Meet Kweeie

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kweeie. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kweeie, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

How did I find my purpose? Well, honestly my purpose kinda found me when everything else pretty much fell apart.
For years, I’d been living my dream as an art educator – lecturing and then running a creative arts department, mentoring others, and basically loving it. I was really good at it, maybe too good and that pretty much became the problem.
Turns out self-confidence can appear to others as a massive threat. The higher I climbed, the more my confidence seemed to rattle a few egos.
The job I’d loved became my worst nightmare. The culture was toxic, a full-on narcissistic boys club with weak women who were happy to crush other women to climb.
Eventually, it broke me. Not because I couldn’t handle the pressure, but because I could. Because I spoke up.
It took me a wee while but that’s when I started creating for myself again. No approval. No show. Just me.
And slowly, colour crept in. Then came the voice. Then came… women. My kweens. Marilyn, Dorothy, Audrey, Nina. Fierce. Iconic. Reflections of everything I’d lived: rebellion, heartbreak, resilience.
Painting them was like a protest and therapy all rolled into one for me. And then it hit me: my purpose wasn’t just about making pretty stuff. It was about taking a stand creating a movement. A movement that screams: “women don’t shrink. women rise, unapologetically.”
So, I walked away. Quit my job, started kweenie from scratch, no clue what I was doing really to be honest. And now I paint so women see themselves, know their worth, and never apologise for being exactly who they are.
That’s my why. That’s my purpose. And honestly? It all started when I thought my life was over, when I tried to make myself small and hide
But there’s something in me that just can’t help but stick the middle finger up at life’s haters.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

The pix might have given me away? But if not I’m an artist, a pop artist.
A lot of the time I think that Pop art gets dismissed as shallow, but every kweenie I create has a much deeper story layered into it. So far it’s pretty much been my own story.
I use bold, playful, symbolic images to tell a story that’s hiding in plain sight that’s raw and real: survival, defiance, love, heartbreak, and healing.
Each of my kweenie’s might look like vintage glamour with an urban edge on the surface, but under it they hold truths that are deeply personal to me… and honestly, probably to most women.
It all started with telling my own story through these women and I’d love to say there was some big master plan but really it just grew. It became something way bigger than me, or any single famous face.
So just now I’m painting the women who shaped me, starting with my mum. Fierce in her own quiet way. Not on billboards, not in magazines, but unforgettable. My goal? To carry her love and her legacy forward.
Eventually, I want everyone to be able to do the same. Commission a kweenie that tells the story of their mum, their sister, their bestie, or anyone who’s been their personal kween, hell it might even be their dog if that’s your vibe!
I don’t think your walls should just match your cushions. They should tell a story. They should remind you where you come from, and who you’ve become.
That’s what drives me: not just making art, but creating a visual legacy of strength, rebellion, and self-worth – one kweenie at a time.
And if it ends up matching your cushions too? bonus…

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

hmmm three things that have been the most impactful in my journey that’s tricky, there have been so many but I would say community has been massive for me.
The day to day of being an artist can be really pretty solitary, so finding your people changes everything. Truthfully, the game changed when I started connecting with others who like got it, if you know what I mean?
Having friends and family who back you is amazing but you also need to surround yourself with people who speak your language (those who are just as delulu as you are, the ones that know your only crazy till it works)
And I don’t just mean other artists, I mean other entrepreneurs, mentors, people who genuinely cheer you on, who want to see you succeed and also remind you who you are when you forget.
I think that rising on your own is lonely and way more difficult!
Another really important quality is resilience. I think it’s like a muscle: you don’t wake up with it, you build it every time something kicks you in the teeth.
For every single thing that works, there are ten (or more!) that fall flat. But that one thing that does work? That’s what keeps you going while you try another ten, and another ten after that.
I’m 100% with Dolly Parton on this one – “If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain.”
I don’t think you have to be fearless, just stubborn enough not to quit.
And the third thing? Learning to get a grip on the way I speak to myself. I know this probably sounds a bit woo-woo and not very business bro.
I’ve actually written about this a few times on my blog ‘cause, honestly, that voice in your head can be brutal.
I gave mine a nice name to make her less of a 1st class scary bish – she’s called Gemma.
She’s that annoying wee voice that sounds like every toxic boss I’ve ever had. She loves to show up right when I’m doing something brave or new, whispering, no shouting “who TF do you think you are?”
I’ve stopped trying to shut her up, instead I’ve rewired my brain – when I say that out loud I sound like a mad woman – honest I’m not.
Basically, I’ve learned to talk to myself like I would my bestie and Gemma has become way more compliant, a wee bit quieter and a lot less outspoken!

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

This is probably the easiest of your questions to answer but also the hardest to put into words that don’t come out all rose tinted and seem over dramatic. To be honest I’m not sure I’ll get to the end of my answer without losing my shit!
So here goes, the most impactful thing my parents ever did was teach me how to love and how to be loved.
Not in some soppy, fairytale kinda way but in the real, messy, loud, unfiltered kind of way that actually shapes you, if you know what I mean?
I grew up the youngest of three girls, so our house was full on, hairspray clouds, borrowed tops, and dramatic strops over missing eyeliner. But underneath all of that noise was big love. We always had each other’s backs. Family was and still is everything to me.
My mum and dad both worked for themselves long before being an “entrepreneur” was a thing.
Our kitchen doubled as Mum’s hair salon, and honestly, that room was a masterclass in womanhood. The women who sat in those chairs were bold, glamorous, full of stories, and completely in charge (whether their men realised it or not). That’s where I first learned that love isn’t quiet, it’s strength, it’s humour, it’s showing up even when things are tough.
Losing both of them, my Mum first, then my Dad literally shattered me. But the love they built into me is the main reason I got back up.
My dad’s old ink business stamp goes into every single kweenie I paint. It’s my wee nod to him. And my mum? She’s everywhere, from the name of my brand to every brushstroke, every crown and every act of defiance.
They taught me that love isn’t about fancy words or grand gestures. It’s about how you show up, how you lift others, how you keep going even when your heart’s in bits.
I completely lost my way before I started kweenie. They say it gets darkest before it gets light or something like that (I never get sayings right, but you know what I mean)
Just by answering this question you’ve made me realise I’m not just painting, I’m passing on what they taught me.
So yep, everything I make now, every kweenie I paint, shows every woman what it is to love and to be loved just as she is…

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