In conversation with artist, Narjia Brownlie

Narjia Brownlie is an emerging Australian painter based in Toowoomba, Queensland. Both Narjia’s artistic & personal styles can be described as casually, elegantly femme. Galleries across the region have opened their doors, and admirers from many parts of the country have begun collecting both prints & originals as her work gains momentum. Narjia has been an incredible client of mine for some time so it is very fitting that she is the first interviewed for this renewed series.

Narjia Brownlie photographed by Morgan Smith for morganjournal.com.

Can you tell me about your journey to becoming an artist?

Well I always knew I wanted to be a painter. Back when I was at school it was, “I think that I’m going to end up doing that, but I’m not sure how I’m going to get there. I’m not sure what I’m going to be painting, or what my focus is. But I feel like that’s something I’m going to be doing.” All throughout uni I was interested in painting, but I was also interested in fashion design. So I studied fashion & business. At the time I think I knew I wanted to do something creative & even something with women perhaps. Upon reflection I’m like, “Oh that makes sense.” It’s all seems so consistent!

So I was studying fashion, and I did some internships but didn’t really like the pace of it too much. 

Too fast? 

Yeah it made me more freaked out about the pace & the environmental impact that fashion has. During my internships I’d be going through looking at everything. You’d unpack a box, hang it, steam it and people would come to look at it from different boutiques. Then you’d pack it up & send it on. There were so many garments & all moving so quickly. There would be about 7-8 brands coming through each week, every week of the year. Wow there was so much stuff! Stuff that didn’t seem very important. That made me think because I found fashion very important. When I’d go shopping and see new designs and I’d think, “Wow the effort that went into this.” But when you see it en masse, is it as special? So I didn’t like that & decided to move away from it. 

Then I got into second & third year of uni & got uninspired because I didn’t love studying. I’d become interested in PR as I wanted to help others achieve their goals.

I finally realised I might be able to pursue art as a career when I started working at Fur-Niche the furniture designers. They do fit outs for hotels in Brisbane & around Australia. I got a job there due to the fashion internship that I had recently done. My boss [at the internship], her fiancé worked at Fur-Niche. They’d just bought the business & they needed a me, a run-around. So I interviewed & got the job as an admin assistant which was fun. They needed an artwork at one stage for one of the fit outs. I’d mentioned to the accounts lady that I’d been painting on the weekend. So we’d had the, “Oh can you paint?” “Oh yeah, just something for my room.” conversation. And she must have noted that, because then we needed an artwork that was really specific. They would usually go on Shutterstock, find & pay for a print. I’d been trying to find this particular artwork, and had been thinking to myself that it would be so easy to paint. I couldn’t figure out why we weren’t just doing that. Why weren’t we just painting it ourselves? But I’d only worked there for a month so I wasn’t going to say, “Oh guys, I can just do this.” So despite any embarrassment or reservations someone might have, [the lady in accounts] just went, “Narjia can paint!” And everyone turned around in their swivel chairs. 

I went from doing one painting to creating for the studio rooms, the twin rooms, lounge pieces, lobby pieces etc.

So all of a sudden Narjia Brownlie was throughout the hotel? 

Exactly! I did my first ones and was so nervous as I’d never painted for other people to look at it & critique. But it worked out well! I had a few corrections which was good for the learning process. Then they were through one of the Quest buildings in Cannon Hill which was cool. So I learnt you could paint something, have it scanned & printed in different sizes, framed & installed. From there I ended up doing eight hotels. They would always have different themes & ideas. There was one in Canberra which was Australian fauna & flora. I was doing watercolour pieces. Then there was one in Victoria that was very contemporary abstract. 

At this point I realised I could paint a lot of different styles […] but didn’t know which style to choose. My studies in PR told me I needed to have an identity, to stick to something. I needed to believe in something enough that made other people believe it in too. 

So how did you discover your girls?

I actually painted Peach Gin Fizz one day, just randomly. It was supposed to be something completely different. It was the one that I made me go, “This is it, I think I’ve found it.” I’ve always been interested in women and the relationships of women. The competitive nature, the rivalry. We’re so beautiful, we’re so lovely but we can also be the worst. It’s often just because we’re worried about something, we’re insecure about something and we think this girl thinks such-and-such and she’s so cool. We really don’t think of our similarities. I was always surrounded by women, in excess almost. I’d been practising ballet since I was 4 until I was about 18. I was constantly surrounded by women in a field where you were kind of encouraged to criticise & judge more than usual. Especially of all of your feminine qualities, not just your character. There was always rivalry, there was always bitchiness. To the extreme, you know? There were a lot of wonderful women around, but there was always something going on. I was never too into it, but it was always at the forefront of my mind. I’d experienced a lot of difficult relationships between women that overcame the sweetness, the niceness & the support. 

So then I went to uni & studied both fashion & PR. Both female dominated. So that was another example of it. You could be waiting to go into a tutorial & everyone was giving each other the once over. You’d get a weird look, so the next person you saw you’d give a weird look because you felt you needed to. And so it continued on & on. You could see it happening at the start so you’d try by asking, “How are you?” but you’d get some sort of silence or bluntness. You’d take that onboard instead of wondering why they are being like that. It’s a culture. That’s what they’re taught to do when they feel threatened or are lacking confidence. 

