Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloë Stewart.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I have a spiritual soul and an imaginative spirit who loves to create art and to love people through their suffering. I have graduate from the University of Houston with a Bachelors of Painting. Since, I have worked in the nonprofit sector incorporating my artistic skill into everything I do. But currently I am working as an Artist & going to Graduate School at Houston Baptist University. I am passionate about working with homeless, sex-trafficked, mentally ill and at-risk children who have never been exposed to the joys of art.
However, my paramount love & passion is creating visual art in my studio. I am an Artist. A Painter.
I am going to describe my work.
I am a practicing painter. I am also versatile sculptor. My paintings have a spiritual undertone. Many of my paintings have an element of my perception of the Creator, heaven and a realm that most people can’t or won’t imagine. I like to paint heaven. As I see heaven, I paint bright colors. My angels do not look the typical as Leonardo DaVinci, or as other artists depict. I have an alternate and special view of a spiritual perception. I find beauty in an alternate perception.
Along with this heavenly perception; I incorporate today’s world, trials and tribulations of everyday life. My art is about disabilities, depression, homelessness, addiction, domestic violence, and an ability to attain peace, serenity and recovery from the hardships of my life. People who struggle with these tribulations; relate to my art.
It has been evident that my style of painting is a balance of letting the Creator channel my energy into creating a beautiful happiness, but yet I can also express deep darkness in my works of art. I have a strong connection to my God. I use my relationship to convey feelings and my messages of either good, or dark evil attached with a silver lining. ‘Hope’ is what I call it. The light at the end of the black tunnel.
Maintaining a spiritual balance is important to me. I study life through seeking God. Not just through religious terms, but by what the creator throws at me during my life. My painting is a chronology, a diary. A chronicle of diary pages- as a person recovered from homelessness, disabilities, mental health conditions, addictions and domestic violence.
Sharing my experience, strength and hope with others through my paintings; this is part of my life story. It is my spiritual mission. Not only to help others through art, but to live through art as a sign that you can overcome anything!
Recovery is possible especially if you follow the creator’s will and live outside yourself. The creator to me, or God is the good in life outside & inside yourself. I lead a healed, happy, healthy life now. Before I grew close to the creator through creating art, I did not have to a healthy spiritual balance; my life was a chaos. I was not happy. I was lost and did not know what direction to go. Now I am free to create. This is my testimony.
I have lived in a few different countries and traveled the world with my parents. We are half Scottish and half English. I have lived in the Netherlands several times and took it upon myself to study art independently as a teen. My exposure to art history started when I was 7 years old when I lived in The Netherlands. I frequented the art museums as soon as I was old enough to go outside the house without my parents. I lived in New Orleans during my pre-teen years and was involved in studying at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA).
I am an immigrant of the United States. The country on my passport is Great Britain. But I am so involved with the United States, that I do not consider myself British. Since I moved to The United States when I was 11 years old I have consecrated myself an American. I feel at home and myself in this amazing country.
Most my family live in the surrounding London area. I also have family who are or were based in Cambodia, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, and Bulgaria. When my sister was alive her permanent residence was the Netherlands.
I am a pioneer of sorts and live without absolutely any family in The United States. I love The United States. It is now my permanent residence and home. My opportunities are boundless here. I have applied for my US passport. I am waiting for the verdict.
As a child my parents liked to call us ‘global nomads’ as we did not stay in one country for more than 4 years. My father worked in geological exploration for Shell Oil. He had his mind set to be a Geologist, as a child and obtained a PHD in the United Kingdom.
I have the parallel mindset and have dreamed of being an internationally known artist since I was a child. After my recovery from domestic violence, many other mental health and learning disabilities- I am doing exactly this. One of my goals I am currently working on is achieving a Masters of Fine Arts from Houston Baptist University. I am reaching my goal of being an internationally acclaimed Artist, who cares about others. I just want to help, through my art.
During the past 7 years, I have overcome homelessness, depression (bipolar and Schizoaffective), alcohol addiction, domestic and sexual violence. I am seven years sober. I have grown into a successful person, in recovery, who leads a happy healthy life.
One experience that is central in my body of work is a traumatic experience I had four years ago. When I was twenty-seven, I met a man online. I was living in London in Europe. I found myself unwillingly trafficked back to the united states by him. I was spiritually, sexually, physically, mentally and emotionally abused in a coerced marriage to a man whom I had barely met. The court of law called it domestic violence but it was more than that. I was held hostage in a small house for a year. I developed Stockholm Syndrome.
He would threaten to kill me if I made art. So, I painted in the attic and hid my work in plastic under the house. I still have injuries from the beatings. It took me three long years to break free from this situation. When I finally got my plan together in 2013, I escaped to a domestic violence shelter and was homeless for five months. The people at the shelter cared for me. I made art there and gave them as gifts to the social workers. Thanks to their help I am now on my feet and stronger than ever. The shelter was The Houston Area Women’s Center. I want to have a fundraiser for the shelter in the future.
I paint about this horrible experience in my body of work. I am thankful for my life, because I know I would have been killed me should I have stayed any longer. God protected me and held me close. The majority of the 60+ paintings in my portfolio I have made in the past four years, since I have been in the free world. I salvaged one painting, which he ran over with his sports car. It is named “Solving Puzzles for PTSD”. It was featured on Voyage online.
