May 11, 2025 • 31 mins
In this episode of Stories of Change & Creativity, I talk with Kyle Hawley, founder of Letterpress PLAYÂ and creative director at 26 Keys. Kyle shares how growing up in a multi-generational household shaped her creative journey and her approach to entrepreneurship and motherhood.
🎙️ In this episode, you’ll hear about:
- Kyle’s path from a theater and mass communication student at Texas State University to entrepreneur
- How a thesis project on post-WWII playgrounds led to the creation of Letterpress PLAY
- Life lessons from Kyle's grandparents
- Balancing motherhood, art, and business by staying groundedÂ
- Using printmaking to explore the broader archetypes of motherhood
- Â Unfolding the Rainbow of Motherhood, an exhibition by Kyle Hawley with Flatbed PressÂ
- The power of consistent creative practice: “You have to show up for yourself and do that consistently”
Bio
Kyle Hawley is the founder and creative director of Letterpress PLAY, an Austin-based letterpress studio and stationery store. The studio designs and prints beautiful, high-quality goods, while also curating products from artisans around the world.
Her mission with Letterpress PLAY is twofold: to share the heritage craft of letterpress printing and to foster community and play for everyone through her products. Kyle also serves as the creative director of the award-winning 26 Keys Productions, an Austin-based film and television company known for producing cinematic, character-driven stories.
As a fine artist, Kyle explores the topics of beginnings and closures regarding developmental phases of life through photographic technics, printing, and textiles. Current exhibitions include the Wichita Falls Museum of Art and Flatbed Press. She is a graduate of The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and earned her first Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, Broadcast Journalism, and Theater at Texas State University. Her diverse educational background enriches her work across multiple creative fields. Additionally, Kyle serves as a board of trustees for Sarah Lawrence College.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Judy Oskam (00:03):
Hi everyone and welcome back to Stories of
Change in Creativity.
I'm Judy Oskam.
Today's guest is someone whotruly lives at the intersection
of art, entrepreneurship andpurpose.
I'm talking with Kyle Hawley.
Kyle's journey weaves togethercreativity, family and a deep
love of storytelling.
(00:24):
We talk about how growing up ina multi-generational household
has shaped her work.
We touch on how she usesprintmaking to encourage
hands-on learning, and she alsoshares what she's learned from
parenting, building a businessand making art all at the same
time.
Well, I hope you enjoy thisconversation as much as I did.
(00:47):
Welcome, Kyle.
You want to give a little introfor the audience.
Kyle Hawley (00:54):
I would love to Judy.
My name is Kyle Hawley.
I am the founder and creativedirector of Letterpress Play,
which is a design studio andretail store.
I serve also as creativedirector for the production
company that I share with myhusband, 26 Keys, and that we
(01:17):
produce film and television.
He's also a novelist and so wedo a lot of adaptation projects,
and I'm a proud, proud graduateof Texas State University it
used to be Southwest Texas StateUniversity when I graduated as
well as Art Center College ofDesign in Pasadena.
Judy Oskam (01:38):
I love that.
I love that.
Well, and let's start at TexasState.
Then how did you kick off yourwhole life career?
You're also a mom, and we'regoing to talk about some of your
artwork later on too, but fromTexas State.
How did the education kind oflaunch you?
Kyle Hawley (01:57):
Thank you for asking.
I love to talk about TexasState.
I do, judy.
So I went to a high school forthe performing arts, which was a
wonderful high school in Dallas, texas, a magnet program in
downtown Dallas.
It had a fantastic program forhelping launch kids into their
(02:24):
next chapter of college.
We had senior showcases and Ihad colleges from all around the
U S come and and I was able toaudition for them.
And while I did get scholarshipsto many of these places, um
shot, you'll be shocked to knowthat theater scholarships are
not very big scholarships and so, um, and I was uh, you know,
(02:54):
did not have a lot of means andso, you know, price tags really
made a difference, um, in whatthe decisions I was making and,
um, one of my um theaterteachers knew that was the, you
know, made a big difference forme and she really I believe she
might have been a graduate Ifeel I'm remiss in not knowing a
(03:15):
Texas state and and she saidit's one of the best programs,
whether it's affordable, moreaffordable or not, whether it's
affordable, more affordable ornot and she really helped guide
me to Southwest Texas State andTexas State, and she wasn't
wrong.
The theater program was reallyunparalleled, and I'm so happy
(03:39):
that that's where I started mycareer.
We are too.
Judy Oskam (03:43):
We are too.
I'm very proud, and were youalways a creative kid?
How did you?
How do you think of yourself asfar as creativity?
Kyle Hawley (03:51):
I was.
I was always a creative kid.
I've always loved storytelling.
I started storytelling in UOIL,you know I was.
I did competitive poetry andprose readings.
Oh my gosh.
Judy Oskam (04:06):
Oh, wow.
Kyle Hawley (04:08):
And that you know and that influences.
You know, all the women in myfamily were storytellers,
through either writing orthrough the visual arts, and so
it really was just a part ofbeing, you know, living in the
(04:30):
world for me.
Judy Oskam (04:31):
Yeah Well, and living in that world, that also
kind of fed your entrepreneurspirit.
How did you, how did you cometo start Letterpress Play and
what's the story behind that?
Did that tie in with yourfamily as well?
Kyle Hawley (04:46):
uh it it did in a, in a in a sense um.
So the beginning thoughts ofletterpress play came out of a
thesis project that I was doingat arts center, college of
design and um I was looking alot at.
I had started photographingabandoned spaces.
