April 2025
In the Pod this month is artist Josie Holliday, who delights everyone around her with her love of colour and joyful, uplifting themes. We met her to discover more about her work and her fascinating life…
The Bridge: Josie, it’s so good to meet you – and we love your art! Tell us a bit about your early years.
Josie Holliday: I was born between Bath and Bristol. My dad is from the Lake District and my mum from Lyme Regis – she came from a big local Quaker family, the Waterfalls, and most of them lived in Bridport. My parents divorced when I was about 10 and my mum Jacqui, my sister and I came to live in Bridport. I went to Beaminster School, then to Yeovil College to study art, and then to SCAT (Somerset College of Arts & Technology) in Taunton, also studying art. I’ve always loved creativity and making things, particularly painting.
TB: What influences your art?
JH: I love colour and I’ve always been quite loud – when I was young, people would tell me to be quieter, that I shouldn’t be so loud; now it’s my loud, bold expression that translates into my art! I love the sea, too – when I was at college I used to go surfing at Croyde in North Devon. It’s so beautiful there. My travels have been a huge influence too, of course.
TB: Have you travelled a lot?
JH: When I finished college I lived in Sidmouth and Exeter for a while, then moved to London. I was doing my art, creative stuff, working in bars and cafes and doing their marketing. I visited Hong Kong and travelled a bit round Europe. Then I met a group of people in London and went to Pretoria, South Africa, with them. Eventually I ended up in Australia, and I was planning to go on to New Zealand, but I ended up staying in Oz for 13 years.
TB: What did you do there?
JH: I was travelling around and working. I worked as an executive assistant, and I was doing my art
on the side. I had lots of commissions and exhibited in galleries. I started in Sydney, then went to Brisbane, lived up the east coast, and spent time in Canberra, Melbourne and Tasmania. And I got baptised there, too.
TB: What made you decide to get baptised?
JH: I was brought up in the Quaker tradition, and I’ve always felt chased by God. I had a few intense experiences in Australia and I also met an amazing female preacher – I’d say that confirmed my faith. I’m not an active Christian now but I have my faith, which is important to me.
TB: But you came back to England?
JH: I felt drawn back to the ‘mother ship’, a nickname I have for my mum. Really I came back to be close to my family and mum; she was my best mate and we were always talking to each other, even when I was on the other side of the world. And I missed England and my friends.
TB: What did you do when you were back in England?
JH: Well among other things I got married and had two children. We lived in Bournemouth; that didn’t work for me and I’ve been a single mum since 2016. We moved back to Bridport. My daughter, Ella, is 16 now – she’s doing GCSEs at Beaminster School – and my son Barny is 13 and at Colfox.
TB: Tell us more about your mum, Jacqui Waterfall.
JH: She was amazing, a crazy quirky lady who’d do anything for anyone. She worked at Malabar and volunteered at Harbour House, keeping the Quaker aspect going.She rode around on her ebike and we used to swim in the sea together off East Beach most mornings. She was very creative – she was always attending an art class – and you’d see her in the town wearing her colourful hats and at Christmas she’d hand out well-wishing flyers we’d designed together, sometimes with bells on! She felt strongly about justice, too, and she’d always stick up for the underdog.
In March last year I unexpectedly found her in her chair, forever asleep. She was 74. Her ashes are buried in the Peace Garden behind the Quaker Meeting House. I miss her every day.
TB: Family is obviously at the centre of your world. How do you fit your work into your busy life?
JH: My son, Barny, has ADHD and ASC (autism spectrum condition) and when he was younger this was all-consuming. I couldn’t work because he wouldn’t attend school and I couldn’t leave him. Before Covid I did a course that the school recommended, and that helped massively as it gave me the tools for handling him. Now he can self-regulate and calm himself. He’s very clever, a computer whiz – he loves vintage gaming consoles and has a good group of friends.
Ella was amazing during the difficult early years with Barny. She’s wonderful, and we have a relationship that’s similar to what I had with my mum. She loves football and she’s creative too – she’s into photography and painting.
After my mum died I used some of our inheritance to take them on an amazing seven-week trip around Japan, Australia, Hawaii and California. It was very child-led, and helped Barny to realise he can do anything he sets his mind to. And I wanted Ella to see that there’s a big world out there and she needn’t ‘settle’… I think the trip achieved that. When we came home, Barny was so self-aware and capable, Ella got a confidence boost, and I was so inspired. It was an important catalyst for all of us, and afterwards I felt we were all moving into our next phase. I started working at Rise Bakery, reconnected with lots of people, and continued to build my art.
TB: What do you get from your art?
JH: My art has always carried me. I have always felt restricted in life, but art is my own world, there are no rules in it. I love playing with colours – at the moment I’m into yellow and oranges, bright sunset colours over the sea.
I’ve always used paints but more recently I’ve started doing digital art using Adobe Illustrator. I’ve been asked to do logos and other digital work, so it was a good move. It works in a similar way to painting, by building up layers, and there’s no clearing up! I can just leave it and go back to it. That fits so well into our busy family life with all its challenges!
On 16 April Josie will be opening a shop/working studio in Abbotsbury.
Greetings cards of Josie’s work are for sale at Rise Bakery on East Road.
www.josieholliday.com
Instagram @josiehollidayart