My Art - up until now

A dear friend of mine recently did a blog on all (or most) of her creations up until this point and I really enjoyed reading this and appreciated the growth of her creative journey.

It gave an essence of inspiration to see someone who had an idea and just got started with what they knew, what they had and what was available to them at the time and overtime they invested in more skills, gear and so many trials and errors.

To give credit where credit is due, check out Lauren’s blog and the inspiration behind mine


It motivated me to reflect on my creation process the last several years as a hobbyist artist and creative entrepreneur and I was inspired to do my own blog - I feel 2024 is almost like a reset for me. About 3 years ago, I created art just for me, it was a tumultuous year (2020-2021) for me personally and I just kept painting and painting. I put a few of the paintings into galleries but didn’t believe they would sell. I suppose that is a lot of artists frame of mind - you know, the whole imposter syndrome belief that a lot of artists have.

When I was reflecting, however, I realized that I have been a prolific creator, like way beyond what the average person does. A super creative beast but this beast was fueled by need, not by pure love of the simple act of creating.

I had an inkling of what creating art feels like, but it’s always served a purpose. I do love art with a purpose - it is so practical!

This year, however, I want to explore pleasure, pure love and intention into art creation.

I am moving to a new home and property in less than 2 weeks with a new separate dwelling for dedicated studio space and an entire blank canvas in the big home - an old Queenslander with white VJ paneled walls.

When I was 18 / 19 I studied Interior Design - it turned out to be something I really didn’t like as a whole, but there were elements that I loved which were the details and consideration of each space.

22 years later, I find myself moving to my dream property with walls as blank canvases and an open-minded husband and I cannot wait to add color to the walls, a good dose of whimsy and magic and with a 7-year-old daughter who is awed by beauty of the natural world.

All of my art is inspired by nature and the magic it gives freely to those who can see and appreciate it. I plan to infuse a bit of this magic into each room of our new forever home so it is itself a work of art that slowly unfolds over years of intentional magic.

Since 2017, I have been creating art almost full time, but only part time as a hobbyist artist. The rest of the time I was creating art projects and curriculums — hundreds of them! for Kindergartens, After School Programs and individual art lesson’s. I also built a not-for-profit incorporated artist collective called The Gap Creative Inc. and sat in the President’s role for 2 years - it was a very time consuming volunteer role to get it up and running but now it is thriving and I have stepped away to focus on family and moving to our new property. This experience introduced me to so many incredible artists and creatives from hobby to multi-award winning masters, I was so inspired by their stories, their dedication and their willingness to put themselves out there to dozens of galleries and markets.

All of these very successful and wonderful experiences, but I had very little time left to create art to sell or art to simply love for myself. I was too busy supporting and building things for everyone else.

2024 is the year for me. I have a really interesting Solar Return (Astrology reading to understand the themes of the year ahead for this birthday year). I have a Pisces Moon and a Leo Rising. Both very creative and dreamy energies. Once I have landed to my new property immersed in rainforests and nature, surrounded by creeks and mountains, my little studio will become an incredible resource to bring forth the creative love I have been nurturing for years.

I look forward to quiet time to create intentionally, it already feels so spacious.

I believe all of the experiences I have, and the decisions I have made the past year (like deleting Facebook and not really caring about how active I am on Instagram - it is just sorta there, and likely will delete it soon), it has given me a lot of time to ground myself into the intention I have been speaking into and now I am just over a week away to bring that into reality.

So with that, I am going to share a few key pieces I have made these past few years that have helped shaped these intentions and trajectory of where I am at in this moment of time.

In no particular order, the next part of this blog is a history of art projects since 2017. A small selection of them at least.

GREETINGS AND GAMES

Every week, I would draw a new chalk drawing for the afterschool and weekend students coming into studio. Each class had 8-12 students at a time.

I started doing the chalk drawings on the concrete outside of the studio door until I got a chalkboard easel. They were so much fun to create with the weeks theme and the kids loved them!