(05:09):
I had, as a child, lived in anabandoned schoolhouse for a
short time, which is a, you know, not a particularly common
story, but not unlike somepeople's stories, and it made an
impact on me and it was a Iwanted to look at kind of the
(05:32):
beginning and end of things.
And that carried me into lookingat restoration playgrounds,
which came to be umWWII, whereEurope was recovering and they
were trying to build, they weretrying to create places of play
(05:54):
for children, and so theseplaces really evolved where they
would give them a set of toolsand a plot of land and really
all of the materials to buildtheir own play, and so there was
a lot of thought around beingable to rebuild their own world
by their own hands.
(06:16):
You know they were trying toreally fold into that therapy
through play, through the workof the child, and so that's
where it started and, and so youknow, that's why the work, that
the outreach that we do inletterpress play is always about
um focusing on the work of thechild and giving back to
(06:39):
children.
Um, that's why it's veryfocused on tool using through
the presses and and printmakingand I fell in love with
printmaking while at Art Centerand so I think, like any kind of
um concept or idea, you justkind of have to follow um a core
(07:02):
question and the answers willcome to help you shape it more
fully, and that and that's yeah,and for you, what was that core
question?
that core question was whathappens when something is ending
(07:22):
and, um, and, of course, whensomething ends, something new
begins, and and that was reallywhat I was in pursuit of, that
really hot pursuit of that, uh,and, and that was the case.
That was just what they weredoing with the restoration
playgrounds right, a way of lifewas ending.
(07:44):
They were looking to create newbeginnings for children.
I had experienced thatpersonally, bringing things to
(08:09):
life right, fostering ideas,shepherding ideas into a more
fully articulated expression.
Judy Oskam (08:14):
And yeah Well, I'm fascinated by your beginning and
the fact that that kind of ledand grew helped you grow this.
What do you say to people thatmight be in a similar situation
about how can they move forward,I wonder?
I think there's some goodadvice that you can share.
Kyle Hawley (08:36):
You bet.
So part of my great success, Ifeel I mean when I just when I
say success, I mean just kind ofpersonal contentment was really
grounded in the, the time Ispent with my grandparents, and,
and of course they're of thegreatest generation.
(08:57):
You know, my first, my firstbest friend, I say often, was my
great grandmother and she wasat least 80, 80 years, my senior
.
Wow, and, and I was really Iwitnessed was they shared with
me, you know, their stories ofgrowing up on the plains of of
West Texas and their, their joysand their, their tribulations,
(09:26):
and I began to really understandthat whatever difficulty I
might be facing, there was asolution to be found.
And I think that that wasreally at the core of these
generations that you know wereeither adult during wartime and
(09:48):
depression, or children duringthat time, which is the two
generations I was, you know,being really well held by.
And my grandparents were also,you know, civil servants.
They were deeply mygrandparents.
My great, great grandfather wasthe county sheriff, my, his son
(10:09):
, my grandfather, I mean my, mygrandfather was the county
commissioner and my grandmotherwas the election judge.
She started the public library.
You know, it was just you found, you know, when, faced with a
problem, their instinct was notto turn away, but was to dig
(10:31):
deeper for us.
Judy Oskam (10:34):
But I think that's fascinating, that you knew that
as a child to ask thosequestions and to really be
engaged with your grandparents Ithink that kind of did help
shape you.
Kyle Hawley (10:45):
Yeah, and the beauty of, I think, of children.
Well, there are many things,but you know, children they love
.
Like children, humans startjust wanting to love, right, and
when they're handed and whenthe people around them love them
back, they're available.
You know they're sponges andthey're handed.
And when people, when thepeople around them, love them
back, they're available, youknow they're sponges and they're
(11:09):
available.
And so I was just, really I wasgiven a lot of love by these
people and I was, and I was, andI was able to see that,
although they would facedifficult things, it didn't, it
wasn't dispiriting, I mean it,it wasn't fun, but but they
didn't, it did, it wasn't, itdidn't, it didn't close doors,
(11:30):
it opened doors, and that, Ithink, was just a really
important way for my brain to be, to grow.
You know, in relationship toproblem solving.
Judy Oskam (11:43):
Well, and how do you then take that now that you're
a parent?
So how did that shape yourparenting style?
Kyle Hawley (11:55):
Well, you know, don't ask my kids because I have
two kids too, I know.
You know I was like I thinkit's going like this, right.
You know, I was like I thinkit's going like this, right the
same.
You know, I also had the goodfortune, at least to be in
Montessori early, early child.
You know I was, I would, I wasable to have an early childhood
(12:19):
education.
Luckily Montessori, and I thinkthere's a lot, I think Maria
Montessori, she's kind of one ofmy, she rose.
There is a lot about her, her,her doctorate and her, her
pedagogy that it can bemisinterpreted as anything can
(12:39):
be, but at the tenant of it, atthe core of it, it is similar to
some of the kind of thesenotions that I'm reflecting
about on my grandparents.
It's just like the work of thechild is, is play, and and we
solve things and and humans wantto problem solve, quite
naturally, right when given asafe environment with enough
(13:03):
tools.
And so I tried to do the samefor my kids.
I tried to provide a safe,loving environment and enough
tools to problem solve, you know, and it is at the heart of it.
(13:27):
That's what I'm trying to do,you know.
Judy Oskam (13:30):
And it sounds like that's also what you're trying
to do with your businesses.
You're trying to tell stories,You're trying to still problem
solve.
Talk about, talk about that alittle bit.
What are some projects thatthat you are the most proud of?