On the flip side of that, you have a very positive relationship with your sister & your mother. And come from a very female dominant family (despite having a brother & a father), and you often refer to your painted girls as sisters. What does your sisterly bond mean to you? And did that help you overcome these negative relationships?

Definitely. Well I figured out that there was this judgemental environment at the beginning of going to uni. But [previously] I had always had really good relationships with women. Really encouraging relationships. Everyone was really supportive & down to earth. And while my family is very female dominant I suppose, I feel like that male energy keeps you all chilled out & not too worked up. I had a nice balance which was really good so I could appreciate the feminine relationships & the fun girl stuff but had a good awareness of all qualities, not just the stereotypes [of gender]. 

When I painted Peach Gin Fizz I had come home for the weekend after being in Brisbane, and I was so sick of being at uni. I remember needing to have a laugh, hang out & have a casual conversation because everyone was so important. I didn’t like how it [the negative culture] influenced me as well. At the time I’d been thinking a lot about that & Peach Gin Fizz came out. It made me feel more empowered & made me think about the wonder of women & how we can all be so much better if we can forget about the competition. I also thought maybe the colours brought a nice personality out in the figures. It wasn’t just about the figures themselves. 

You work so confidently with colour yet I notice you are most often wearing neutrals. Is this a conscious doing? 

Maybe I associate myself more with neutral [tones]. I don’t need fashion as a way to express my creative being. I don’t require it as a prop to say “I’m creative, colourful, bubbly & nice.” Maybe that’s it. Sometimes I need more colour than other days. Sometimes I need to be neutral, otherwise I’d be too overwhelmed by it. It’s not me. The girls are more colourful & enriched with excitement than I probably am. 

I’m calling it now & naming you a style icon in the making. Which I know you’re rolling your eyes at. How would you describe your relationship with fashion now, & can you name some Narjia staples that really inspire you?

I’m very happy that I did learn a lot about fashion because it’s informed my buying decisions. I definitely put a lot more thought into what I buy compared to when I was 18, which I’m sure we all do. I buy things that I know I will be able to wear for the foreseeable future. I take care with who’s made my clothes, where the fabric has come from, is it sustainable? Sometimes you just need a dress to be affordable & make you feel good, but I know I feel better when it’s something that I’ve worked towards as it has more importance to me. 

Oh my staples. Definitely my Holly Ryan Jewellery. For someone who has been making jewellery for so long, she doesn’t have a huge [available] catalogue of work. That’s something that I find really cool with designers, when they only have a select amount of product that they believe is good enough. They don’t need to have 100 pieces. So I bought my drop earrings & my pearl choker. They were big purchases for me. I do wear them a lot. I stick to my staples, my Keshi pearls. They’re a nice identifier for me, and I like the consistency. They’re such a statement earring but they don’t feel like a statement to me. 

You come from quite the creative small business family. Was your upbringing a big part of shaping your path? How do you feel it had an impact?

This year I’ve thought about that a lot. I think my parents have had a big impact, for sure. I’ve never thought with this [painting] that it’s not a good idea or that it’s not practical. I’m not an accountant, a lawyer or a corporate professional, but Mum & Dad have always been very encouraging. They’re the most supportive parents. They’ve never really limited me, because I feel like they limited themselves when they were younger. For them you had to do a job, do it for ages & do it well. They’ve definitely instilled in us that whatever your passion is, do that, because you’ll make it work. They’ve never stopped us doing anything that’s interesting to us. 

This has been a big year of risk for me, but they’ve never pressured me about it. But I’ve pressured myself. 

On that topic, you’ve been in your Toowoomba CBD studio for some months now. How are you finding having the dedicated work space has changed your practise?

It was so necessary to find somewhere to work out of. At home with no overheads for my business there was no pressure. You need more than just your expectations of yourself, because sometimes they can be very relaxed. It was very good at giving me that pressure to create rather than just painting when I saw fit. Also having somewhere to actually go so it felt like more than a hobby. There weren’t many others that I knew who were doing this, so I didn’t have anyone to relate it to. So it’s good, I feel like I’m going to work now. It’s ingrained in us all that everyone loves to be busy, but I was never like that. It’s really just self reassurance that I’m doing something productive! It’s been good. I’m looking forward to opening it up shortly. I just want to do it right. I like being downtown in Toowoomba. I drink too much coffee & I hear the street flowing. 

What does a typical work day look like for you?

People ask me this all the time & I really should write some dot points down because I don’t know! I suppose a most typical day would be coming to the studio, go down & get a coffee. When I come back up I go through emails, check in with my printers & do all my admin. Then I work on ideas as I usually have a new project that I’m working on. I like to get all my business stuff done first because it always feels too indulgent to come straight into the studio & start painting. I don’t know why. So then I start painting in the afternoon in the time I have left. Sometimes a Sparkly Saturday, sometimes a new collection for new prints. Sometimes a commission. 

So many things have been happening for you in the last few months. Multiple exhibitions on top of your Sparkly Saturday Instagram offering gaining momentum. What is next for you?

Working on my website to give it a spruce up because I haven’t changed it too much since I started in July last year. I’ve just released some new prints so they’ll be up for a bit. And I’ll work on some new originals in the lead up to Christmas. A big goal of mine is opening the studio up. That’s probably the next big thing I want to achieve because it would be really nice to have a few more people up here. 

You can find more from Narjia via Instagram, @bynarjiabrownlie & her website, bynarjiabrownlie.com including her prints & original pieces to purchase.