Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Webster.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I didn’t set out to start a photography business per se. I was a school teacher and I had just lost both my parents to cancer. I tried to continue to teach for a little longer but knew I needed to do something for myself. I decided to take a year off (ha!) and attended Glassell here in Houston. I never went back to teaching full-time. I realized while working on photography that I had found what makes my heart the happiest and I did anything and everything I could to fill it. Again, still NOT intending to start a business, but I knew that I needed to pursue it further. I didn’t have children yet and I was just putting around trying to pay for all the new equipment I wanted. That was really the beginning of it. Now it’s 10 years later and Three Smudges (the business name) has lost two of the original puppies for whom it was named. I have 2 kids and life has really changed a lot. It’s a real business that I love and spend my time working on and cultivating.
Please tell us about your art.
I am a digital and film photographer. My true love is actually film and that’s where I started. I actually wish I shot more film today and am trying to get more people to do it, but it is expensive. I get that. There just is NOTHING like film. The practicality of digital is amazing as well, especially when shooting families (which is what I mostly do), you can’t deny that. My style is mostly lifestyle and I am trying to move to a more documentary style. That takes time as people don’t always understand or prefer that. I love those black and white photos of families where there are things happening and it almost feels like there was a camera perched somewhere in the room and nobody knows who took the photo or they weren’t paying any attention to it. It’s the heartbeat of a family. Those are my favorites. Those make me stop and look and REALLY see what’s going on.
My artwork… This is tough. Am I a photographer or an artist? I would love to say both but I’m not sure. To say I’m an artist, suggest some level of pinnacle of success. I do not have the confidence or false bravado to say that myself. Maybe I strive for that?
I want people to feel emotional and connected when they see family photos or really any photos I have taken. Whether it’s of them or someone else. They should be relatable on some level but there should (hopefully) be something else there that is just a little bit more. Something that makes you feel just that something extra. Whatever that may be and it could be tied to happiness, sadness, grief, joy, or whatever… just as long as you stop a little second longer and think about it.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
I am so sad I didn’t start on this journey earlier. I was 30 when I finally figured this out. My whole life I had taken art classes- bad ones at a craft store when I was in 3rd and 4th grade and private oil painting classes in middle school as well as your regular art classes as electives. I did take the ONE photography elective in middle school that I loved. In high school it was looped into yearbook and I didn’t want to do that (poo poo on them for that) …
I am NOT an artistic person with a blank sheet of something. It’s actually paralyzing to me. I KNEW in my heart that I was creative I just couldn’t figure out how or why. I needed to do some soul searching and digging and didn’t know where or how.
In college I bought a film camera off a friend who was an architecture major (see where all this is going??) and I putzed around with it. I was desperately trying to figure it out, but I still couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Why someone else around me just didn’t hit me with a 2×4, I do NOT know…. Anyway, whatever it is you are feeling… if you are feeling it- FIGURE IT OUT. Your soul will scream at you until you do.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The best way to see my work is on Instagram: Three smudges. I am on Facebook (same name) or I do have a website www.threesmudges.com . The absolute BEST way to support an artist (anyone really) is to hire them 🙂 This enables them to keep doing what they are doing and the more they work the better they get!!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.threesmudges.com
- Phone: 281-731-9381
- Email: haley@threesmudges.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threesmudges/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threesmudges/
Image Credit:
Three Smudges
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.