Kyle Hawley (13:43):
You know to kind of tie the previous question and
this one together, because mykids are 12 and 17.
So we've got sixth grade, whichrefers to the first year into
junior high, and then 17, she'sin her junior year and so we're
looking forward to college.
Um and um.
(14:05):
You know, I'm looking at how,supporting, supporting them and
their next plane of of problemsolving, Um and, and I think I,
what would I?
What I say to them often is youjust have to follow what you're
most passionate about.
(14:26):
Is you just have to follow whatyou're most passionate about.
Really, at the end of the day,you're going to learn all the
reading, writing, arithmeticalong the way, but what, what
you must choose is something youreally fundamentally care about
, and in my opinion, you may.
You may have a different idea.
I don't think it really matterswhat that thing is.
I just it has to be Totallyagree.
(14:48):
Yeah, totally agree, and that'swhy, for me you know my
businesses do that they're thethings I would do whether they
were a business or not, and theyallow me to learn all the
(15:08):
things that I still continue tolearn.
I mean, it's like my businesswas before.
It was a business.
It was just my art studio, meand my art studio, and then
suddenly you invite people inand then you invite customers in
, and then so there's all thiswhole body of lessons that you
learn as an entrepreneur, andthen you're a boss, and then
(15:28):
you're a boss of many people,and then you kind of have this
like You're, you're, you'regetting your MBA, just you know,
in in the life, in life and thethroes of it, and that's really
hard, Judy.
Yes, it is really hard, it'sreally hard and it takes up a
(15:51):
lot of time and um, that partyou know just like, but um,
because it's in, it's in serviceto the main meditation of what
I'm asking, the question thatI'm asking, and the and the and
(16:12):
the, the jobs and the creativethinking that I would just want
to do.
Anyway, it's like a spoonful ofsugar with the other things
that, and I think that's justkind of a good recipe for life.
Judy Oskam (16:29):
Yeah Well, and that's what I was going to say,
it sounds like you're craftingyour life.
So there's not a separation ofcareer, home life, where it's
just your life.
And maybe is that the life ofan artist, but it's also the
life of an entrepreneur orsomeone who's passionate about
what's next.
Right, it is.
Kyle Hawley (16:50):
It is.
You know, it's interesting.
So being a commercial artist iskind of a hybrid of being both
an entrepreneur and havingcorporate partners and business
partners, and so you're so, soand I have that, so I have kind
(17:15):
of two, two jobs.
And while Letterpress Play ispurely entrepreneurial and 26
Keys is entrepreneurial, we dohave clients Right, and 26 keys
is entrepreneurial, we do haveclients right and um, and, and I
think what the the differencebetween doing fine art and doing
(17:39):
commercial art?
It is that you are problemsolving to someone's request,
right, they come to you with aproblem and you solve it.
Versus as a fine artist, youare asking your own question and
solving it through thatexploration, and I would say
(18:06):
that both require an equalamount of discipline, because
you're not going to solve theproblem unless you get in there
and do it every day.
Judy Oskam (18:14):
Sure.
So you know I don't actuallyI've lost my way in the question
, but let me get you backbecause that kind of ties into
what I was going to ask youabout your latest exhibit and
that is a fine art venture andtalk about that and why the
(18:38):
connection to motherhood.
That's fascinates me.
I went and looked at your workonline and just look fascinating
.
Kyle Hawley (18:45):
Yeah so motherhood, and just look fascinating.
Yeah so motherhood.
You know, I look a lot becauseI am, you know, a designer and
an artist which, at the core, isa problem solver.
I think a lot about symbols andyou know, and communications,
you know, which I didn't sayearlier.
(19:07):
I started in theater and then Imoved to communications and so,
you know, and I ended up kindof having both at the end, and
so what I was really pursuing atTexas State was communicating
right, right right Through art.
Yeah, yes, right Right Throughart.
(19:45):
Yeah, yes.
And so, you know, as a fineartist, I think a lot about how
people receive information, andwe receive it through through
roads, through symbols, rightthrough through key ideas that
we hear or see, and so, becauseof that, motherhood is a symbol,
motherhood is an archetype, andmother is an archetype, and I
had a very big, broadunderstanding of motherhood.
(20:08):
I had a very complicatedrelationship with my own mother,
um, and, and a veryuncomplicated relationship with
my grandmother and grandmother,my great-grandmothers and my
grandmothers, and I thinkthere's a narrative in the world
(20:32):
that mothering has to comespecifically from the person
that's given birth to us, andthe truth of the matter is that
the mothering can come from manydifferent places, and that's
been my experience.
(20:52):
That's my truth, right.
Judy Oskam (20:55):
My truth too.
With two adopted children,that's my truth too.
Kyle Hawley (20:59):
Right, so many people's truths, and that's what
I really really think a lotabout.
I a lot in my fine artwork, um,and there were many things
where, when I started, when Ichose to become a mother, um,
that was scary for me because mymother was a teenage mother and
(21:21):
that was um uncomfortable forher and uncomfortable for me and
really shaped her in ways thatwere, I would say, did not
result in her flourishing.
So I was unclear on whether ornot I would be have the right
(21:46):
tools right, the right instincts.
The biggest thing wasno-transcript, and so I did a
deep dive into motherhood.
I put my career on pausecompletely as far as my external
(22:09):
career.
I only worked in my studio inthe time that I had and was
raising my children when they'reyounger years, because there
was a lot of it turned out,there were a lot of answers and
questions that I still had,because I I didn't have, I
(22:30):
didn't get them from my ownmother and it's, you know, which
is the beauty of becoming amother Like there's a lot Right,
mother Like there's a lot right.
