Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A community art class gave a creator a chance to hone her skill and share it with others.
Stephanie Hillman began taking art classes at the Petersen Art Center in Sugar House in high school. In 2006, they asked her to teach a children’s art class.
“The art center has definitely been the foundation for my education in art, and there are so many amazing people there who have inspired me and helped me grow as an artist over the years,” Hillman said. “It is the place where I found my passion for pottery and watercolor, and the reason I am still able to produce my art today.”
Hillman said she doesn’t think a person can simply decide to be artistic, but it requires a certain amount of commitment.
“I have a constant need in my mind to always be creating. A few days without art and I feel incomplete,” Hillman said. “Art is where I find my joy; everything that I create is just a little piece of me that I can show to the world.”
Stephanie Hillman
Desiring to become a full-time artist, Hillman said she has been working a day job in addition to teaching her classes, in between creating new pieces of art. She works out of the Petersen Art Center at the moment, but is in the process of raising money to buy her own kiln and pottery wheels to further her desire to make art her job. Hillman sells her work at shows and fairs like Craft Lake City, where she will have a booth later this summer.
Pottery, ink drawings and paintings are her primary focus.
Inspired by nature, other artists and sometimes her own dreams, Hillman said her greatest source of vision comes from her emotions.
“I pull a lot of inspiration from hard times in my life, and my artwork acts as that personal outlet for me to escape and pour those emotions onto a piece of paper,” Hillman said.
In the summer, Hillman heads up to her mom’s house, where she has a pottery wheel set up.
“It’s really great to go out there, open up the barn doors to the garage, pull out my wheel and throw pottery in the sun while I hang out with my dog and drink iced tea,” Hillman said.
She said she doesn’t necessarily create art with the intention of sharing it with anyone else.
“I am proud of most of my art, even the work that I don’t love because I can see the progress that I have made over the years and I have a connection with each piece,” Hillman said. “But the piece that I am most proud of is my self-portrait. I was going through a very hard time when I created that piece. When I was done I remember feeling so much emotion, but I had gone from feeling overwhelmed and upset to feeling so happy and at peace with everything just through what I had created.”
Amanda is a writer and pop culture fanatic who studied journalism at BYU. She has written for a candy store, a US Senator, Deseret News, an art museum, Entertainment Weekly magazine, a beauty company, KSL and several artists and musicians. Find her on Twitter @amandataylor88.
