How I Got Here: Australian artist and designer Shannon Heath on the value of curiosity and creative thinking
WORDS BY CAIT EMMA BURKE
“Curiosity is key. Be a sponge. Be authentic. Don’t let the sea of other creatives on social media engulf your spirit or dull your sparkle.”
Have you ever stalked someone on LinkedIn and wondered how on earth they managed to land that wildly impressive job? While the internet and social media might have us believe that our ideal job is a mere pipe dream, the individuals who have these jobs were, believe it or not, in the same position once, fantasising over someone else’s seemingly unattainable job.
But behind the awe-inspiring titles and the fancy work events lies a heck of a lot of hard work. So what lessons have been learnt and what skills have proved invaluable in getting them from daydreaming about success to actually being at the top of their industry?
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Welcome to How I Got Here, where we talk to women who are killing it in their respective fields about how they landed their awe-inspiring jobs, exploring the peaks and pits, the failures and the wins, and most importantly the knowledge, advice and practical tips they’ve gleaned along the way.
This week we speak to artist and designer Shannon Heath. Growing up, Shannon always had an obsessive love of art and went on to study design at university. After graduating, she knew she wanted to put her skills to use in the fashion industry and landed her first full-time role with a streetwear label.
Over the next decade, she worked across Australia and the USA designing accessories and apparel for a host of impressive brands, and while living overseas worked as the Design Director at Nike. Now back in Australia, she recently had her debut Australian solo show at Rainbow Studios. Below, she shares what she’s learnt along the way.
What do you do and what’s your official job title?
I am an artist and a designer. My last full-time role was Design Director with Nike in the USA. We relocated back to Australia during the pandemic, and I decided to step away from full-time employment and prioritise my art practice. I’m still a designer part-time and have been working with some amazing Australian brands on a variety of things from apparel design, creative direction and strategy, art direction and trend forecasting. I am also working on an exciting new start-up with my brother.
Take us back to when you were first starting out. Did you study to get into your chosen field, or did you start out with an internship/entry-level role and climb the ladder? Tell us the story.
I studied a Bachelor of Arts in design at university, majoring in graphics, photography and illustration. At high school though, I was a very disciplined painter. I had an incredible art teacher (shout out to Mrs White) who believed in me and taught me so much it was like a crash course to art school. I devoured art and design history at uni and my final year grad project was an illustrative publication accompanied by a soundscape, based on the concept of synaesthesia. Most of the graduates in my course went on to work in advertising agencies but I always knew I wanted to work in fashion or music.
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After graduating from university, I landed my first design role with a streetwear brand. It was an entry-level Design Assistant role, doing everything from apparel design to graphics and production. Fast forward over a decade, I’ve worked in Australia and in the USA designing apparel and accessories for some epic brands working on some insanely cool products and have had the absolute privilege of working with some of the most talented humans and athletes in the world.
While design was my career of choice, my art practice was always woven into my work whether it was creating textile designs from paintings or custom artwork and illustration. I remember one role when I was working with Mambo painting some surfboards for a charity organisation. I remember thinking, ‘How is this work?’.
What challenges/hurdles have you faced getting to where you are now? Can you tell us about one in particular?
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Like everyone in the world, the pandemic had a significant impact on our family’s health and wellbeing. We were living and working in the USA in our dream roles. After nearly a year of home-schooling and working from home, our children were no longer thriving, so we made the call to get back to home soil in Australia to figure out the next steps.
It was during this international relocation and finding our feet back on home soil I made a conscious decision to pull away from full-time design employment and dive head-first into my art practice, which has been both terrifying and exhilarating. There’s no doubt the pandemic disrupted the societal norm of traditional ways of working, so once I accepted this new normal for me, that’s when opportunities started to arise.
It can be easy to stay in the stable comfort zone of having a regular income and a job you enjoy, but it came at the very valuable cost of time spent away from my art practice. It has not been an easy road, in fact, [it’s been] one of the most challenging yet but I’ve learned that without making huge sacrifices, there really isn’t any growth.
What do you want people to know about your industry/your role?
This could be controversial, but I think some people tend to undervalue creative work. A lawyer earning $500 an hour is never a question, but when it’s creative work being delivered people generally have a harder time understanding the value, because they don’t understand the work.
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A common myth is that artists and designers can just whip up work magically. The reality is, things take time and trial and error. Honestly, I am still navigating the art world. Naturally, there is a lot of cross-over with art and design, so I am finding my design experience and skills very useful when it comes to managing the business hustle of my art.
What’s the best part about your role?
Corny but true – I am doing what I love. I feel fulfilled creatively and energetically. The flexibility. I have structured my working week so that I can be present for my young children, which is so important to me. They aren’t little forever. I manage and protect my own time and have created balance with work, home and health and wellbeing.
What would surprise people about your role?
Art supplies are super expensive!! I bought four oil pigment sticks the other day and spent $300. It’s wild. A good brush can set you back $150. That is for ONE brush. Be nice to artists guys! There are no salaries for working artists, so unless you sell work or win a grant or prize, you don’t earn money. Why am I doing this again? Repeat after me, “I love what I do, I love what I do”.
What skills have served you well in your industry?
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Being adaptable, positive and solutions-focused not only helps clear the path for creativity and critical thinking but supports fostering and nurturing professional relationships too. Creative thinking and curiosity are two things that have luckily come quite naturally to me, which I think help a lot in my industry.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a role like yours one day?
You need to be prepared to put in the work. Whether it is in your art practice or putting the time in the studio just creating, pondering and refining your craft. Or as a designer, constantly learning, upskilling, evolving. You need to put the time in and earn your seat at the table. Entitlement will not fly.
Curiosity is key. Be a sponge. Be authentic. Don’t let the sea of other creatives on social media engulf your spirit or dull your sparkle. Back yourself, and just keep going. Be prepared to receive constructive criticism and leave egos at the door. Don’t be stagnant – get out and see the world. Live and experience other cultures because how can you truly creatively problem-solve for a diverse group of people if you haven’t walked in their footsteps?
What about a practical tip?
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Allocate actual studio days and commit to it. Start small, dream big. I always knew I wanted to paint large-scale abstracts, but I didn’t start out doing that. I only had one hour to ‘create’ while my daughter slept so I had pens and watercolours and a drawing pad. And every day I just did one illustration.
Eventually that led to working on larger surfaces which eventually led to having solo shows in the USA. Now, seven years after sketching during my daughter’s nap time, I am about to have my debut solo show in Australia. Things take time. Be patient. Show up.
Read the rest of the How I Got Here series here.
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