So that topic for me, judy, isjust deep and rich and wide and
will never be on under explored,and I and I feel quite
confident that everyone elsefeels that way too, I totally
(22:52):
agree.
Judy Oskam (22:52):
Well, and what you did?
You did the exhibit talk aboutthe pieces that are in there,
and what was your technique?
Kyle Hawley (23:00):
and yeah, so, again , you know, I think a lot, I'm a
tool user, I love being a tooluser.
All the women in my family weretool users, either through
handwork or or you know,machinery of some particular
kind, and so it's a natural forme and I use very specific tools
(23:27):
.
They were garments.
They were either garments orblankets or hankies, and they
were very utilitarian in theiruse.
And I wanted to look at thetools of motherhood and I wanted
(23:59):
to like being a mother andbeing a parent.
Sometimes we comfort andsometimes we clarify right,
you're always kind of having todecide which door to walk
through in any particular moment, and I really wanted so.
So that's what?
So that's what those tools,those are literally the tools
that I, that I have used andeven continue to use, and that's
(24:21):
why they are featured in thework.
They're the cast of characters,let's say.
Judy Oskam (24:27):
Yeah, and we'll put a link in the show notes so
people can go look at theexhibit online and they can see
the art.
Well and going through that I'msure had to be Well and going
through that.
Kyle Hawley (24:46):
I'm sure had to be.
Was that therapeutic for you orwas that just?
That's just what you do as anartist?
Yeah, I think you know.
I feel so fortunate.
You know, my journey as anartist, as I said, started there
.
You know, my grandmother putknitting needles in my hand when
I was four and and I, just itwas the moment where I realized
(25:07):
it, it was it, would it?
Um, I, I realized that I couldhave a form of self-expression.
It gave me instant autonomy, Iwas able to create, and so it,
just it, it, it fired off so somany different ideas and but I
(25:29):
do think, many times as anartist, and early in one's
career and not necessarily youngsome people come to being
artists later in life.
I just think, when you comebeing early in your career,
there's a lot of questions andwhat I'm most interested in as a
fine artist is, um is to notpresent the question, but to
(25:53):
present what I perceive as thejourney to the answer.
So I, you know that that'sthat's what I'm always, that
that's where I am with myartwork is that it?
And it takes me a whilesometimes to create a body of
work, because I'm still kind ofstuck in the question, and and I
(26:14):
don't to me, that's not my job.
My job as as an artist is tohave a reflection, so that when
I'm reflecting out this, thisanswer or this pursuit of an
answer, that it allows otherpeople, it invites them into
that and so that they can joinin.
(26:34):
And I think that that's whatthe job of art does.
It allows you to reflect backinto yourself and and and
there's a catharsis oh, I knowwhat it was it's about,
catharsis.
I don't present.
I don't go to art as as mytherapy.
I go to it as an, as a to askquestions and to and find
(26:57):
answers, and that's what I hopeit does for the viewer.
Judy Oskam (27:03):
And what advice would you have for people that
are in a place no matter what,and they're maybe not an artist?
How can they embrace their owncreativity to do just that?
Kyle Hawley (27:17):
Well, one of the great, one of the important
tenets of being creative is todo it.
Is you got to?
You just got to just quiet yourmind, you know, and just pick
up anything that makes you feelgood to make a mark.
Make a mark in the sand, make amark with a pencil.
(27:39):
A mark, make a mark in the sand.
Make a mark with a pencil, makea mark with a house paint.
But you have to show up foryourself and do that
consistently.
And maybe you have the time todo it once a week or three times
a week or once a month, butwhen you show up to do the work,
do the work.
(28:00):
That's when the inspiration canfind a home.
But if you don't give it aplace to find a home, it won't.
Judy Oskam (28:09):
And that's when that magic can happen.
You have to create the spacefor the magic, for the
inspiration.
Kyle Hawley (28:15):
You do, and quite literally, I mean we've all
experienced this, it's just likeyou know, we've all experienced
this.
It's just like you know, you,you, it just takes time.
Ideas take time because,because ideas are not um, ideas
are like a, a house that hasrooms, and you know, and you,
just you gotta, you gotta buildit, and and, and you can't build
(28:39):
it unless you show up to buildit.
Judy Oskam (28:41):
Yeah, yeah, you know exactly well, speaking of
building what, what are youbuilding next and what?
Where do you see what's nextfor you?
Kyle Hawley (28:53):
well, we have um a lot and that's great's a lot.
I have a team of people, sowe're continuing to launch more
products out of letterpress play.
We're continuing to grow ouroutreach and marketing presence
(29:19):
for for the, for the retail andfor the studio and 26 Keys.
I'm helping really build abrand of 26 Keys.
We hadn't taken that approachbefore in our production company
, and so I'm doing very similarwork where we're looking at how
we're gonna touch the communityand be a community builder and
connect various differentaspects, and then we have a show
(29:44):
that has a global launch.
Judy Oskam (29:59):
And look ahead five years.
What are you going to be doingfive years from now?
Kyle Hawley (30:05):
Five years.
I mean, you know, that's againto kind of come full circle.
Hopefully just the same,hopefully more of the same.
Hopefully we've got a list ofmore projects that we've
completed, more people thatwe've connected, hopefully we've
built and helped grow acommunity of emerging artists
(30:27):
and voices.
And you know, the great thingabout this point for us, Judy,
is this is what we were lookingto do, this is it, and so we
want to do it.
As long as anyone will, let usdo it.
