Caitlin Moloney’s journey with Elevate
Caitlin Moloney is an Australian-born clay artist from Coromandel Town, who’s running a fully-fledged business for her art. She has been running her business for many years, but over the Covid-19 lockdowns, she and her husband decided to expand their business skills through Creative Waikato’s Elevate program.
“For creatives, I think it’s a really valuable resource. It’s definitely added a lot of tools to my toolbox,” said Moloney.
Elevate is a free online course that is specifically designed to give artists the knowledge and skills they need to turn their art into a career or business.
The course accepts all kinds of artists, from musicians and painters to filmmakers and photographers. For Moloney, the focus was on upscaling her clay pots and jewellery business.
“What the programme did for me was reinstate some of the things I already knew and really tidy up what I was already doing. But I also gathered new information as well,” she commented.
Moloney learned how to work with clay at the Driving Creek Railway in 2005. She had moved from across the ditch in Brisbane to the Coromandel the year before, originally just for a visit.
“I was just looking to have an adventure, but I pretty much landed in Coromandel and fell in love with it.”
She primarily focuses on symmetry when creating her art, and often finds inspiration in the intricate and symmetrical patterns found in nature.
“I really love symmetry. I love the balance of patterns and how they just grow out of themselves. There are live things that are always around us, and I think a lot of the design work and pattern making I do is really an intuitive connection to that aliveness.”
Although her business was going well in the Coromandel, she wanted to further grow the community she had formed, and learn more about forming a career in art.
“Definitely with the online marketing, especially in Coromandel Town because we live remotely, that kind of information is essential if you’re wanting to build a community online,” said Moloney.
“It is quite full on as a creative, learning who you’re selling to and who your market is.”
Through Elevate, many artists in the Waikato have gained the skills they need to succeed in the arts. Paula Jacobsen, Creative Waikato’s communication and marketing specialist, said that although the arts often aren’t taken seriously, creatives are a vital part of a functioning society.
“Increased creative activity nurtures an enriched and prosperous region, ultimately contributing to higher levels of well-being. With Elevate, we aim to empower and support our creative community, and contribute to a happier and healthier Waikato,” said Jacobsen.
Unfortunately, the arts are often mistaken to be purely for entertainment. However, creatives and artists are important in a community, as there are many products, jobs and services that can only be provided through creative and artistic means.
“The Elevate programme is not only supporting local creatives to be successful in their fields of creative practice, but is supporting them so they can thrive in our communities.”
It’s often difficult for creatives to form a career for themselves from their art, Moloney noted.
“In creative practices, you’re not thinking about any of that (making a career), you’re just literally turning up to make the thing that wants to come out of you. It’s hard to figure out how you fit this thing that you make into this world of monetising your wares,” she stated.
Moloney herself is an example of an artist who contributes art to her community. For Tuia 250, she was asked to create one of the murals that still show today in Whitianga. Her contribution was a colourful patterned fish, which represents “the beauty of Mercury Bay and the unique physical environment early explorers encountered”.
Her influence stretches out of the Coromandel as well. She donated a piece of art to be a part of a TradeMe fundraiser auction which raised money to help rebuild pottery studios up North that were damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle. Moloney’s piece raised $1400 for the cause.
It’s through programmes like Elevate that artists are able to have a wider reach in communities, and build a healthier happier society.
Check more of Caitlin Moloney art: Click here
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Words by Sarah Morcom
