Smorgasboarder_23_Feb_2016-s

IELDEY has made a real name for herself in the art world, painting dozens of surfboards,
walls and skateboards, cars – even bowling pins, a 2.4m remote-controlled jet boat and
has even created artwork for the 2014 Iron Fist ladies range.
Fieldey - or Haylee Fieldes to those who know her closely - was born in New Zealand in the 80s
and moved to Norfolk Island, where she learned a love for the ocean. Ever the nomad, she left to
study in Sydney, work in London, and finally settled in Perth. Here she learned to surf and decided to
custom-paint her own surfboard. And so it began…
I BELIEVE FIELDEY - THE NAME, THE LEGEND — WAS BORN FROM
THE MAKING OF THE FISH WIFE? TELL US THE TALE...
To tell that tale I’ll have to travel way back into
the mists of time when I was a wee little tacker
who used to obsessively paint and draw all the
time. I was always told I was going to be an
artist and I believed it right up until I was about
to finish school and I had a careers advisor who
convinced me I’d die poor and alone if I pursued
art as a career. Not wanting to die in a lonely
garret missing an ear, I studied graphic design
as a way to make money out of being creative.
I did that for about 10 years giving up on my
youthful dreams of being an artist and gradually
becoming more disillusioned with the whole
corporate design gig.
I moved to Perth and took up surfing in 2011
for something to do here and also as a way
to get over my long-held fear of the ocean…
after 6 months I was no longer terrified of the
sea and reckoned I was more than ready to
upgrade to a short(er) board (I know, rookie
mistake) and decided to paint my sexy new 6’6”
Superfish for fun. Having no idea how to paint a
surfboard and some pretty rusty painting skills,
I researched everything I could find online and
asked a local surfboard shaper how to go about
it. The name the Fish Wife is a bad pun, and
the character that goes with it is a “reverse
mermaid” the less alluring fish-headed cousin
of a beautiful mermaid.
Me and my brother decided to film the process
and put it up on YouTube and I cringe a little
bit to watch it now, but painting that surfboard
kicked the whole thing off and started my career
as an artist, which I now do full time. HA - take
that career advisor!
40
SMORGASBOARDER | SUMMER 2016