Judy Oskam (30:44):
I love it.
Well, I'm going to let you doit as long as you want to do it.
Kyle Hawley (30:47):
I love it.
Judy Oskam (30:48):
And I love.
Thank you for sharing yourstory and your passion for this.
I have loved this.
Thank you so much.
Kyle Hawley (30:57):
Well, thank you for having me, Judy, it's a real
honor.
And thank you for joining us onStories of Change and
Creativity.
I loved getting to chat withKyle.
Her perspective on creativity,motherhood and building a
meaningful life really hit meand I hope it hit you as well.
If you enjoyed the episode, I'dbe grateful if you'd leave a
(31:20):
five-star review and share itwith a friend.
It really helps more peoplefind the show and, more
importantly, hear these powerfulstories.
And if you know someone with astory of change and creativity
or you have one yourself, reachout to me at judyoskam.
com.
I'd love to hear from you.
Hi everyone and welcome back to Stories of
Change in Creativity.
I'm Judy Oskam.
Today's guest is someone whotruly lives at the intersection
of art, entrepreneurship andpurpose.
I'm talking with Kyle Hawley.
Kyle's journey weaves togethercreativity, family and a deep
love of storytelling.
(00:24):
We talk about how growing up ina multi-generational household
has shaped her work.
We touch on how she usesprintmaking to encourage
hands-on learning, and she alsoshares what she's learned from
parenting, building a businessand making art all at the same
time.
Well, I hope you enjoy thisconversation as much as I did.
(00:47):
Welcome, Kyle.
You want to give a little introfor the audience.
Kyle Hawley (00:54):
I would love to Judy.
My name is Kyle Hawley.
I am the founder and creativedirector of Letterpress Play,
which is a design studio andretail store.
I serve also as creativedirector for the production
company that I share with myhusband, 26 Keys, and that we
(01:17):
produce film and television.
He's also a novelist and so wedo a lot of adaptation projects,
and I'm a proud, proud graduateof Texas State University it
used to be Southwest Texas StateUniversity when I graduated as
well as Art Center College ofDesign in Pasadena.
Judy Oskam (01:38):
I love that.
I love that.
Well, and let's start at TexasState.
Then how did you kick off yourwhole life career?
You're also a mom, and we'regoing to talk about some of your
artwork later on too, but fromTexas State.
How did the education kind oflaunch you?
Kyle Hawley (01:57):
Thank you for asking.
I love to talk about TexasState.
I do, judy.
So I went to a high school forthe performing arts, which was a
wonderful high school in Dallas, texas, a magnet program in
downtown Dallas.
It had a fantastic program forhelping launch kids into their
(02:24):
next chapter of college.
We had senior showcases and Ihad colleges from all around the
U S come and and I was able toaudition for them.
And while I did get scholarshipsto many of these places, um
shot, you'll be shocked to knowthat theater scholarships are
not very big scholarships and so, um, and I was uh, you know,
(02:54):
did not have a lot of means andso, you know, price tags really
made a difference, um, in whatthe decisions I was making and,
um, one of my um theaterteachers knew that was the, you
know, made a big difference forme and she really I believe she
might have been a graduate Ifeel I'm remiss in not knowing a
(03:15):
Texas state and and she saidit's one of the best programs,
whether it's affordable, moreaffordable or not, whether it's
affordable, more affordable ornot and she really helped guide
me to Southwest Texas State andTexas State, and she wasn't
wrong.
The theater program was reallyunparalleled, and I'm so happy
(03:39):
that that's where I started mycareer.
We are too.
Judy Oskam (03:43):
We are too.
I'm very proud, and were youalways a creative kid?
How did you?
How do you think of yourself asfar as creativity?
Kyle Hawley (03:51):
I was.
I was always a creative kid.
I've always loved storytelling.
I started storytelling in UOIL,you know I was.
I did competitive poetry andprose readings.
Oh my gosh.
Judy Oskam (04:06):
Oh, wow.
Kyle Hawley (04:08):
And that you know and that influences.
You know, all the women in myfamily were storytellers,
through either writing orthrough the visual arts, and so
it really was just a part ofbeing, you know, living in the
(04:30):
world for me.
Judy Oskam (04:31):
Yeah Well, and living in that world, that also
kind of fed your entrepreneurspirit.
How did you, how did you cometo start Letterpress Play and
what's the story behind that?
Did that tie in with yourfamily as well?
Kyle Hawley (04:46):
uh it it did in a, in a in a sense um.
So the beginning thoughts ofletterpress play came out of a
thesis project that I was doingat arts center, college of
design and um I was looking alot at.
I had started photographingabandoned spaces.
(05:09):
I had, as a child, lived in anabandoned schoolhouse for a
short time, which is a, you know, not a particularly common
story, but not unlike somepeople's stories, and it made an
impact on me and it was a Iwanted to look at kind of the
(05:32):
beginning and end of things.
And that carried me into lookingat restoration playgrounds,
which came to be umWWII, whereEurope was recovering and they
were trying to build, they weretrying to create places of play
(05:54):
for children, and so theseplaces really evolved where they
would give them a set of toolsand a plot of land and really
all of the materials to buildtheir own play, and so there was
a lot of thought around beingable to rebuild their own world
by their own hands.
(06:16):
You know they were trying toreally fold into that therapy
through play, through the workof the child, and so that's
where it started and, and so youknow, that's why the work, that
the outreach that we do inletterpress play is always about
um focusing on the work of thechild and giving back to
(06:39):
children.
