Caricature Queen Dr Jay Harley opens shop in Maryborough

One is a professional trumpet player, the other has a doctorate in criminology, but this former Sydney couple is planning something altogether different. Meet the duo behind one of the city’s new shop fronts:

A Sydney artist is opening a new business in Maryborough.

From local faces to politicians and everyone in between, Dr Jay Harley, or Caricature Queen as she’s more commonly known, has a love for creating caricature portraits.

Despite having an academic background with a doctorate in criminology, Dr Harley has created caricatures for the past 20 years.

Now in her mid-60s, she is opening a Caricature Queen store on Kent Street with husband Barrie Gott.

“I think in creating a shop like this, where I wanted to be funky, and just to show that this sort of thing is for every age... everybody, and everybody needs a caricature, they might not realise it, but they need it,” Dr Harley said.

The husband-wife team relocated to Maryborough from Sydney about 18 months ago and “absolutely love” the community in the heritage city.

Caricature Queen Dr Jay Harley (right) with her husband Barrie Gott are renovating their store in Maryborough.

When the shop came up for sale at 387 Kent St, it was the opportunity for the pair to introduce caricatures to Maryborough.

“For me... the colour, the vibrancy and all that, I think there’s so much gloom and doom in the world, we just want to get above that and lift people’s positivity, and fun. You’re never too old to have fun,” Dr Harley said.

“What do they say... you don’t get old, you just get more colourful? That’s my motto.”

Dr Harley is quite the jack of all trades, with a creative background extending into film making, media, radio, acting.

While she has been running the caricature business for decades, mostly in the online space, she hopes by opening a store it will make the caricature process an “experience” for customers.

“It’s not ordering a caricature, it’s an experience,” she said.

Caricature Queen Dr Jay Harley was at this year’s FraserPop Festival.

Depending on the intricacy of the drawing, a caricature typically takes Dr Harley a few hours to a day or two to complete.

She has an eye for detail, determined to personalise each caricature as much as she can.

Even when she worked in professional workplaces, Dr Harley said there was always a “wall of caricatures” dedicated to the staff wherever she worked.

“It’s something that’s always been with me since my youth,” she said.

Given Mr Gott’s musical background, the couple said they hope to incorporate music into the store somehow.

He is a professional trumpet player and heavily involved in Maryborough’s brass band and jazz community.

As for Maryborough itself, the pair have fallen in love.

“It’s just a different lifestyle and we are loving it,” Dr Harley said.

The Caricature Queen store will open in late August.