Different Strokes
Meet East Austin Illustrator Lydia Starkey
Words by Sam Lauron Photos courtesy of Lydia Starkey
For artist Lydia Starkey, painting and illustration have been part of her identity for as long as she can remember. No matter which continent she’s on or which city she lives in, her passion for art remains the same.
Originally from London, Starkey moved to Austin about a year ago with her now-husband. The two met overseas, and after traveling the world together to places like South America, the Philippines and Japan, they decided to settle down in a city where neither of them were familiar. “We had a few places in the US that we thought were good [options],” Starkey recalls, “[but] Austin just appealed to us.”
Upon planting roots, Starkey’s career didn’t pan out like she thought it would. Because she was on a visa, Starkey wasn’t able to pursue a design job like she had hoped. It was this discovery that pushed her to pursue freelance and commission work. “I fully moved here imagining I would get a job in a design studio,” she says. “It’s kind of been a blessing in disguise [because] it’s meant that I’ve really had to push my freelance work.”
Starkey’s illustrations, one of which may be recognizable from the Tree Folks story in our 2018 Art Issue, are formed from an organic process and inspired by people, nature, and travel. Using paint, ink, and watercolors, she illustrates what she sees. A couple things she’s found herself painting since her move to Austin are common sightings in the city: dogs and Topo Chico. Being from London, Topo Chico was a foreign object to Starkey at first glance. “When I first saw a Topo Chico bottle I was like, what is that thing that everyone is drinking?” she recalls. “And then I looked at the design and I was like, wow this is a really nice design.”
While prints of the Topo Chico bottle sold on her Etsy shop and Topo Chico themselves even reached out to Starkey to work on promotional material, it was the connection with Austin that made this particular painting so meaningful for her. “It solidified being in Austin and creating [here].”
Native Knowledge
View Lydia’s illustrations in person during this year’s East Austin Studio Tour where she will be opening up her home for a gallery. Find her at stop #521.