I paint for my life. I need to paint because without painting I die. I lose hope entirely. I know this as when I got scared of my ex’s violence and stopped painting, I wanted to die. My soul is dead without the spiritual practice of art. I must paint or I die.
My horrible life experiences are channeled into good. I use them to help others. My work benefits others. I have been an Art Therapy Specialist working with groups of sex-trafficked teen girls, homeless young children, children in foster care and mental health facilities, and teens suffering from HIV and AIDS. These are very humbling experiences.
Art is a blessing. Art is a healing tool. I made an impact by involving myself in their worlds, channeled in by color, texture, content and the emotional expressions they made in their art. I could read what they were going through by just looking at their masterworks. I know how they feel and what they have gone through from my life experience.
For some children just putting pen to paper was an accomplishment. When you go through the turmoil of trauma as a child your ability to express yourself or even just be a child, is stolen from you. When you have an outlet, the world is brighter and more bearable. I want to make an impact on lives. I make impact through art.
With my passion for people, my creative connection with our creator and my ability to overcome adversity I know I will be a successful artist. There are no boundaries in my art. The creator gives no boundaries.
In my art work, I concentrate on where the creator takes me. I paint with the wisdom and guidance of his kind hands holding my hand, and my hand holding my brush. Together we paint in union. God is the ultimate Artist. I know impossible dreams come true. Despite the tragedies of life itself, people can heal. If healing has happened to me. Healing can happen to anyone. You are not alone.
Please tell us about your art.
My intent ideas: mental illness, domestic violence, recovery, stigma, stereotypes, spiritual perceptions and a hope, a solution rooted in spirituality. I document my emotional struggles with trauma, depression, recovery and surviving domestic violence. All of my work has a spiritual undertone. My true root in the creator has lead me to this place of serenity, gratitude and I am dedicated to showing his love through my work.
Currently I use bright colors, energy, texture, imagination, facts, emotion, multimedia, found objects, gestural figure drawings, emotive portrait facial expressions, symbols with an underlying spiritual message. I incorporate this with my work on domestic violence and mental illness. The subject matters overlap. There are no boundaries in my art.
It can be controversial in today’s culture to speak out about living with a mental illness. I am a survivor and ‘thriver’ of mental illness. I am happy, despite the neurological problem I have been born with- mental illness. I know that anybody can recover. I have overcome learning disabilities. A psychologist told me at seven years old that I would never read. I can read and write very well. I am a survivor of domestic violence. I am alive, recovered and strong. I have recovered from addiction. I am over seven years sober and hold a position on the Board of Trustees of a recovery center. We can achieve anything with if we put the work in. I just want to influence people. I want them to know they are not alone.
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I think we should shy away from the idea of the “poor starving artist” being described the ultimate true artist. You know- like the artist like Van Gogh who died without knowing the power of his art. It is a tragedy. True artists stay true to their work no matter what the circumstance of life is. Yes, he was an ultimate and true artist. But tragedy did not have to be his fate. In fact, if there was ample medical treatment available during his time, like there is for me in this century. He would have known the power of his work. He would have been able to actualize the power in his mind.
If you are an artist;
Know the power of your work. Strive for helping others through the content of your art. Now, that is power- helping others. Find many outlets to help the community through your art. The only reason we were created is to help each other.
What I want for our City, Houston;
MORE improved arts education in HISD schools to encourage teens to have an emotional outlet for anger and pain. This means more funding. In Houston, HISD does not exemplify Fine Art, especially in under-served areas of our city. For instance, in my current home base, where I live and work- Northside and 5th Ward the quality of education in general is appalling. More non-profit arts-based community centers, parks and galleries are needed in under-served areas like these. Funding for the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department; to build more community centers in Northside and 5th Ward with arts-concentrated teen programs would be amazing!
I am also in the business of keeping at-risk kids out of situations where drug abuse, physical violence, gangs, teen pregnancy and hunger prevail. My second job is working for the City of Houston at Moody Park Community Center, with at-risk under 13 years of age children.
However, there are rarely teen after-school / summer program in most of these City of Houston community centers, located in under-served areas. It is a problem in Houston. We have to keep our teens out of trouble. I think numerous community centers providing multidisciplinary Arts, plus structured sports like Soccer & Basketball are the answer to keep them out of gangs, drug abuse, sex-trafficking, teen pregnancy, and future generations of poverty. We need to pay attention to the next young teenage generation. We need to take care of them. Just remember, will run our country The United States- one day very sooner than you can imagine.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
There are several ways you can see my paintings and other works of art:
-Instagram: www.instagram.com/unicornartstudios
-Facebook: www.facebook.com/chloe.helen.stewart
-Website: chloeartstudio.com
-My graduate student studio: (at Houston Baptist University), when the Fall semester starts in August 2018.
-Email me to make an appointment to see my work at my home studio.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chloeartstudio.com/
- Phone: 2099924563
- Email: chloeartstudio@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unicornartstudios/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloe.helen.stewart
Image Credit:
All Chloë Stewart’s work. However, two are a collaboration between myself, and Emmanuel Nuno Arámbula. It is the painting without a face, there is lots of glitter on it and it is abstract. And the very last one that was uploaded. I highly recommend him.
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
