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Unfreezing: A Journey to Illustration and Back to Painting

“I mean that sounds silly. I did know Illustration existed as I spent my childhood years like many others absorbed in children’s books. What I didn’t take notice of, was that it was a style of creativity I could try.”

Recently I launched my first ever series of art prints. I am very excited. I also feel a sense of creative comfort I haven’t felt in a long time. Throughout high school and university I pinned myself as an oil painter. I loved its slowness, the rich earthy tones and the smell of oil paints. I didn’t use mediums (chemicals used to thin and work the paint) and I learnt early on to clean with oil and soap. So there was this lovely, nurturing, natural and grounded process that went with oil painting. Once I graduated as an art therapist, my oil painting petered out until I stopped altogether about 6 years ago. You could find me collaboratively creating with art therapy clients or briefly delving into some doodles and ink splatters in my word filled journal, but not sitting down to do a full big picture painting. Continue reading Unfreezing: A Journey to Illustration and Back to Painting

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The Turbulence of Sharing

“At its core art-making is a process of sharing; sharing your internal world, unbinding it from its shackles of pain and suffering. It is a sharing of energy with materials so that paint and texture and form dance and smear across paper and canvas. Art making shares your voice…”

Mull over the word sharing and what does it evoke for you? Warmth and connection, nervous anticipation, agitation, delight? It’s a powerful directive and one I thought I’d dip into a little more deeply this month. I have been curious to reflect on what it means to me, my work and creativity.

Sharing isn’t unfamiliar to me. I am a triplet and commenced life sharing my mothers womb with my two sisters. As we grew there were many other things to share; games, bedrooms, clothes, jobs and friends. My mum will testify that it wasn’t always an amicable sharing with three fiery, headstrong girls pushing relational boundaries and exploring differentiation. I am sure at times it was easier to share with our younger brother than between each of us. It wasn’t until our early 20’s when we each ended up living in different states that I truly experienced what it was like to be separate and sharing on autopilot much less. It was startling in some ways, freeing in others and generally a lot harder.

Continue reading The Turbulence of Sharing

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Wobbles With A Side of Indecisive

“I suspect that wobbles are in-fact the experience of being a little less tethered, the process of growth and shifting identity.”

I had originally planned to write my re-debut blog post and debut Substack on trauma but instead I was indecisive and have landed on that exact topic instead- indecisiveness. I am not sure if I ever think myself as an indecisive person, but I have found myself lately having a wobble. Wobbles as I so fondly call them, are that jelly feeling; an odd mix of materiality but a lacking of something solid. Perhaps this wobble is a natural consequence of so much change and the big transition from bricks and mortar business to a roving one. Looking back most of my wobbles in life have co-occurred with change. Some have been more painful than others, or like this current one hitchhiking on very welcomed life events. All wobbles are slightly different but my current wobble seems to have one dominant side effect: indecisiveness.

I suspect that wobbles are in-fact the experience of being a little less tethered, the process of growth and shifting identity. We like to anchor our sense of selves, our purposes and meanings to many aspects of our lifestyle. A big shift in lifestyle, however welcomed, negates less anchorage.It has occurred to me, rather unsurprisingly, that the Sunflower and Ivy studio space was a core anchor or tether for by business. One of those hefty iron deals masterfully melded into a curved bow. Having a cosy creative sanctuary from which to work was a privilege and also an enormous amount of work during the years of Covid. Flourish it did, with a lot of sweat and tears and love. It allowed me to breathe abundance in a time that was full of anxiety and scarcity. It also accommodated the unpredictable nature of therapy work. With various rooms to move between and shelves of art materials to encourage the restless or the nervous, the studio itself supported the work I did individually, weaving with my energy to create what Sunflower and Ivy offered.

Continue reading Wobbles With A Side of Indecisive

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9 Family Art Activities; How creativity can help you connect

“The family Canvas  trend is not new but is easily one of my favourites. I prefer it as an ongoing project over a period of time where layers can be built up and added to. Start with a super sized bit of paper, a canvas or even a pin board if you would like to go collage style”

Family activities have long included picnic adventures, helmet donning and leg tiring bike-rides and long never ending games of monopoly. But there are other ways to connect and nurture family relationships and making art together is certainly one of them. I am sure many of you have allowed the children to run freely with the craft box or have trucked yourselves off to the shops to find fresh supplies for the latest blog craze recipe (like unicorn dough or slime) but have you ever created an artwork together? Family art activities are messy in more ways than one but worth the courage. And if you get through this article with enthusiasm and an eagerness to weave regular art activities into the fabric of family life you can purchase 52 weeks with you, a years guide to family art-making here

First let’s talk connecting with kids creatively. I often see families in my art therapy practice who report  two kinds of challenges. The first and common challenge is that they have a creative child but do not feel confident or artistic enough to join them. The second is that they would like to connect more often as a family but find their children repeat the same requests for food, toys or gaming and that they aren’t into art as much anymore. Whilst there can be much to unpack for both of these struggles, being armed with a little understanding of something called bidding and some ideas for family art activites can be helpful in boosting your resources

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10 Artworks to Get You Obsessed with Recycled Art

“…uses newspaper print to create lifelike animal sculptures. From walrus and hares to iguanas her sculptures can take up to three months to create.”