Um, that's why it's veryfocused on tool using through
the presses and and printmakingand I fell in love with
printmaking while at Art Centerand so I think, like any kind of
um concept or idea, you justkind of have to follow um a core
(07:02):
question and the answers willcome to help you shape it more
fully, and that and that's yeah,and for you, what was that core
question?
that core question was whathappens when something is ending
(07:22):
and, um, and, of course, whensomething ends, something new
begins, and and that was reallywhat I was in pursuit of, that
really hot pursuit of that, uh,and, and that was the case.
That was just what they weredoing with the restoration
playgrounds right, a way of lifewas ending.
(07:44):
They were looking to create newbeginnings for children.
I had experienced thatpersonally, bringing things to
(08:09):
life right, fostering ideas,shepherding ideas into a more
fully articulated expression.
Judy Oskam (08:14):
And yeah Well, I'm fascinated by your beginning and
the fact that that kind of ledand grew helped you grow this.
What do you say to people thatmight be in a similar situation
about how can they move forward,I wonder?
I think there's some goodadvice that you can share.
Kyle Hawley (08:36):
You bet.
So part of my great success, Ifeel I mean when I just when I
say success, I mean just kind ofpersonal contentment was really
grounded in the, the time Ispent with my grandparents, and,
and of course they're of thegreatest generation.
(08:57):
You know, my first, my firstbest friend, I say often, was my
great grandmother and she wasat least 80, 80 years, my senior
.
Wow, and, and I was really Iwitnessed was they shared with
me, you know, their stories ofgrowing up on the plains of of
West Texas and their, their joysand their, their tribulations,
(09:26):
and I began to really understandthat whatever difficulty I
might be facing, there was asolution to be found.
And I think that that wasreally at the core of these
generations that you know wereeither adult during wartime and
(09:48):
depression, or children duringthat time, which is the two
generations I was, you know,being really well held by.
And my grandparents were also,you know, civil servants.
They were deeply mygrandparents.
My great, great grandfather wasthe county sheriff, my, his son
(10:09):
, my grandfather, I mean my, mygrandfather was the county
commissioner and my grandmotherwas the election judge.
She started the public library.
You know, it was just you found, you know, when, faced with a
problem, their instinct was notto turn away, but was to dig
(10:31):
deeper for us.
Judy Oskam (10:34):
But I think that's fascinating, that you knew that
as a child to ask thosequestions and to really be
engaged with your grandparents Ithink that kind of did help
shape you.
Kyle Hawley (10:45):
Yeah, and the beauty of, I think, of children.
Well, there are many things,but you know, children they love
.
Like children, humans startjust wanting to love, right, and
when they're handed and whenthe people around them love them
back, they're available.
You know they're sponges andthey're handed.
And when people, when thepeople around them, love them
back, they're available, youknow they're sponges and they're
(11:09):
available.
And so I was just, really I wasgiven a lot of love by these
people and I was, and I was, andI was able to see that,
although they would facedifficult things, it didn't, it
wasn't dispiriting, I mean it,it wasn't fun, but but they
didn't, it did, it wasn't, itdidn't, it didn't close doors,
(11:30):
it opened doors, and that, Ithink, was just a really
important way for my brain to be, to grow.
You know, in relationship toproblem solving.
Judy Oskam (11:43):
Well, and how do you then take that now that you're
a parent?
So how did that shape yourparenting style?
Kyle Hawley (11:55):
Well, you know, don't ask my kids because I have
two kids too, I know.
You know I was like I thinkit's going like this, right.
You know, I was like I thinkit's going like this, right the
same.
You know, I also had the goodfortune, at least to be in
Montessori early, early child.
You know I was, I would, I wasable to have an early childhood
(12:19):
education.
Luckily Montessori, and I thinkthere's a lot, I think Maria
Montessori, she's kind of one ofmy, she rose.
There is a lot about her, her,her doctorate and her, her
pedagogy that it can bemisinterpreted as anything can
(12:39):
be, but at the tenant of it, atthe core of it, it is similar to
some of the kind of thesenotions that I'm reflecting
about on my grandparents.
It's just like the work of thechild is, is play, and and we
solve things and and humans wantto problem solve, quite
naturally, right when given asafe environment with enough
(13:03):
tools.
And so I tried to do the samefor my kids.
I tried to provide a safe,loving environment and enough
tools to problem solve, you know, and it is at the heart of it.
(13:27):
That's what I'm trying to do,you know.
Judy Oskam (13:30):
And it sounds like that's also what you're trying
to do with your businesses.
You're trying to tell stories,You're trying to still problem
solve.
Talk about, talk about that alittle bit.
What are some projects thatthat you are the most proud of?
Kyle Hawley (13:43):
You know to kind of tie the previous question and
this one together, because mykids are 12 and 17.
So we've got sixth grade, whichrefers to the first year into
junior high, and then 17, she'sin her junior year and so we're
looking forward to college.
Um and um.
(14:05):
You know, I'm looking at how,supporting, supporting them and
their next plane of of problemsolving, Um and, and I think I,
what would I?
What I say to them often is youjust have to follow what you're
most passionate about.
(14:26):
Is you just have to follow whatyou're most passionate about.
Really, at the end of the day,you're going to learn all the
reading, writing, arithmeticalong the way, but what, what
you must choose is something youreally fundamentally care about
, and in my opinion, you may.
You may have a different idea.
I don't think it really matterswhat that thing is.
I just it has to be Totallyagree.
(14:48):
Yeah, totally agree, and that'swhy, for me you know my
businesses do that they're thethings I would do whether they
were a business or not, and theyallow me to learn all the
(15:08):
things that I still continue tolearn.
