Artist Aleisha Hobson’s Tropical Cottage Has a ‘Holiday Feel’ All Year Round

E verywhere you look, Queensland artist Aleisha Hobson is surrounded by nature. In her home studio, it’s images of fish and exotic beaches plastered on her mood board. In her art, it’s the shells, flowers, oysters, and fruit that take centre stage. In her backyard, where she spends countless hours with her family and friends, it’s the palm trees that bask in the glow of the Capricorn Coast’s persistent sun.

“It’s warm all year round here, and I’m inspired by things from the sea and by simple things in nature that bring that calming sense,” Aleisha says. As a self-taught artist who experiments with a range of mediums to create pieces with organic and rustic textures, Aleisha’s artmaking process evolved quite naturally, too.

“I was making jewellery, and I started making displays which I called ‘trinket niches’, and then I was making these things called ‘wall alters’ which were rendered with plaster,” she explains. This process led to her discovery of mixed media, using materials like brass and plaster to create an unconventional canvas to paint on. “I had all these off-cuts left over from these displays I was making and had this idea to turn them into these kind of sculptural little artworks.”

These ‘sculptural little artworks’ of painted natural plaster are a joy indeed. In Aleisha’s exclusive collaboration with Bed Threads, eight original works have been sculpted and painted, with sea creatures playing a starring role in the collection. “I think oysters are just really fun to paint. They nod to the seaside and enjoying them with friends, and a lot of the stuff has a real holiday feel about it, which is the vibe we have up here where I live. And the fish have started coming into my art a lot because my kids are obsessed with fishing,” she says.

Throughout the works, a neutral colour palette of sand, tan, and clay prevails. This palette extends throughout her home, too, from the timber floors to woven wishbone dining chairs and rattan pendant lights. “I really do like bright colours, but I feel like if I’m surrounded by them too much it just gets overwhelming for me. I’m a bit of an introvert so I don’t really find I need too much stimulation to be inspired.”

Built in the 1990s, Aleisha and her husband moved into their Yeppoon cottage around seven years ago, wanting to buy their first home in the “nice, quiet, cruisy town” where they both grew up.

“We didn’t want to go for anything brand new, run-of-the-mill, or too sterile, so we were looking for something a tiny bit older with timber floors, or something cottagey with beach shack vibes and some character.”

After moving in, the place was given “a bit of a facelift with some paint” before Aleisha’s husband took on the task of building a large outdoor front deck. “Putting that in has given us that extra living space so we can be outside with the kids or use it for entertaining when friends and family come over. We spend a lot of time out there.”

And no wonder. Outside Aleisha’s home, a tropical oasis awaits. Palm trees, cacti, and agave provide both serenity and shade, with their outdoor setting put to year-round use and laid with Limoncello and Terracotta tableware. “The trees were something that really drew us to the property. A lot of newer suburbs haven’t got much in the way of greenery, so it creates that nice cooler climate which is important up here because it’s so hot most of the year.”

Inside, sunshine floods in from morning to night, and the “bright, airy space” in her home was a big drawcard from the get-go. “I’m always looking for spaces that are light and bright, be it the studio or when displaying art. I think light is important.”

It makes sense, then, that her favourite room in the house is the bedroom, featuring a near floor-to-ceiling window that looks out to a backyard full of palm trees. The king size bed is the star of the show – “Handy when the kids want to crawl in,” Aleisha laughs – and features a soothing trio of Sage, Oatmeal, and Mineral linens.

Upstairs, in her home studio, a constantly rotating mood board maps out Aleisha’s artistic inspiration. Pinned with gold tacks, you’ll find a flower she wants to paint, an oyster she’d like to taste, a beach she hopes to visit, and a shell with the perfect scalloped edge. From here, you get a taste of her palette – salt, sand, and sea.

“I move the images around once every two or three months. I used to love reading home magazines back in the day, and I still have clippings I’ve kept from over a decade ago, even if it’s just a pattern that caught my eye. I love patterns and texture and wanted to explore those ideas more with painting.” It’s easy to find this inspiration in Aleisha’s collection of works for Bed Threads, comprising subtle paint strokes and stucco-like plaster framing seaside scenes.

It’s also here in Aleisha’s home studio that you’ll find her treasured shell collection. “That’s been ongoing forever, probably my whole life. We’re at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef so there are some really nice shells washed up here. I think it’s like a treasure hunt, and I love the patterns and shape and organic nature of them.”

While she’s not too keen to part with her shell stockpile any time soon, Aleisha’s happier to share her own creations than hold on to them. “I don’t keep much of my own art unless it’s something I really love. I think when you’ve made it yourself, there’s less mystery to it, whereas there are works from other artists I’ve had up for years that I never get sick of.”

Does she ever imagine her work hanging in other people’s homes for years, providing that same sense of intrigue she finds in others? “Hopefully!” she says. “And hopefully they’re not getting sick of it!” Looking at her latest works, we doubt it.

Explore Aleisha Hobson’s original artworks at Bed Threads Gallery.