Meet Inga & Jack Hayes | Artists & Gallery Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Inga & Jack Hayes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Inga & Jack, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Having belief in our work. There was very little like it out there, locally at least, so we knew we had a niche and great client base too. After years of exhibiting our work in other UK galleries and exhibitions, we thought ‘you know what, we can do this ourselves’. We also wanted to work on larger and larger canvases, which are in less demand from most galleries as they take up so much space. So nearly 10 years ago this month, we went alone and started north55gallery here in Falmouth, UK. And it was the best decision we ever made. To have complete autonomy over what is hung, what goes in the window and even more the personal interactions with viewers and buyers is empowering.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We both have quite a similar story that led us both to where we are now. We initially started art degrees, realised it was stifling our creativity rather than igniting it. Although we didn’t know each other at the time, we both had the similar aversion to simply to becoming a ‘product’ of an art school or teaching style. I guess we both knew our own ‘truth’ in our creativity. After pursuing science degrees, and starting careers we met. Within months we were painting again, together. And here we are now, with our own established gallery , selling and exhibiting worldwide. In 2020 Jack was named as ‘an emerging master of abstract art’ by Saatchi Galleries in London. We have three young children who have travelled the world with us. We settled in Cornwall, UK to raise our family by the sea. The wildness of the coast here is similar to where we both grew up, both on the same latitude 55’N (Jack on the northeast of England and Inga in the north of Ireland) hence the name of our gallery ‘north55’. Nature is our biggest source of inspiration for our work, the sea in particular. Each painting has a nature based narrative. And nothing is out of bounds, even space…Jack has a real passion for exploring the colour and beauty found in the apparent darkness of space and using images from the James Webb telescope has produced some powerful and epic works such as Eta Carina. Inga is drawn to the sea and its wild raw energy in works such as Celtic Seas. All our works can be viewed online www.north55gallery.com
Over the years we have established a large client base all over the world and regularly ship large works to Florida and Germany in particular. We sell to those seeking art that pushes boundaries rather than just blending in, and to whom originality is paramount. The majority of our works are large and all are original, oil on canvas paintings that will last a lifetime.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Coming to Falmouth, Cornwall, the sea sets the agenda..there is such a great maritime heritage. Great seafood is a must, as is sailing. A wander through the many independent shops and galleries (including our own!) in the town is a great way to spend the afternoon and then an evening by the sea at Gylly Beach with a cocktail or a fire on the beach is just the perfect way to end the day.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our shoutout would definitely be to each other. For the last 10 years we have supported, questioned and empowered each other to experiment, push boundaries and most importantly to keep the passion alive for what we do. Its great to have each other to go to for that honest opinion, to have that argument with that clarifies or leads to a brave decision. As Oprah once said ‘surround yourself with people who are going to lift you’ and we are very lucky to have that in each other.

Website: www.north55gallery.com

Instagram: @north55gallery

Twitter: @north55gallery

Other: north55gallery@gmail.com