Meet Tracey Hayes | Artist & Illustrator

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

Hi Tracey, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Ever since I was a small child, I loved to draw. Creating and making things brought me such joy. When I was dreaming of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I thought of all of the things I loved – animals and art. I realized if I were to become a veterinarian, I would have to say goodbye to many animals and my heart couldn’t take it, so I decided to go to art school. I absolutely love what I do. I love working with authors and other clients to bring their vision into reality. I love to look back on older work and see how I continually improve. I also teach art classes to children and love to inspire them and show them new things. I often hear people talking of their retirement plans, but personally, I never want to retire. I love what I do, it’s so fulfilling. My heart is full as long as I’m creating.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I went to school at the University of Victoria where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I feel like there weren’t as many opportunities for artists back then, or at least if there were, there was no guidance pointing us in the right direction, so I wasn’t sure what kind of work I would qualify for or where to start, all I knew was that it had to be art related. So, I decided to think about it and to go travelling and see the world, I spent a couple of years in Asia, travelling and teaching English. When I came home, I had had an idea. I had always loved watching Walt Disney growing up, so I decided to go back to school and learn classical animation and MAYA (3D). When I started school, I was overwhelmed with the talent of all of my classmates. It was a bit daunting for me as growing up I was always the best (or maybe second bet) artist, but here I felt like I was definitely in the bottom 10%. This inspired me to work really hard and throw everything into it, and it worked. At the end of the program, I was hired, and continued my career for over 15 years while many others did not. Our class was a special class as we worked together as a team to help lift everyone’s skills rather than compete against each other. That is how I like to collaborate with my clients. We work together to continually improve the work. If someone can spot something that I might’ve missed, I’m happy to keep working on it and constantly growing as an artist. When I finally reached a top role where I was in charge of a team, the job became more about managing artists rather than doing the work myself. It was a this point, once I was ‘off the tools’ that I began to miss ‘creating’ I had a long commute at the time on a fast ferry in Australia, so I purchased my first IPad Pro and began to take online classes in illustration and I started drawing again. When we moved home to Canada, I decided it was time to do what I was meant to do and always dreamed of. I would start my own company and do all of the things I loved once again. Everything started falling into place and I began painting murals, illustrating children’s books, selling my fine art paintings, design work as well teaching kids art classes and adult workshops. My business has been growing and many clients had come back to work with me again. My heart is full.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We live in West Vancouver near Horseshoe Bay. It is a beautiful area with lots of beaches, nature trails and local mountains that are great for snowboarding/ skiing. When we moved back to Canada, my partner renovated an old concession stand near the beach and created a beautiful restaurant called the boat shed. It was inspired by the style of restaurants in Australia, fresh and bright with the kind of feeling of being on a holiday steps away from sandy Ambleside beach. It has become a hot spot on the north shore, and is now one of 3 popular restaurants, with a 4th on the way, all with amazing views and settings. The shed at Cypress mountain is a shipping container converted into a restaurant with a wood fire pizza oven and is set on a beautiful grass field with a vantage point overlooking the ocean. The orchard is located on a golf course which overlooks the apple valley hole with the ocean in the distance. Many of our regulars have told us how they’ve visited all 3 locations in one day.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to thank PJ Hartenaus and Kelly Scrima @whistleslickpress for nominating me for this interview along with their collaboration on many projects and great feedback that has helped me to grow as an illustrator as well as all of the other amazing authors and clients I’ve worked with on my journey. I’d also like to thank my family for believing in me, supporting me and my daughter Sienna for her 100% honest feedback 🙂

Website: www.traceyhayesart.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/traceyhayesart

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tlhayes/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/traceyhayesart

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TraceyHayesArt