Two generations. Two very different styles. One shared love of painting
Paint Like a Girl is the creative home of mother-and-daughter artists Di Hocking and Justine Spina.
Di paints beautiful, delicate watercolours inspired by the Australian landscape, wildlife and the little moments that catch her eye. Justine's work is rather different. Bold colour, contemporary subjects, plenty of personality and occasionally a little attitude.
We don't always see the world the same way, and our paintings certainly show it. But that's part of the fun.
It made us laugh, it suited us, and it stuck.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
It started with a surprise. And a rather spectacular lack of time.
Di had secretly booked a gallery in Bega for our first exhibition together. A whole year in advance, in fact. She thought it would be a lovely surprise for Justine and encourage her to be brave and exibit her work. The trouble was, she kept it a secret for so long, got busy with life and completely forgot to tell her. Until three weeks before the exhibition. Suddenly there were paintings to finish, an exhibition to organise, a gallery to fill, and we didn't even have a name.
We were just two girls desperately trying to get our act together.
And somewhere in all that chaos, Paint Like a Girl was born.
A LITTLE BIT OF FAMILY HISTORY
Art isn't entirely new to our family. Justine’s sister is a photographer and Di’s mother, Violet Patrick, was also an artist, and we've grown up surrounded by women with their own ideas about life and how they wanted to live it.
We've never really thought of that as anything remarkable. It's just what the women in our family do.
Perhaps that's why Paint Like a Girl feels like such a natural name to us.
ART THAT FEELS LIKE YOU
We think choosing art should be enjoyable. You don't need to know anything about art movements or techniques to know when a painting makes you feel something.
Sometimes it's a beautiful, peaceful landscape. Sometimes it's a face, a splash of colour, a familiar place or something that simply makes you smile.
There's no right or wrong choice. If you love it, that's a pretty good place to start.
After all, it's your home, and your walls should feel like yours.
We're glad you've found us. Come and have a look around.