I mean, it's like my businesswas before.
It was a business.
It was just my art studio, meand my art studio, and then
suddenly you invite people inand then you invite customers in
, and then so there's all thiswhole body of lessons that you
learn as an entrepreneur, andthen you're a boss, and then
(15:28):
you're a boss of many people,and then you kind of have this
like You're, you're, you'regetting your MBA, just you know,
in in the life, in life and thethroes of it, and that's really
hard, Judy.
Yes, it is really hard, it'sreally hard and it takes up a
(15:51):
lot of time and um, that partyou know just like, but um,
because it's in, it's in serviceto the main meditation of what
I'm asking, the question thatI'm asking, and the and the and
(16:12):
the, the jobs and the creativethinking that I would just want
to do.
Anyway, it's like a spoonful ofsugar with the other things
that, and I think that's justkind of a good recipe for life.
Judy Oskam (16:29):
Yeah Well, and that's what I was going to say,
it sounds like you're craftingyour life.
So there's not a separation ofcareer, home life, where it's
just your life.
And maybe is that the life ofan artist, but it's also the
life of an entrepreneur orsomeone who's passionate about
what's next.
Right, it is.
Kyle Hawley (16:50):
It is.
You know, it's interesting.
So being a commercial artist iskind of a hybrid of being both
an entrepreneur and havingcorporate partners and business
partners, and so you're so, soand I have that, so I have kind
(17:15):
of two, two jobs.
And while Letterpress Play ispurely entrepreneurial and 26
Keys is entrepreneurial, we dohave clients Right, and 26 keys
is entrepreneurial, we do haveclients right and um, and, and I
think what the the differencebetween doing fine art and doing
(17:39):
commercial art?
It is that you are problemsolving to someone's request,
right, they come to you with aproblem and you solve it.
Versus as a fine artist, youare asking your own question and
solving it through thatexploration, and I would say
(18:06):
that both require an equalamount of discipline, because
you're not going to solve theproblem unless you get in there
and do it every day.
Judy Oskam (18:14):
Sure.
So you know I don't actuallyI've lost my way in the question
, but let me get you backbecause that kind of ties into
what I was going to ask youabout your latest exhibit and
that is a fine art venture andtalk about that and why the
(18:38):
connection to motherhood.
That's fascinates me.
I went and looked at your workonline and just look fascinating
.
Kyle Hawley (18:45):
Yeah so motherhood, and just look fascinating.
Yeah so motherhood.
You know, I look a lot becauseI am, you know, a designer and
an artist which, at the core, isa problem solver.
I think a lot about symbols andyou know, and communications,
you know, which I didn't sayearlier.
(19:07):
I started in theater and then Imoved to communications and so,
you know, and I ended up kindof having both at the end, and
so what I was really pursuing atTexas State was communicating
right, right right Through art.
Yeah, yes, right Right Throughart.
(19:45):
Yeah, yes.
And so, you know, as a fineartist, I think a lot about how
people receive information, andwe receive it through through
roads, through symbols, rightthrough through key ideas that
we hear or see, and so, becauseof that, motherhood is a symbol,
motherhood is an archetype, andmother is an archetype, and I
had a very big, broadunderstanding of motherhood.
(20:08):
I had a very complicatedrelationship with my own mother,
um, and, and a veryuncomplicated relationship with
my grandmother and grandmother,my great-grandmothers and my
grandmothers, and I thinkthere's a narrative in the world
(20:32):
that mothering has to comespecifically from the person
that's given birth to us, andthe truth of the matter is that
the mothering can come from manydifferent places, and that's
been my experience.
(20:52):
That's my truth, right.
Judy Oskam (20:55):
My truth too.
With two adopted children,that's my truth too.
Kyle Hawley (20:59):
Right, so many people's truths, and that's what
I really really think a lotabout.
I a lot in my fine artwork, um,and there were many things
where, when I started, when Ichose to become a mother, um,
that was scary for me because mymother was a teenage mother and
(21:21):
that was um uncomfortable forher and uncomfortable for me and
really shaped her in ways thatwere, I would say, did not
result in her flourishing.
So I was unclear on whether ornot I would be have the right
(21:46):
tools right, the right instincts.
The biggest thing wasno-transcript, and so I did a
deep dive into motherhood.
I put my career on pausecompletely as far as my external
(22:09):
career.
I only worked in my studio inthe time that I had and was
raising my children when they'reyounger years, because there
was a lot of it turned out,there were a lot of answers and
questions that I still had,because I I didn't have, I
(22:30):
didn't get them from my ownmother and it's, you know, which
is the beauty of becoming amother Like there's a lot Right,
mother Like there's a lot right.
So that topic for me, judy, isjust deep and rich and wide and
will never be on under explored,and I and I feel quite
confident that everyone elsefeels that way too, I totally
(22:52):
agree.
Judy Oskam (22:52):
Well, and what you did?
You did the exhibit talk aboutthe pieces that are in there,
and what was your technique?
Kyle Hawley (23:00):
and yeah, so, again , you know, I think a lot, I'm a
tool user, I love being a tooluser.
All the women in my family weretool users, either through
handwork or or you know,machinery of some particular
kind, and so it's a natural forme and I use very specific tools
(23:27):
.
They were garments.
They were either garments orblankets or hankies, and they
were very utilitarian in theiruse.
And I wanted to look at thetools of motherhood and I wanted
(23:59):
to like being a mother andbeing a parent.
