Source : Perth Now news
Walking away from her “draining” mining industry career, Steph Herde found herself exploring nude artistry before “stumbling” into work as a skimpy barmaid.
The loss of her mum had Herde rethinking the direction of her life and deciding to step away from her $180,000 income to pursue her dream as an artist.
And when landscape and pet portrait commissions didn’t seem to fill the void in her heart, Herde found herself painting nudes and kink-based art in her spare time.
Before long, she was selling her works at Perth and Sydney Sexpos and attending BDSM and kink events to immerse herself in the world she loved to paint.
After “stumbling” into the skimpy industry in January 2024, somehow never knowing it existed despite her years working in the Goldfields, Herde found herself another love.
And when that skimpy bar work helped her promote and sell her art across Australia as well, her love for the job only grew.
She says her experience in the mining industry helps her relate to most of her customers, as well as “catching them off guard” and shattering their assumptions of her and skimpies in general.
“I think a lot of people look at those who are in the sex work industry and adjacent fields as though we are desperate and can’t be employed for anything else, so they look down their nose at us,” she said.
“It’s the slippery slope fallacy — if you’re this, you must be that. You must not be very smart if you’re a skimpy.
“When they learn what I used to do . . . I have people say I’m too smart to be a skimpy, because they have the assumption that being a skimpy means I can’t be intelligent.
“I think it’s a very lazy assessment of another human being who’s providing so much for their entertainment, and it’s incredibly untrue; a lot of the girls are incredibly smart.”
And while overall her skimpy experience has been “wholly positive”, Herde said her first trip to work in Kalgoorlie-Boulder pubs recently saw her “hustling harder than ever”.
“Kalgoorlie definitely made us work for it,” she said.
“The town is heralded as this ‘skimpy holy grail’ and as much as myself and the girl I went with tried to keep our expectations open, we were not anticipating some of the treatment we received.
“It was definitely a test of our resilience.
“On our Kalgoorlie trip two men admitted to me . . . that they take joy in coming in and trying to make the skimpies cry and I was like ‘wow, how much do you dislike yourself that you take joy in hurting others’.
“It’s just quite twisted. But usually the banter is easy to handle. I cop it a lot for my height but I just tell them they’re nipple height and I’ve never had complaints before.”
Herde said she also noticed a lot of Kalgoorlie-Boulder locals who were “jaded” and bragged about how they never tipped skimpies.
“There were just a lot of people who had such pride in being skimpy pub regulars who never tip, and it was a bit creepy,” she said.
“And one stage it felt like I was begging people. I didn’t understand why they were there if they never wanted to tip — there are plenty of other pubs around without skimpies.
“But it was good because I knew who not to waste my time on. I would still serve them, but that was about it.
“But there was a lot a lot of entitlement from the customers who wanted things for free, and (I’m) not the kind of girl who can be coerced into things I’m not being remunerated for.”
While her first experience in town wasn’t the best, Herde said she would definitely be back to try again.
For now, she is focusing on her upcoming exhibition in Perth from July 18-20 at Enclave Studio.
The exhibition sees Herde work with different creators who are experts in their field of kink.
“It’s looking into the world of kink and sexual expression, gender identity and body compositions that fall into these fields, and how it is such an inclusive space,” she said.
“It’s taking away stigma; it’s not glorifying, it’s educating.
“I want my exhibition to be an educational experience for those who aren’t as familiar with the world of kink or even just play the world of play.
“You hear so many people talk about sex with such hesitation and fear or they default into these very stereotypical gender roles when they talk about sex.
“It’s a state of play; it should be a place of curiosity and feeling and being in line with your body.
“And I will be exploring different techniques and art styles as well, so I’ll be breaking away from my typical grey tone styles for the colour drip, and I’ll be exploring new avenues, so it’s pretty exciting.”
While the loss of her mum still hurts to this day, Herde said she feels much better knowing she herself is finally “living”.
“Losing my mum was horrible and it was a big wake-up call to the fact I was living my life two weeks at a time and not really being present in my life,” she said.
“In the most cruel irony in losing her, I actually started to live.
“I was, in no way or form, ever held back by her — she was my biggest champion — but I suddenly wanted to be better because of my mum’s death.
“That’s why I entered into being sober and not drinking . . . I chose my health and I wanted to try all the things that I wanted from when I was a kid, like being an artist.
“It really is a cliche, but it’s true, life is just so short and I didn’t want to live a life that looked good for everyone else but was something that I truly was unhappy with.”
And with her mum always being the “most progressively and open-minded person” and raising Herde in a “very sex-positive home”, she knew her mum would have supported her career change, just as the rest of her family has.
“They are big advocates and big supporters of my work, my art, everything. I’m incredibly fortunate to have the family I have,” she said.
Herde is on various social media platforms as The Skimpy Artist.
