Hats off to budding young artist

Hatsie-May Brakels, 12, daughter of artist Kendall with her paintings. Photo: Cade Mooney Sunshine Coast Daily

SOME painters wait all their lives hoping that a gallery will accept their work.

At 12, Hatsie-May Brakels has achieved that goal three times over.

Her work is exhibited by three commercial galleries in Australia.

Now the Buderim schoolgirl can tag “international artist” behind her name after being invited to send work to the Bryce Gallery in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Hatsie-May’s accelerated artistic career is no accident.

The daughter of artist Kendall Perkins-Brakels, she has been around paint all her life – her mother has the paint-splattered Kapoochi baby slings that she carried Hatsie-May and her sister, Brydie, in to prove it.

“I used to carry them in front of me while I was painting. They’d be facing forwards or backwards, and their arms and feet would have paint all over them,” Kendall said.

 Kendall said her daughters grew up painting and drawing but did not expect either of them to follow in her footsteps.

“I always took it for granted that there was drawing and painting going on. I never thought they’d go into it,” she said.

Kendall began to take notice when she saw Hatsie-May draw pictures of two family dogs without lifting her pen from the paper.

Hatsie-May sold her first work at a school art show at the age of eight.

Gallery Beneath, at Mooloolaba, picked her up after spotting one of her works among some photos belonging to Kendall, whose work is also exhibited there.

The other galleries followed suit.

Hatsie-May paints in the studio with Kendall, sharing her paint and using her canvases, for which she reimburses her after sales.

“It’s really fun. I love it,” she said.

“Mum doesn’t have to call me down to come and paint. I say, ‘Mum, I’m going to start my painting now’.

Hatsie-May said the only trouble was finding time to paint between netball, boxing, visiting friends, and homework.

She said she would love nothing better than to be an artist one day.

Hatsie-May’s career may eventually eclipse that of her mother, who also started out painting animals.

“I don’t think mine were as good as hers. I’d love to have been as good as her,” Kendall said.

The family deja vu will continue this weekend when Hatsie-May’s work goes on display at the Toowoomba Grammar School show, the event which launched Kendall’s career.