We were lucky to catch up with Pardue Hewett recently and have shared our conversation below.

Pardue Hewett, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

As Pardue Hewett, we each brought decades of solo practice into a shared studio. Learning to create together as one required a new kind of craft—one rooted in intuition, trust, responsiveness, and sometimes compromise. Collaboration requires rhythm and dialogue.

In hindsight, simply observing each other more might’ve deepened our process early on. The most essential skill has been receptivity—to one another, to the materials, and to the work’s unfolding.

Our biggest obstacle has probably been learning that we must create in tandem, not together in unison. In other words, we each have separate and clear pieces of the process, and we work independently and separately on each other on our pieces. Mike is patient, methodical, and meticulous; Meredith approaches the work from an intuitive and improvisational place. This has created minor conflict here and there, but is also the greatest strength of our collaboration.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We are Pardue Hewett, an artist collaboration founded by Meredith Pardue and Mike Hewett. Our work grows out of a shared life and a shared interest in exploring where abstraction and realism meet.

Meredith’s background is rooted in expressive, nature-inspired abstraction, while Mike comes from a tradition of photorealistic painting, focused on precision and detail. We combine these two approaches and create paintings that are both emotionally layered and visually grounded—balancing gesture with form, spontaneity with structure.

Our process is collaborative but independent. We work on the same canvas, usually at different times, layering our individual marks and ideas until the painting comes into balance. The result is work that neither of us would make on our own.

We offer original paintings and collaborate with collectors, designers, and consultants to create art for a variety of spaces—residential, commercial, and hospitality. We’re thoughtful about how each piece will live in a specific space. We consider scale, tone, and atmosphere, so the work feels intentional and integrated.

The core of Pardue Hewett is a genuine collaboration—two voices creating one vision. We’re proud of how our work invites reflection, and we hope it offers viewers a sense of connection and quiet resonance.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Our creative journey is rooted in the belief that combining abstraction with elements of realism allows for a deeper emotional resonance. Abstraction creates space for interpretation and feeling, while realism creates grounding and tethers the piece to our physical world. Together, these visually polar approaches invite a layered experience—one that connects visually and emotionally, encouraging a sense of presence, memory, and reflection.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society can best support artists by valuing creative work as an essential part of culture and community—not just as a luxury or a “nice to have”. This means collecting original artworks connecting with individual artists and their studios, investing in arts education, funding public art initiatives, supporting local galleries, and making space for artists to live and work affordably. Creating more opportunities for exposure and collaboration also helps build a more sustainable and connected creative ecosystem.