About

Kaye Gilhooly - The Goddess of Colour

It’s hard to write about yourself and what makes YOU, who YOU are. I look at what makes me, Kaye Gilhooly tick, what excites and inspires me, what really gets my juices flowing and guess what? Its colour! (Travel too, but that is full of colour!)

Colour in art, architecture, fashion, interiors, accessories, nature, people, craft, mosaics, environments, civilisations, gardens, the list goes on. I like to create in many mediums and live in my own “shrine to colour” in beautiful Tasmania.

As you will see, I have an insatiable need to try new things and have never been one to shy away from hard work. This has taken me on many adventures.  They have all shaped and expanded my education in the art of colour and brought much joy with their experiences.

In the beginning…

I, Kaye Gilhooly (originally Kaye Scott) have always been arty and crafty as some would put it. My grandmother was a dressmaker and taught my sister and growing up in the 60’s and early 70’s, how to sew. We would go with her to the shops and find garments we liked and try them on. She would quickly turn the garment inside out and frisk its seams, darts and hems while making excited comments. The next minute we would be rushing out the door and into the local fabric shop to buy fabulous fabrics then rush home and make it. I would always have what was in fashion but at a fraction of the cost!

I grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales, an industrial town by the beach. My mother was a reasonably successful surrealist painter and my father, while selling insurance by day, taught in the evenings at the local Technical College silver and pewter jewellery making.

The High School years…

I ran a few little businesses from the start of high school. One was making and selling bikinis and board shorts. As I loved swimming and the beach it made sense for me to have an array of original bikinis to wear. With lace up sides and very little fabric they soon became a hit and I was adorning many a beach goer. Even if they fell off when you dived in the surf I could always ensure complete originality, and maximum impact!

I then went on to make Batik lace-up pants for a local shop. Some of you may remember these and how challenging they were to get in and out of! They were also challenging to make…I might add!

Then came “Wizard Cottage Crafts”, a little business I had with my mother. I would go around to the local upholsterers and ask them for scraps of upholstery fabrics and then patch them together to make large floor cushions and add beads and embroidery to make handbags and clutch bags. Along with the jewellery we created and ceramic bowls I threw on my potter’s wheel (yes, I still love ceramics) we supplied local galleries and craft shops.

Art School…

All this eventually led me to Art School to do an Art Certificate majoring in Printmaking and then onto University for a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts with a major in Textiles. Here I honed my skills and techniques and furthered my knowledge of art and craft history. These were very exciting, creative years where I indulged in the many excesses that Art School provided!!

The wonder of travel…

Being the crazy woman that I am, I embarked, after finishing Art School, on my bicycle to travel the world, by pedal power with my then boyfriend, Paul (now husband). This started a new wave of fascination and love affair with travelling, which I still have and can never truly satisfy. On my bike, I only had room for 2 sets of clothes, both very practical, drab and very boring.  After 8 months on my bike and on arrival back in Australia, I exploded into colour, I went wild. My need to wear and create with colour was insatiable. The more outlandish and crazy the outfits the better I felt. I just let my hair down and went for it!

  

A business was born….and then another one!...

Kaye Scott Designs was born in Sydney originally making one of a kind statement pieces for a high end fashion store in The Rocks. My designs later evolved into a range of bright patchwork and appliqued clothes that I sold to stores across Australia for many years. I exhibited my garments in exhibitions and participated in numerable fashion shows until one day, stressed out and in debt I realised I had to stop. I had lost the zest, the inspiration and the energy to continue in the fashion industry and to keep up with the relentless need to produce new designs 12 months in advance.

   

I wanted to try something new so, I made biscuits…why not! The Yummy Biscuit Company burst forth with an explosion of colour supplying specialty gift boxed shortbread for David Jones Food Halls around Australia, turn down gifts for major hotel chains and corporate gifts for large corporations and businesses (The Present Situation).

For ever in the pursuit of new ways to create with colour Plate A Puss Park was born in 1995. From a stall at The Rocks Market in Sydney, every weekend for many years, I sold my hand-painted plates, trivets and teapots to customers from all over the world. “The Bondi Series” was particularly popular!

A new journey….

Sometime later, life took a major turn and with it we left Sydney and moved to Tasmania where we lived in a small country town, in the Huon valley for 7 years. We grew vegetables, enjoyed time with our young daughter, shared ideas with a fantastic creative community and renovated a very run down weatherboard house built in 1912.

I enrolled in a correspondence Design Course with The International School of Colour and Design (ISCD) in Sydney and travelled up for regular workshops until it was completed.

The change was revitalising. I had pent up creative energy and needed an outlet! Our home became a riot of colour. No surface was left white. We worked our guts out establishing a huge garden bursting with flowers of every hue. The colour, and the process, lifted our spirits and made us happy.

I was then hired by an international fabric company based in Melbourne to work in their Hobart showroom. Surrounded by lots of luscious fabrics from all over the world was very inspiring and to discover new colour combinations, styles and designs was exhilarating! In my spare time I made mosaics out of smashed plates and tiles I collected from garage sales and tip shops and proceeded to cover anything and everything.  I have continued in this vain ever since!

    

And now…

We have since moved to Hobart where we are transforming our home and garden into our latest shrine to colour….it’s looking fantabulous! It’s an eclectic mix of much loved furnishings against a backdrop of strong exciting colours. The garden is always in a constant state of evolvement and adornment. Sculptures, walls and fanciful furniture sit side by side with fruit trees and vegetables.

These days you will find me immersed in my diverse interests of sewing, drawing, making mosaics or tapestries, gardening or playing my saxophone while engaged in fabric, interiors or soft furnishings. Or, I could be working on all of these at the same time!

Colour has wrapped its strong arms around me all my life. I have found it comforting, exhilarating and inspirational. It has enhanced my life in so many ways and I have reaped its many rewards. It can do this for you!

Kaye xx

Kaye Gilhooly - The Goddess of Colour