MWH SPOTLIGHT WITH marnie OF marnie higgs art

Welcome to the blog Marnie from Marnie Higgs Art! We’re thrilled to have you here sharing your journey on the MWH Spotlight!

Describe yourself in 3 words 

Enthusiastic, Passionate, Inquisitive.

How do you juggle being a Mum and having a biz?

It's hard! I try to limit time in the study (my art room) while the kids are up, not that I'm always successful!, and have recently started to include my kids in art making so they can “create” at the same time as me!

Tell us about your biz and WHY you do what you do

I paint watercolour paintings, many of them with quite emotive themes around depression, anxiety and hopefulness/optimism. I sell professionally printed giclée prints online and – recently – at markets. It's good therapy for me, a way to let emotions flow and let myself be free. I began painting while in hospital being treated for depression and anxiety, so painting for me is a true outlet and a way of communicating.

If you could go back in time and offer advice to your former entrepreneur-self what would you say?

Concentrate on the MAKING! The business will come if you remember the WHY of why you started in the first place. The drive to create, to build, to paint, to be creative… that's the reason we start these businesses. If we lose sight of the reasons why we began, we lose the enthusiasm and therapeutic benefits of creating something.

What does success mean to you?

Happiness, health and family.

What has been your hardest lesson learned?

Not to get bogged down in the computer / business side, to the detriment of painting. I have forgotten this and learned the hard way that everything for me stems from painting – the business flows from this, and without it, I have nothing but a website and a spreadsheet.

Finish this sentence – If I wasn’t my own boss right now I’d be…

unfulfilled. I love having control of this part of my life again, it's a real rush to be able to create something and see it through from scanning to the website gallery, to having prints made to selling them to customers.

What are you most proud of to date?

Before my website even launched in December, I sold almost 80 prints to friends and family, making December my first (and best!) month of sales to date.

Fun facts about you:

Facebook or Instagram? Facebook
Favourite TV show? I'm more a movie person…
Coffee or tea? Coffee. Always. All the time.
Channing Tatum or Ryan Gosling? Ryan Gosling, especially after seeing him sing, dance and play piano in “La La Land”. Talent is sexy!

A random fact about yourself….

I used to do Marilyn Monroe singing telegrams, bahahaha.

Meet Marnie! 

Marnie Higgs discovered her love of watercolour painting, after buying a $20 set of watercolours and two paintbrushes to take into hospital with her as she was being treated for severe depression and anxiety in November 2016.  After two weeks she picked up the paintbrush and – armed with some ideas from the web – started to paint. Prior to this she had shown no artistic ability, so she shocked herself and her family when she started to produce work after work. Possibly the location, possibly the time in her life, or maybe just for the first time she had something to express… her paintings expressed a whimsical side, and also some very emotive themes.

Website: www.marniehiggs.com
Instagram: @marniehiggs
Facebook: @marniehiggsart