For artist Kristin Rubie, creativity has never been a linear path. It is a quiet, constant thread weaving through every chapter of her life. Kristin’s journey is one of returning, again and again, to what feels most true.
Now the artist behind Haven Prints, her work captures something both deeply personal and universally felt: softness, light, and the emotional resonance of everyday moments.
We chat with Kirstin about her story, her evolving creative process, and the meaning she hopes her pieces bring into people’s homes.
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For Kristin, art is the creative thread that never left.
“I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember,” says Kristin. “One of my earliest memories is from when I was 5 and drew a picture of my family. My preschool teacher entered it into a local competition and I actually won.
“I remember being on stage with my Mum, collecting the award. I think that recognition at such a young age seeded the idea that the art I made could mean something to people.
“The transition from primary to high school was tough for me, but around Year 10, something changed and I found myself again through making art. I was in the art room every chance I got!
I was generally happiest when I was doing something creative. Things like drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture and photography.
“After school, I moved to Brisbane and was accepted into the Queensland College of Art. But I just couldn’t afford to study full time and pay rent, so it never happened.
“I ended up getting a job in an ad agency, studied marketing part time by correspondence over the next few years, and eventually landed a marketing role at the lottery.
“It wasn’t making art, but I was working in a creative world and I really enjoyed it. I found a place where I fit in, met some lovely people, and I ended up doing that for a long time.”
It wasn’t until a particularly challenging chapter in life that Kristin found her way back to art.
“I was very content in what I was doing, but life had other plans for me,” Kristin recalls.
“I got married, had my first child, moved to Sydney for my husband’s work, and had my second child there too. And then… Covid hit.
“My husband was a frontline hospital worker, and I was at home with 2 babies. Having moved interstate, I was away from all my family and friends so it was really tough. Then throw in a diagnosis of an autoimmune condition and it was a really difficult period in my life.
“But in the middle of that, I found my way back to creating. I just needed something that was mine. Something I could do in the small pockets of time between the chaos of early motherhood and the layers of stress from the pandemic and isolation from my friends and family.
“I started drawing again. First making children’s artwork, because that was the world I was living in. And then gradually, I began exploring other subject matters and it just evolved from there.
The name Haven Prints came from the fact that art truly became my haven during that time. It was the thing that kept me connected and gave me a sense of self again.
“Haven Prints represents a safe place in both the act of creation and in the way the art itself transforms a space with its energy.”
Kristin’s art is abstract but with obvious floral and feminine elements.
“My style sits somewhere in the territory between abstraction and representation. Flowers and forms are recognisable, but partly imagined and abstracted. My mark-making is quite gestural, with loose brushwork, soft edges and organic layering,” Kristin explains.
“Something I’m always trying to capture is the feeling of the way light changes things. The way it reflects off a petal or a leaf, depending on the time of day.
“I think of my work as romantic in a lot of ways. I want it to feel like there’s light in it, a sense of joy and softness.
“My colour palette is about 80 per cent of the emotional impact of a piece, so it’s something I consider a lot before I begin an artwork.
“I love working with more muted tones. Warm terracottas and sunlit naturals, but I also love using blues and greens too.”
Balancing motherhood and creativity, Kristin has carved out a practice that is as intuitive as it is intentional.
“My studio is a small front bedroom at the top of our house. It’s really joyful to sit in there in the morning with a coffee, do some sketching at my little table or sit at my easel and paint. It’s only small but it’s quite perfect for what I need right now,” Kristin says with a smile.
“Both of my children have special needs, so my days really revolve completely around them. Most of my day is about getting them where they need to be and supporting their development. And then in between all of that is where I find time for my creativity.
“On the days where I have a little more time to myself, I’ll try to get into the studio and create if I’m in a creative cycle. My notes app on my phone, my notebooks, and sketch pad are full of thoughts and ideas of new pieces and collections.
“The actual creation process usually starts with little thumbnail sketches on paper with pencil. A lot of my earlier artwork was then developed as digital illustration. But my most recent work is hand-painted in acrylic, scanned, and finished digitally. It’s a mixture of traditional and digital that I really seem to enjoy.”
At the heart of Kristin’s work is a simple intention: to create art that makes people feel something positive in their everyday lives.
“Warmth. Calm. A sense of joy and light. That’s really what I set out to create,” she says with a soft smile.
“I want to make artwork that gives you a brief moment of calm every time you look at it. Something that makes your space feel like a retreat.
“What has been so beautiful about this whole journey is connecting with collectors who have shared their stories with me about how the artwork has impacted them and become part of their lives.
Knowing that something I’ve made has become part of someone’s life is honestly the most special thing.
“I absolutely treasure that. It’s one of the biggest reasons I keep doing this.”
What an absolute delight it was to sit down and hear all about the art Kristin Rubie creates through Haven Prints. You can discover more through her website, or keep an eye on her Instagram account.
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