Sometimes we comfort andsometimes we clarify right,
you're always kind of having todecide which door to walk
through in any particular moment, and I really wanted so.
So that's what?
So that's what those tools,those are literally the tools
that I, that I have used andeven continue to use, and that's
(24:21):
why they are featured in thework.
They're the cast of characters,let's say.
Judy Oskam (24:27):
Yeah, and we'll put a link in the show notes so
people can go look at theexhibit online and they can see
the art.
Well and going through that I'msure had to be Well and going
through that.
Kyle Hawley (24:46):
I'm sure had to be.
Was that therapeutic for you orwas that just?
That's just what you do as anartist?
Yeah, I think you know.
I feel so fortunate.
You know, my journey as anartist, as I said, started there
.
You know, my grandmother putknitting needles in my hand when
I was four and and I, just itwas the moment where I realized
(25:07):
it, it was it, would it?
Um, I, I realized that I couldhave a form of self-expression.
It gave me instant autonomy, Iwas able to create, and so it,
just it, it, it fired off so somany different ideas and but I
(25:29):
do think, many times as anartist, and early in one's
career and not necessarily youngsome people come to being
artists later in life.
I just think, when you comebeing early in your career,
there's a lot of questions andwhat I'm most interested in as a
fine artist is, um is to notpresent the question, but to
(25:53):
present what I perceive as thejourney to the answer.
So I, you know that that'sthat's what I'm always, that
that's where I am with myartwork is that it?
And it takes me a whilesometimes to create a body of
work, because I'm still kind ofstuck in the question, and and I
(26:14):
don't to me, that's not my job.
My job as as an artist is tohave a reflection, so that when
I'm reflecting out this, thisanswer or this pursuit of an
answer, that it allows otherpeople, it invites them into
that and so that they can joinin.
(26:34):
And I think that that's whatthe job of art does.
It allows you to reflect backinto yourself and and and
there's a catharsis oh, I knowwhat it was it's about,
catharsis.
I don't present.
I don't go to art as as mytherapy.
I go to it as an, as a to askquestions and to and find
(26:57):
answers, and that's what I hopeit does for the viewer.
Judy Oskam (27:03):
And what advice would you have for people that
are in a place no matter what,and they're maybe not an artist?
How can they embrace their owncreativity to do just that?
Kyle Hawley (27:17):
Well, one of the great, one of the important
tenets of being creative is todo it.
Is you got to?
You just got to just quiet yourmind, you know, and just pick
up anything that makes you feelgood to make a mark.
Make a mark in the sand, make amark with a pencil.
(27:39):
A mark, make a mark in the sand.
Make a mark with a pencil, makea mark with a house paint.
But you have to show up foryourself and do that
consistently.
And maybe you have the time todo it once a week or three times
a week or once a month, butwhen you show up to do the work,
do the work.
(28:00):
That's when the inspiration canfind a home.
But if you don't give it aplace to find a home, it won't.
Judy Oskam (28:09):
And that's when that magic can happen.
You have to create the spacefor the magic, for the
inspiration.
Kyle Hawley (28:15):
You do, and quite literally, I mean we've all
experienced this, it's just likeyou know, we've all experienced
this.
It's just like you know, you,you, it just takes time.
Ideas take time because,because ideas are not um, ideas
are like a, a house that hasrooms, and you know, and you,
just you gotta, you gotta buildit, and and, and you can't build
(28:39):
it unless you show up to buildit.
Judy Oskam (28:41):
Yeah, yeah, you know exactly well, speaking of
building what, what are youbuilding next and what?
Where do you see what's nextfor you?
Kyle Hawley (28:53):
well, we have um a lot and that's great's a lot.
I have a team of people, sowe're continuing to launch more
products out of letterpress play.
We're continuing to grow ouroutreach and marketing presence
(29:19):
for for the, for the retail andfor the studio and 26 Keys.
I'm helping really build abrand of 26 Keys.
We hadn't taken that approachbefore in our production company
, and so I'm doing very similarwork where we're looking at how
we're gonna touch the communityand be a community builder and
connect various differentaspects, and then we have a show
(29:44):
that has a global launch.
Judy Oskam (29:59):
And look ahead five years.
What are you going to be doingfive years from now?
Kyle Hawley (30:05):
Five years.
I mean, you know, that's againto kind of come full circle.
Hopefully just the same,hopefully more of the same.
Hopefully we've got a list ofmore projects that we've
completed, more people thatwe've connected, hopefully we've
built and helped grow acommunity of emerging artists
(30:27):
and voices.
And you know, the great thingabout this point for us, Judy,
is this is what we were lookingto do, this is it, and so we
want to do it.
As long as anyone will, let usdo it.
Judy Oskam (30:44):
I love it.
Well, I'm going to let you doit as long as you want to do it.
Kyle Hawley (30:47):
I love it.
Judy Oskam (30:48):
And I love.
Thank you for sharing yourstory and your passion for this.
I have loved this.
Thank you so much.
Kyle Hawley (30:57):
Well, thank you for having me, Judy, it's a real
honor.
And thank you for joining us onStories of Change and
Creativity.
I loved getting to chat withKyle.
Her perspective on creativity,motherhood and building a
meaningful life really hit meand I hope it hit you as well.
If you enjoyed the episode, I'dbe grateful if you'd leave a
(31:20):
five-star review and share itwith a friend.
It really helps more peoplefind the show and, more
importantly, hear these powerfulstories.
And if you know someone with astory of change and creativity
or you have one yourself, reachout to me at judyoskam.
com.
I'd love to hear from you.
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