PHOTOGRAPHY GEORGIA REDDEN
Jacinta Haycock at work in her studio and gallery in Geurie, NSW.
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Plus, she runs a studio and gallery with her daughter, Belle, in Geurie, NSW.
PHOTOGRAPHY GEORGIA REDDEN
PHOTOGRAPHY GEORGIA REDDEN
Jacinta Haycock at work in her studio and gallery in Geurie, NSW.
PHOTOGRAPHY GEORGIA REDDEN
Jacinta with one of her paintings.
Born and raised on a sheep farm near Carinda in far west New South Wales, Jacinta Haycock (@jacintahaycock_artist) moved to the outskirts of Dubbo in her early school years. She attended boarding school and then university, qualifying as a teacher before returning to Dubbo to teach kindergarten at the local Catholic school.
She soon met her husband, Andy; a boy from Tamworth who now teaches high school in Dubbo. “They say, ‘When you know, you know’: we were engaged after only two months of dating and are now going on 32 years married,” Jacinta says.
The couple settled on land bought from Jacinta’s father and built their own little slice of paradise between Dubbo and the village of Wongarbon.
Jacinta and Andy have 11 children — five girls and six boys — raging in age from 30 to 14. They are Isabelle, 30, Hewett, 28, Ruby, 27, Martha, 26, Paddy, 25, Sullivan, 23, Fletcher, 22, Georgette, 21, Darby, 18, and Lars, 14. Their fifth daughter, Bessie, passed away 15 years ago at the age of just four, after some big medical challenges. Jacinta swears Bess was an angel sent to teach them some amazing life lessons in her short time on Earth.
PHOTOGRAPHY GEORGIA REDDEN
Jacinta runs the Geurie studio and gallery with her daughter, Belle.
PHOTOGRAPHY GEORGIA REDDEN
Her work is inspired by life on the land.
Seven years ago Jacinta and Andy had to destock due to the horrendous 2018 drought. But while the dams and paddocks had dried up, Jacinta’s creativity had not. Inspiration for her colourful, impressionistic paintings of flora, animals and landscapes comes from her life on the land.
Jacinta had studied art at school and painted for friends and family, but it wasn’t until 2018 that she started a Facebook and Instagram page to actively sell her works. In 2019 she was invited to become part of the Buy From The Bush campaign, which allowed her to grow her following. She went to the Sydney Gift Fair in 2020 where she painted and networked and met other Australian creators. This really turned her art gig into a full-time commitment.
Fast-forward to late 2023. Jacinta and her daughter Belle had always dreamed of opening a store together. They pictured a beautiful old building where Jacinta could create her work and display everything in a cute shopfront with Belle and her babies by her side, managing the logistics and technology behind the scenes.
“We put it out into the universe and what amazingly came back one day was an opportunity from the Buckenbah Collective to rent this amazing heritage-listed building in the main street of Geurie — just 10 minutes down the road from home,” says Jacinta.
Jacinta Haycock Studio & Gallery opened in December 2023. Jacinta and Belle say that they just want people to leave feeling that little bit happier than when they arrived. “We want people to feel like this is home; that they can come in, have a chat, look around without any pressure of purchasing and leave with more joy than they came in with.
“Every week I say to Belle, ‘How blessed and lucky we are for every single sale’. We take nothing for granted. I can’t wait to see what is in store for us next.”
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