I also made some “roll a dice” games which are still played today in our family - we sent them out as gifts to our international cousins this year for Christmas and they were a huge hit!

Roll a Caveman and Roll a Fairy were some of the faves but I also made Roll an Alebrije (Mexican folk art that inspired the Pinata) and Roll a Bug, Roll a Landscape, Roll a Monster. FuN!

Favorite Art Lesson’s and Projects (some of them, anyway)

Bird Collages inspired by Pete Cromar. I really loved this project because it used recycled paper and materials, and the colors were endless!

I had so much scrap paper from my husband’s office and the office I worked at, at the time. And every time we did a paint project, there would be left over paint in the trays, so we made painted paper. Painted paper is simply abstract paper made with watercolor or acrylic paints and we can do color themes, patterns, brush stroke exploration and color combinations.

I created templates for the bird designs (or the kids just made up their own depending on style of learning) and away we went!

The Rooster one we had the option of uploading it to Canva to create some digital overlays - it was fun to explore technology with more hands-on art techniques.

We did a lot of collage projects, I had sooo much painted paper and the off cuts of paper from the already recycled paper were saved too and we made paper mosaics with the off cuts - we wasted hardly anything in the art studio when I was teaching group classes.

Some other favorite collages…….

Kindy Jellyfish where we explored with paint first and using differnt tools to make impressionistic painting designs in the wavy waters, then watercolour droppers for the jellyfish and seaweed and yarn for the jellyfish tentacles.

Small paper mosaic hearts.

Puffin mixed media collages.

I created entire art curriculums inspired by artists and natural wonders from around the world. We did terms in Asia, Africa, North America, South America and I was building a European one but then our downstairs reno started.

I loved the Japanese Notan Art - it was simple but beautiful and we used black paper for a dramatic backdrop against painted paper that we created from previous lessons.

A whole unit on Surrealism and the symbolic nature we could create - we used magazine clippings for this.

There was a Ukrainian lesson inspired by folk artists that use cut paper to make beautiful floral designs (I created this lesson before the war on Ukraine and paid homage to the artistry there).

Paper snoflakes using cut paper or 3D origami folds.

Silly Cactus mosaics

Nature collages using leaves/ bark /flowers

Rock collages from different beach visits.

clay

I don’t have a kiln (however I have tried primitive kiln firing without much success) but I loved working with Polymor clay. It is oven baked clay.

The Clay Dragon eyes were hugely popular as birthday themes and workshops. This was a whole thing I created from Harry Potter, I researched the dragons, created folklore stories for each, designed their eggs and eyes and got the kids to draw from a pouch the glass eye which was the theme / dragon they would create. It was so fun!

just a few over the years below.

WOOL PROJECTS

This was a big theme for a couple of years and where I spent most of the art creation I was making to sell and for gifts. It was such a therapeutic experience for me and learning a whole new art medium. I spent time with the elders at Spinners and Weavers Queensland Association and learned from them. I still have so much to learn and practice but I really enjoy this artform.

I made entire imaginary worlds with playscapes for children from coral reefs, fairy rings, farmers fields, lakes and riverlands. Custom orders starting to come in and now they are being stocked at a local shop. I plan to continue making some to have available when I go to markets. Only one shared here - but I have made about 20 so far.

I also loved to make little wool gifts, a sun wall hanging for my daughters classroom, a woolen and felted sewing kit for a tween friend and a baby tummy time/ change mat for a cousin.

PET Portraits

This exploration was purely to prove to myself I could do it. Out of all the portraits, just one was a custom order where I received payment (and hugely undercharged!). I had a lot of fun but also came up against a lot of imposter syndrome blocks. I was using this journey as a way to explore multiple mediums and brands of coloured pencils, pan pastels and soft pastels to create these portraits. Many I gave away through competetions with the note that I was learning so no charge. People loved them!

I won’t do them again, they are very time consuming.

