AT only 33 years old, Libby Hyett has had more bad luck than many of us.
But thanks to her sheer determination - and some much-needed help from the Hawkesbury community - she’s all but landed on her feet again.
“Follow your heart - that may sound trite, but compared with following your dreams, following your heart makes much more sense,” Ms Hyett told the Gazette.
She has recently opened a studio gallery in Windsor - somewhere for her to work, showcase her art, and chat to passing locals.
“I’m painting a mural on one of the walls, and I’m turning it into a window seat, so there’s a view of the Hawkesbury coming up on the wall,” she said.
Painting the mural on the wall or reclining on the window seat while working on one of her charcoal drawings is where you might find her on Thursdays and Fridays from noon until 6pm.
Due to a bad back and wrists, she often has to lie down while working, in order to ease the pressure on her body.
“It’s really embarrassing having to lie down to work - that’s not my favourite part of my life. But if I’m going to do it, I may as well do it boldly,” she said.
Ms Hyett is a Glossodia resident who grew up locally and attended high school at Bede Polding College - where her dad worked at the time.
She enjoyed art class at school, and was adept at painting and drawing, and was also a gifted piano and clarinet player. She has since gone on to complete a music degree at university.
As a young adult, she had always helped-out the community as a volunteer, including the Glossodia Fire Brigade.
Then, four years ago, her health began to break down.
“I have depression and anxiety, so that was the first thing. I had a massive breakdown,” she explained.
“Then I had a back injury and I had surgery for that. Then I just had wrist surgery two months ago.
“I had to struggle my way back into the workforce, but despite lots of trying - I tried so many jobs, both volunteer and paid - I had limited success.”
Ms Hyett’s back injury had culminated during her years working as a disability carer. The prognosis: a herniated or prolapsed disc.
“That was bad - it was so bad. It means there’s a bulge in the disc that pushes on the nerve,” she said.
“Two years ago, I had surgery which is designed to take the pressure off the nerve. But back injuries stay with you for life, and it’s still so bad I have to lie down every few hours or so.
“I may need the next step, which is spinal fusion - it seems to be getting worse and not better, and whenever I get a new scan it’s revealing more discs are getting affected. As far as prognosis goes, I wish I could be more optimistic about it, but I’m just making the best of what I have, at the moment.”
When she had her back operation, she had already been experiencing pain in her wrists. Almost two years later, she would receive surgery for De Quervain's tenosynovitis - a repetitive stress injury caused by overuse, both from playing the piano and drawing.
“The pain started up when I was in my teens. I also played the clarinet at that point, but no more - I just can’t hold it now,” she said.
“Playing the piano is actually more hazardous than you would imagine. I can’t play much anymore - it’s so sad. But I’m able to sing now instead, because something has to break through - playing the piano had been such an outlet for me.
“The surgery I had is called a ‘De Quervain's release’ which is supposed to restore movement for the tendons in the sheath. Its an inflammatory condition where I can’t move my thumb back and forth without it grating.”
While recovering from her wrist operation, Ms Hyett decided to focus on her art. Because her wrists had pained her for so many years, she had become ambidextrous - allowing her to rest one while working with the other.
“These days music is something that comes secondary to art as a career. Because art is more marketable than music as a career,” she said.
She began on Facebook, searching through her friends’ photos to find images that she could draw.
“I would contact them and ask their permission to draw the photo and then give it to them. Then I would post a sample of the work. That way word of mouth got started,” she said.
“But where I really started to become professional with the art was when I started at the Good Food Markets on Saturdays in Richmond.
“I didn’t have the resources to hire the marquee or anything, but luckily the owner mentored me through it. She leant me a marquee, and also the Glossodia Fire Brigade leant me stuff and got me going.
“It wasn’t long after starting at the markets that I was just on Gumtree one day looking up accommodation and I saw the shop advertised - I saw the rent of the shop and it sunk in that ‘hang on, i can do that - it’s feasible’.”
Ms Hyett’s studio gallery is called Shop 10 ¾. It’s based in the Old Post Office Arcade in Windsor Mall.
“It’s a studio gallery, a place for me to work from. I do portraits of people and pets from photos. People see me working and they come in and place a commission,” she said.
“I’ve had commissions from local people - the support from locals is probably why I’ve been able to get a shop so soon after starting in the markets.
“Usually if i get an idea i can do something, i’ll follow through, sometimes it crashes down, but sometimes it works
“I’m proud of where I’ve arrived at, from where I’ve been. It’s a story that does me proud but also one that does the community proud.”
