Dee Hainsworth is a maker, a doer, and a dabbler. She has spent the majority of her young life in Bozeman, interrupted by a gap year in Flagstaff, AZ, before returning home to complete a degree in Elementary Education. Dee creates as part of a collective at a local studio called Inner Alchemy, is a graphic designer for HRDC, while also managing to maintain space for other side-dabbles and projects. She is currently working on a personal website to sell and showcase her art and until then she functions like many modern makers: via Instagram.

During her time at university Dee maintained a steady reverence for the arts, it wasn’t until post-graduation that she was able to tap back into the deep fervor she felt for creating. It has always been a considerable part of her persona, she describes it as “a weight – sweet and grounding – in my chest.”

“When I am making, it feels like an invitation to exude some of my tender insides out––to share with the world. This often feels vulnerable and scary, yet thoroughly true to myself. Art allows me to move the inner via; the rhythm, the tactile, the religiosity of it. I see this in others as well. It prompts us to connect, whether making or simply admiring. When I create with clay, I am connected to the earth. When I create with watercolor I am highly attuned to the colors in the world all around me. When I share my art I am connected to those around me, my community.” Hainsworth says of her craft.

Historically, she has shuffled indecisively from one medium to the next. This has felt turbulent and caused significant conflict in terms of branding herself. A year ago, Dee made an intentional shift: to lean into the duality. Since then, she has been working to surround herself with the narrative that ‘art is for the inner me, art is for play, art does not need to be one thing.’ Does this mean negating that sometimes art is hard, heavy, messy? No. It can be both: cumbersome and joyful. Just like the sweet simplistic tidbits of life.

Follow Dee Hainsworth’s artistic journey at @art.does.dee