I wanted to create something a bit different as there are thousands of pet portrait artists out there. I asked the people to give me 3 words to explain their pets personality and I would give them a hat based on that.

These are some of the ones I came up with…..

WINE and canvas

Oh man. A whole chapter in my life spanning 20 years. I went to wine school when I was in my early 20’s. Worked in several wineries from tiny boutique to international brands. I worked in VVVIP events as event manager and host, Restaurant Sommelier in one of the finest hotels in the world and also the humble quiet neighbourhood gems.

I pivoted from hospitality work to offering Wine and Canvas, which was basically a Sommelier offering Wine Masterclasses alongside original paintings that I created. There are so many cut and paste paint and sips out there - you just buy the design and anyone can teach you how to paint.

But no one did what I did. Original artworks, Wine Masterclasses and education with cheese pairings.

I could have solely focused on this and made a successful career and scaled it large, but I was losing interest with alcohol fast - a lot of people just wanted to get drunk and didn’t really care about the unique experience I was creating for them so I got disenchanted by the whole thing after awhile.

People hired me for special private events in their home, businesses, celebrations - it really could have gone off if I chose to focus on that but it was always a reluctant bread and butter because I didn’t align with the frequency of alcohol for business any longer.

I spent a bit of time investing in instagram posts for wine tips too - that was really time consuming for no real advantage. Lessons learned…..

Plus, being a Sober Sommelier is a bit weird, eh?

I am now sober for over two years and I can happily put this chapter in my life to a close -I have a lot to say about the alcohol industry but will save that for another day.

FOREST SCHOOL + ECO ART

I worked for Wildling’s Forest school for 2 years - it was a fabulous job. I got to spend many hours outdoors supporting the team facilitate nature immersed adventures, risky play and eco art activities were my specialty. I helped develop the program “The Art of Fire” where we created pigments for tie dye, artist charcoal and gum leaf print making.

This was such a wholesome chapter that helped me transition out of the Wine and Canvas period - I needed something with authentic love and substance to guide me to the next pathways.

Art Birthday parties and special events

BIRTHDAYS
So many birthdays. Wow they were fun but hard work. The level of preparation was pretty big and I definitely didn’t charge enough. If I had to go back I would tell my 37 year old self to know your worth.

We did whatever theme was wanted; I had a few themes that I knew well and created multiple projects for, Harry Potter was popular, we made potions (I created my own potions and design with nature things), I had requests for Pokémon, Minecraft, unicorns and this book about cats - I had no idea what it was but I researched and what I came up with was pretty cool!

ECO ART BIRTHDAYS

I also started to be hired for Eco Art Birthday parties (I really prefer doing these ones as the preparation isn’t as intense and I am getting kids outside and using their imaginations to find river clay and create with them - we made clay mosaics with flowers, seeds and pods as well as fairy huts.

WEAVING WORKSHOPS

I collaborated with a woman who is a master weaver - in exchange for use of my space, I received education on weaving with raffia and a specialized fiber only found in Arnhem Land. I will eventually hold my own workshops on baskets because I love making little baskets out of many materials.

OTHER COLLABS

ART GALLERY
Getting to know some galleries, they wanted to collab with their creative space. There is this wonderful bookshop in Red Hill called Scrumptious Reads with a curated bookshop upstairs and a gallery with full chefs kitchen downstairs for catering gallery events. The owner is a real foodie and I know her from my days in VIP hospo work.

I was enjoying making mixed media art with fabric paint and embroidery, so we did a little workshop on this - I got to use up some scrap fabric and see some pretty cool creations.

This had a whole vision, but alas, Covid lockdowns made it hard to create any sense of stability.

GYM
A local gym hired me as part of their wellness program. I created 2 experiences for art for over 40 people who signed up for their 8 week challenge of strength, nutrition and mindful wellness. That was a fun collab that attracted new clients that wouldn’t have otherwise known about me or what I do.

