Q&A: Student artist Haili Trowbridge shares her love of art
CMU Nashville freshman Haili Trowbridge poses for a photo with her various pieces of art Feb. 5.
Haili Trowbridge has been filling sketchbooks for as long as she can remember.
The Nashville freshman is using love of art to create a presence for herself at Central Michigan University and make a difference.
As a CMU Student Government Association senator, she represents the College of Arts and Media. She has used her Senate projects to incorporate her love of art with bettering the CMU community. Trowbridge sat down with Central Michigan Life to talk about her love for art and the work she has been doing on campus.
Central Michigan Life: What is your major?
Trowbridge: I’m currently undecided, but deep inside I want to be an art teacher, I think.
How long have you been into art?
When I was really little, I was just obsessed with getting sketchbooks and filling them, I just loved to draw all the time. I got out of art for a while in high school because they stopped allowing us to have art, it was really weird. My junior year, my art teacher noticed I was kind of good, so she got me back into it by showing me stained glass, painting, cardboard carvings and wire. I just fell in love with it from there.
What artistic opportunities has CMU brought you?
I have yet to take art classes, but the opportunities it has brought me have been amazing, with SGA and putting on an art show, having my work out there and being able to talk to the caricaturist. With people in my hometown saying my work is good, I kind of expect that, but with here that I have known for a few days to be like ‘wow, you’re really talented” is really nice because they don’t owe me anything. It really means a lot to hear feedback like that.
Can you tell me more about the art show you put on for the campus?
When I was interested in getting involved with SGA, they told you they wanted you to have a project in mind that you would want to put one. My first thought was an art show because I thought it would be really cool to bring our local artists here and give them the platform to be there to show the world what they got. So, we put that on and had a really good turnout for it being the first one and we are actually doing it again this semester.
Did you have a lot of participation in the art show?
My goal was to get 20 people and by the time of the art show, I had 20 people signed up and I was so excited. Due to classes and people getting nervous, or thinking they did not have enough work, we ended up having 12.
It looked really amazing in there. We always had a constant flow of people coming in which was nice. As much as we tried to advertise it, it was not advertised as much as I wanted.
What do you plan to do differently this semester?
If weather works with me, I am hoping to have it outside on that strip through campus (near the Bovee University Center). That way there will still be a constant flow of people and it will be more welcoming. I want to make it more open, a welcoming space, even just to look.
No one is pressured to buy anything, but just to see what your fellow students are doing. I also I have a bigger goal: I don’t want 12, I want 24. I want to double it. I want it to be bigger and better. I want it to be something I can put on for the next four years I’m here and maybe even be followed on.
Where did the idea for selling your stickers come from?
When I had the art show coming up, I knew I wanted to allow the artists to sell their work so they could support themselves, but I was having trouble parting with my pieces because I use them as my room décor. I then had the idea to put it on stickers and then I found this place in my hometown that would do it.
I mostly just sell them in my hometown, but I did bring some to the art show and I got really good input from that, which led me to want to continue. I usually just sell and ship the stickers from my hometown and that has led me to doing t-shirts. People kept telling me that my work would look so good on a shirt and I was like wow so true because we have another place in my hometown that did that as well.
How do you transfer your artwork to a sticker of t-shirt?
All my stickers were painted on tiles, so the background is a nice plain white and I have to take a picture of it with really good lighting and nothing around it. I send the picture in and it’s all done from there.
What goals do you have with your artwork?
My goal is to always improve. Right now, the target I’m getting at is the photorealism part, so that’s something I’ve been working hard to do. I’m self-taught, so I want to continue self-teaching, but I want to continue to take some classes to make the process a little easier. I also need to not be my biggest critic, I want to be more accepting.
What do you plan to achieve?
I just hope to be someone that is known. Whenever I see someone with one of my stickers on their water bottle or laptop it’s just nice to know my work is out there, which is the main reason I did it. It wasn’t for the money, it was strictly to have my artwork out there. My friends will tell me someone complimented the stickers and I’m just like ‘Wow, that’s so nice.’
Trowbridge has an Instagram for her work and her items can be purchased through sending her a DM. Her stickers are $2 each and shirts $15 each.
