Hawke’s Bay artist Mollie Howard creates floral-inspired paintings that celebrate nature and motherhood, with her deep passion for the natural world and strong family connections shaping her artistic vision.
A young Hawke’s Bay based artist is weaving the essence of nature, motherhood and creativity into her popular artworks. Mollie Howard, a mother of two, Van and Marigold, and wife to her childhood friend Matt, has found a unique way to channel her life experiences into her art.
Her journey, marked by resourcefulness and creativity, has been influenced by the nurturing environment of her massive extended family. Mollie’s early encouragement to paint and her familial love for various creative pursuits have profoundly shaped her artistic path. Growing up surrounded by orchards and gardens, Mollie’s early connection to plants and flowers has become a core element in her work, influencing both her subject matter and artistic vision.
“I had my son pretty young, so I didn’t finish my art degree,” Mollie shares, reflecting on her unconventional route. “But I use a lot of my experience and bits of life to direct my work. Recently, it’s been the melding of motherhood, homemaking, and the relentless want to create that has been fueling my work, placing little tributes to the daily beauty of motherhood in my pieces. I love seeing all the seasons of life reflected through it as it goes along. I’m pretty excited for this next season in particular!”
Mollie’s artistic style is a delicate dance between the whimsical and the feminine, balanced by a raw, imperfect touch. Her works are rich narratives told through still lifes and landscapes, each piece a reflection of the life phase she’s experiencing. “Real-life experiences are my biggest influence,” Mollie explains. “But also using different mediums like oil pastels and charcoal keeps me pushing for new techniques and ways to work, which I really enjoy.”
Nature plays an integral role in Mollie’s creations. The natural world, with its ever-changing seasons, offers endless inspiration. “I like to structure the feel for my pieces around whatever flower, plant, fruit, or veg I use as my starting point,” she says. Vintage tablecloths and wallpapers, known for their nostalgic patterns, also deeply influence her work, adding layers of history and sentimentality to her pieces.
Mollie’s home and personal style are equally eclectic and influenced by a variety of sources. “My home is heavily influenced by people like interior designer Lucy Williams and poet Tess Guinery. As for my style, it’s pretty all over the place — a little beach, a little cowboy, and a touch of chef Matty Matheson to grunge it up,” she says with a laugh.
In particular, the changing seasons captivate Mollie. “Exploring and trying out new ideas in the summer, cultivating them throughout spring, putting in the work in autumn, taking a step back to reassess and dream in the winter,” she elaborates. The plants and fruits she chooses for her paintings often dictate the direction of her work, with seasonal favorites like sweet peas and stone fruits making regular appearances.
Reflecting on her favorite plants, Mollie mentions nasturtiums and wild strawberries, which evoke strong nostalgia. Wildflowers like violets and sweet peas from the ‘Flower Fairies’ book of her childhood also hold a special place in her heart. Growing up around orchards filled with cherries, apples and stone fruits has left her with a lifelong fondness for fruit trees.
Currently, Mollie and her family are in a transitional phase, embracing a nomadic lifestyle. “We are in the middle of a super exciting life development,” she shares. “While we sort that out, we are nomad-ing around a few different places.” Despite the lack of a permanent garden, Mollie’s past experiences with her garden continue to influence her art. “I grew all the subjects from last summer’s paintings, like pea tendrils, strawberries, aquilegia and cosmos, in an old concrete water trough that we had to leave behind, which was a bit heartbreaking.”
The environment surrounding Mollie greatly affects her creative practice. “For the ease of life, I usually only paint what is around me — what’s blooming or ready in my garden, what colours are growing there, what spaces and views are around me,” she explains. Her time recently spent living on a beautiful farm provided rich material for her work, with its intriguing spaces like an old milkman’s house and the surrounding paddocks and pines.
As Mollie looks forward to new adventures, she is particularly excited about a unique project: renovating a 1980s caravan to live in from this summer onwards. “We’ve just sold off/packed up basically our whole life to fit into approximately 12ft worth of space,” she reveals. “Both Matt and I are so excited to see how this affects how we treat the space around us outside, as well as the practical elements while we work towards off-grid life and still raising kids, painting, and working agriculturally for Matt.”
Mollie’s journey is one of continuous growth, much like the seasons she so beautifully captures in her art. Her ability to intertwine the themes of motherhood, nature and creativity speaks to her resilience and unwavering passion. As she and her family embark on this new chapter, her story is influenced by embracing life’s seasons and the beauty they bring.