REAL ESTATE

A well known real estate agent hired me to create a series of artworks for new home sales and home anniversaries. I would create up to 200 custom made cards at a time that I hand carved lino print, hand printed, painted and added glitter—— later eco glitter and learned a whole thing about what makes eco glitter ACTUAL eco glitter from a change-leading biologist and friend. She explained that to be truly eco glitter, it has to be made from eucalyptus cellular fibre and the only way to tell is under microscope - she was sourcing a bunch of this glitter for me but it isn’t cheap! so I said, lets just do without glitter from now on. We don’t need it!

My collection of some baskets I have made. I bring them to women’s circles when I host these events and store buttons, shells, yarn scraps and crystals in them.

SACRED ARTS

I did a whole collaboration with a beautiful Master Reiki and Sound Healer, Kim Rooney of Pure Presence.

I’m not sure why we stopped - I think it got too hard between the lockdowns. It was moments of peace and healing during the pandemic for people. Intentional rest space with sound healing and a whole process of art therapy in a group context of women’s circle where we dove into subconscious art creation to map out unconscious themes to heal within. It was really powerful and wonderful work to be part of.

The Gap Creative

Another big chapter and sometimes I wonder, what was I thinking? Don’t get me wrong, it was a deeply enriching experience and really allowed me to flex my organizational skills in a different way. I knew I could project manage because I have done it many times in my hospitality career for events 6 people to 2000 people. Budgets from $300-$60,000. I have done it all.

What I wasn’t prepared for is the ego politics within these frameworks.
When you are trying to build something really, really good that comes from a place of love and unification, it can bring out the worst in some people because it may trigger their self-worth and if they are sitting in a place of scarcity, fear, or a fragile sense of worth, they can become judgmental, competitive and downright hard to work with.
I had some interesting experiences and confrontations with a couple of people when I was in a leadership role that gave me some great learning opportunities on how to address conflict.
This was also during a time when I was studying Holistic Psychology - what I know now would have helped me cope better in those tense moments. Thankfully 99% of the people I was working with were highly supportive and were part of the vision of collaboration, not competition.

I really enjoyed helping to create an artist collective as team leader and creative director with gallery launches, getting politicians involved and supportive of our cause and sourcing grant money.

Would I do it again? Likely not in this lifetime, but I know there are projects in my future that this experience will undoubtedly support with experience under my belt.

A photo of me with my first artworks in our gallery launch - a proud moment not only as the President of the Association but my first gallery exhibition as a hobby artist!

And a photo shoot that I was creating to highlight individual talents of some of the artists, including interviews, photo shoots and career highlights. It was so wonderful to provide that celebration for each artist that was a part of this association.

The Gap Creative is still going and thriving with a crew of volunteers. To be a part of it, you must live in The Gap. As I am moving to an area around Samford, I will close this chapter in my life but hopefully be a part of another artists group where I am moving to.

in conclusion

As I look back and reflect on all that I have done and achieved in 7 years as a nearly full time creative in some capacity, I am amazed at what one human can do. This doesn’t even include the journey prior to this in a whole other career with Wine. Wow.

The art projects I have shared here represent maybe 3% of the total art curriculums and projects I created over the years but these are some of the best ones.

I haven’t even shared all of my art like weavings and paintings because that will be when I release my shop update — coming soonish.

In retrospect, it was wayyy way too much. But during Covid, pivot’s and resourcefulness were essential as a sole trader creative entrepreneur that didn’t get fully vaccinated. You had to say yes to many things to make a living and fulfil a sense of purpose.

But what it makes me realize is that I am done with the hundreds of ideas and projects. I desire a slower, more private and simplistic life, where I can devote my full attention to my garden, painting, art creation and motherhood. Homesteading and raising a family is a full time job in itself, I will only have small opportunities for art creation and the occasional workshop and event to host.

How I make a living with creative entrepreneurship will look different moving forward, I don’t quite know what it will look like yet, but a slowness and not so expansive energy will permeate in my next moves.

Thank you for reading, its been a journey!