Creating Hum XVII: A Journey with Jordy Hewitt
Nestled in Leederville’s vibrant flower district, The Montauk Lighting Co. calls The Townhouse home – a tall, elegant façade that opens into dynamic, ethereal spaces filled with joy, warmth, beauty, and surprises.
It’s an honour to showcase Hum XVII, our latest commissioned artwork to The Townhouse, by West Australian artist and friend Jordy Hewitt. This collaboration beautifully captures our spirit, serving as a fresh symbol and heartfelt thank you to our clients for being a part of our special community.
Here, we chat with Jordy about the inspiration behind her work.
What inspired the themes and feelings behind Hum XVII?
Jordy Hewitt (JH): Gino and Marie commissioned me to create a new painting representing The Montauk Lighting Co.’s feel and its space in West Leederville’s flower district. It has a bustling vibe and is dynamic and feminine yet close to the city action, warm in its own little pocket. We talked about The Townhouse being a sophisticated, cosy, welcoming place, surprising and beautiful with its secrets and treasures. The words encapsulating Hum XVII are joy, light, ethereal, and beautiful.
It has a bustling vibe and is dynamic and feminine...a sophisticated, cosy, welcoming place, surprising and beautiful with its secrets and treasures.
How did you bring Hum XVII to life?
JH: All my paintings are made with oil paint and wax medium, and the Hum series features lots of scribbly marks and lines made with large oil bars, like jumbo crayons. The palette is corals, greens, pinks, blues, creams, mauves, and purple, with small hints of browns, dark greys and blues in the background. It's subdued in its colourfulness; a lot is going on, but there's harmony; it's not overwhelming.
Humming feels appropriate for The Montauk Lighting Co. – it's like a signature; we all have our unique hum. It comes from a happy or busy disposition, but it's not showy or looking for a response; it's just a little buzzing of personality or life. Contentment, confidence, energy, a little glimpse of the bigger song.
It's subdued in its colourfulness; a lot is going on, but there's harmony; it's not overwhelming.
Where do you draw your artistic inspiration?
JH: I create from a personal place and a process that gathers everything to do with my life and the emotional and metaphysical worlds. Western Australia is unique and beautiful - the bright sun and big sky make it very colourful and contrasty. I like to spend a lot of time by the ocean, and our beaches are some of the best.
What is the hardest part of creating a painting?
JH: Releasing expectations and judgment, which is pretty standard in creativity. I get into it and be true, open and explore.
When is your favourite time of day to create?
JH: I'm a morning person. I go to the studio after school drop off and start mixing up a palette. It's very physical and focused, so the painting stint usually lasts 4 hours. I start to lose it after that!
Do you paint from home or a studio space?
JH: I have a studio in the centre of Fremantle/Walyalup. I need a space that remains messy, and I work at scale – my biggest pieces are 210 x 160cm. I have about 25sqm at the moment with drop sheets covering the floor, a big bookcase with all my art books, and a 2-metre-long trolley on wheels with a 1-metre glass palette that I mix paints on. It's not my dream studio yet, but it works; I go in, put my headphones in, and enter the zone. I can’t paint without music.
How has your style evolved?
JH: I have painted for over ten years now. I studied Fine Art and graduated in 2014, but my first show at a friend's house was in 2011, and my first gallery show was in 2013. My style is always evolving and changes every year in some way. It's always shifting, but it's also always distinctively me.
Visit us at The Townhouse to experience the joy of Hum XVII, and explore more of Jordy’s work at jordyhewitt.com or @jordy_hewitt.
Above: The Montauk Lighting Co. founder, Marie Botsis-Premici with artist Jordy Hewitt and her work, Hum XVII - Photos by Jody D'Arcy