir Edmund Hillary. LJ (as I fondly call her) quite the tramper herself, was such a joy to get to know and I feel so privileged I was able to paint her portrait which now resides in the Auckland Museum.
Now days I continue to contribute original work, reproductions and cards to the galleries, I stock prints and cards in our local Ōtorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park, a place I used to walk around taking photos of the birds and pushing my daughter in a pram to encourage a nap. I also sell originals, commission, cards and reproductions directly from my website www.somewhereart.co.nz.
Living in such a digital age I realized that although I was always taking photos, I very rarely did anything more with them, and I knew I was not the only one! So now I also offer a commission service where people can send me one of their high quality digital photos and I can transform it into a wall worthy art work. I especially love it when I am asked to create a special piece combining people from different photographs, such as a family member who was unable to be at a special function, people who are separated by time or space or people who have passed on.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I really love being my own boss, setting my own hours and being able to move things around to accommodate my family and my physical needs. Being able to have multiple creative and income streams on the go, for instant teaching kids classes, working on commissions while creating gallery work and my own work including personal paintings, sewing projects and woodworking ideas. I love being able to create special pieces for people, whether it be of a loved one passed, or someone far away. Getting those images off our devices and putting them on a wall as a watercolour – that’s my heart art. Things are always in flux always changing and inspiring and I love being able to do what I do.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Finding a mentor.
In 2021 I was lucky enough to be excepted onto Creative Waikato Elevate Creative Careers Program. It was a free 9 month program arming creative people with skills to help make our endeavors more successful. It helped fill in some of the gaps in my business knowledge while building my skills as a creative. I worked closely with an amazing mentor who helped me set up better organization, habits and strategies that worked for me, my life and my brain. Even basic things I had never gotten like successfully keeping and using a planner, blocking out work time, setting goals and breaking them down into actionable and achievable chunks. Having someone to bounce ideas off and seek guidance was invaluable.
Since the course finished I found other experienced artists and cheerleaders to check in with. I also sought out other free learning like the Rebel Business School Aotearoa, a 2 week in-depth business course. Digital Boost a 12 month course to help with the digital side of my business like social media and websites. The Artistry Huddle, a 12 month peer critiquing course. I feel I am building a network, an ecosystem of knowledgeable people that I can turn to for mentorship in different areas when needed while I expand my income streams within what I do and exploring creative ways to meld what I do into other areas.
I love to keep learning and upskilling myself so that one day I might be in the position to provide mentorship to someone else starting a similar journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.somewhereart.co.nz
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/rebecca.dowman.ngapo_art
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/somewhere.nz/
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rebecca-dowman-ngapo-4043a7179
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@RHDisHERE
Image Credits
Steve Ngapo Rebecca Ngapo