Meet Tiara Donald: Artist and Creative Studio Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tiara Donald and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiara, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I chose a creative career because art brings me joy and peace of mind. Never being the most boisterous person, I found other ways to express myself through creative writing, painting, decor, and fashion. These things not only spark conversation and gain peoples interest…but gave me a comfortable and confident way to interact with people

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Hazel Designs is a creative brand I started in 2014 when I graduated from college. I started off just painting, and over a course of 7 years I have expanded my brand to illustrations and logos for custom apparel, and interior and spatial design. I started painting in undergrad after my father passed away from pancreatic cancer. Art was my outlet after dealing with the traumas and depression of losing a parent. Art wasn’t my trade, I actually graduated with a degree in Journalism, with minor studies in studio art. The way creating art made me feel is what encouraged me to keep at it after college, so I continued to practice and teach myself further on the mediums that I enjoyed the most. Being in a city as big as Atlanta, with so many artist and creatives sometimes I felt small, or like my work wasn’t good enough to be recognized at a larger scale. But I kept practicing. I spent a lot of time trying to sit a tables that I felt like weren’t for me. In the mean time I curated 3 solo exhibits on my own (securing location, marketing, creating the art, as well as hosting) and let me tell you it was nothing easy, but nonetheless an accomplishment I am very proud of. After meeting my husband and business partner Kristopher Russell, moving to Richmond Virginia, and wanting to focus on ownership and design, we decided to create a brand and studio called Haus on Market. Haus on Market is a historic home located in the heart of downtown Petersburg, Virginia. We bought and begin to build this space and brand with two things in mind: creatives and collaboration. Inside this space you can take photos for your professional brand, as well as lifestyle photos, record music, record video content, paint, illustrate, host events and much more. Coming from where I did in my professional career, I wanted to create a space where developing artist and people could come and feel no judgement or superiority from their peers. Everyone isn’t a celebrity, or considered elite or exclusive, and that type of narrative can scare even the most determined person away. Here at Haus on Market we understand and respect the value of start up, and camaraderie, and having a tribe of like minds to work and network with to build is important when you are in that stage of your career. Our studio is set to open Summer of 2021.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Only being in Richmond for a little over a year I’ve gotten to experience some great things around the city. One of my favorite places to visit is the Canal walk and Brown’s island. This trail along the James River is very scenic and filled with nature, food, history, and art all in a couple miles. There is also Hour Cycle boutique spin studio (designed by your truly) owned and operated by Jennifer Braswell, and is Richmond first black owned spin studio which focuses on hip hop music and the black experience. I would also stop them by Ruby Scoops Ice Cream and Treats (also a Hazel Designs interior project) Richmond’s first black owned vegan Ice cream parlor. Owner Rabia Kamara, a VCU alum has some of thee most creative and divergent flavors an Ice cream parlor has ever seen. If you come a little further out to Petersburg,VA there is Pocahontas island, the first African American community in the nation. This small community has original underground railroad sights as well as a small in home museum with original photos and artifacts from the underground railroad, and WWII. Owned by Richard Stewart, a 77 year old man that purchased the 50 acres along the Appomattox river to ensure that this part of our history never perishes. Libby Hill park is also a good place to visit, and probably my husbands favorite place in Richmond. Being a native of the city, this is one of the first places he brought me to when I first came to visit him before I moved, and now a place we come to often to just over look the city, watch the boats, and enjoy the weather. When we leave the park we often visit Shindigz, a bakery located in what locals refer to as “The Fan” that has the best chocolate and salted caramel cake I have ever had in my life. There are also a number of restaurants, breweries/wineries around the city to enjoy. Moving during a pandemic has limited the places we can visit and thoroughly enjoy, but I can not wait for the world to open back up so that I can invite my Atlanta family and friends to Richmond and experience all it has to offer. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My first and most prominent influence is my mother. I don’t think she knew it until I got older but a lot of my creative influence came from watching her over the years. I would sit in the floor of her closet and watch her get dressed. I would always tag along whenever she went to home decor and improvement stores to see how she arranged things for our home. I admired her taste and her confidence in everything she wore, arranged, etc. When I started high school, my biology teacher Skyy Banks, became one of my closest influences and friends if you will. Although she was about ten years older than me and more like a second mom than a girlfriend, she never treated me like a child. She always spoke to and with me as an adult, she taught me so much about life, and motherhood, and going after the things I want. She inspired me to write, she inspired me to be an entrepreneur, and she always encouraged me to reach a little further than my peers. She spent time with me after class letting me write pages in her books, she provided a safe space for me to be myself, and let me know that it was ok and actually a good thing to be different. She always assured me that I had something special.

Website: www.thehazeldesigns.com & www.thehausonmarket.com

Instagram: @thehazeldesigns @thehausonmarket

Image Credits
Tyrell Artis