The words recycled art might conjure up mental images of school art projects; made from milk cartons and wonky hot glue guns or you might picture the sweet but alas a little tacky tin can aeroplanes of your local crafters market. What you might not immediately imagine is gallery worthy fine art. No I am not kidding; recycling and fine art certainly belong in the same sentence and the same room. But before I get into that, I am going to touch on why this topic excites me so much.

It has been a welcome relief to see the recent surges of interest in acknowledging and tackling climate change and environmental disrepair. As a long time nature lover I have often wondered what makes people cringe when environmental advocacy is discussed. I posted on my Instagram about being an animal lover and had 6 of my 600 followers- 1% unfollow me in a matter of minutes. And whilst I have never been one for social media numbers, I was honestly quite surprised. Did those people think I was climbing up the ladder of my soap box at a mere mention of animals? Or are some of us trying that hard to hide from our own shame of not doing more, that we can’t tolerate someone else sharing love? I am not sure -but I do know whether we like to acknowledge it or not is we belong to Mother Earth and we all have a responsibility to start caring for her. Which brings me back to art- how do we motivate each other to change poor habits, how do we raise awareness without the soapbox and how do we inspire people that cool things can be done and created with what we already have? Well apart from saying a quiet thank goodness for David Attenborough amongst other people, there are lots of things we can do. When it comes to art, I have already written a blog post about sourcing ethical art materials (that you can read here) but we can also look at arts role in playfully advocating and creating inspiration for meaningful change.

Continue reading 10 Artworks to Get You Obsessed with Recycled Art

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Mastering Your Inner Critic in Art Making

For those of us with a loud and persistent inner critic it is easy to get used to the constant commentary, meaning that we are either resigned to it as a truth or we have adjusted our lives in such a way to normalise it or drown it out.

Our inner critic can be described as the voice or stream of thoughts that intrusively and sometimes continuously offers criticism. It sounds like too much, too loud, too negative, too ugly, too dumb, too fat, too skinny, too lazy, too inexperienced, too fake, too late. I am sure you recognise it. Inner critics love to preface things with “too”, just to drive home that the trait is too much and therefore negative.Other common versions of the voice are “you can’t” or “you are” It is very easy to feel that this voice or stream of thoughts offers us the truth. In actual fact your inner critic is often a blend of persistent and unaddressed fear or insecurity, vulnerability and cultural conditioning as well as habit. Depending on the volume and origin of your inner critic, mastering it can be a long-term practice. While it might confront you to think it is here to stay, with a bit of work, a whole lot of compassion and some creativity you can loosen the grip it has on you and your wellbeing. Continue reading Mastering Your Inner Critic in Art Making

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Boredom Busters For Home Isolation

Whether it is by choice or by restriction being confined at home can be more rewarding and comforting when filled with meaningful activity. I suggest mixing up your days with variation. 8 hour Netflix binges might seem attractive, but it is probably going to do nothing for your mood, your lethargy level or the possibility of “cabin fever”…below is my list of boredom busters for home isolation that should help you out.

So it feels more than strange to be writing the title for this blog post; Boredom busters for home isolation is  something I and most people I know are privileged to not have had to contemplate until now. The start of the decade is certainly shaking us up from our sleepy comfort. It wasn’t long ago i was writing this article in response to the worst bushfires Australia has experienced and now I am sitting here thinking up creative ways for our hands and hearts to keep occupied during a pandemic.  It’s rare for the world to experience such intense collective anxiety. But it has happened before, through both war and disease. A few lined and wise faces will be looking at this scenario knowingly but the truth is most of us have not had to weather such sinister storms. It is entirely normal to feel a full spectrum of emotions. Before I launch into my creative boredom busters, I thought I would point you in the direction of other trusted resources. Continue reading Boredom Busters For Home Isolation

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Art for Change

 Let me take you through a mix of positive power stories from artists and creative influencers to some tips of tried and true ways to put your creativity to power and make art for change.

So unless you have had a trip to Mars recently or live technology free you will be have experienced the heartbreak of watching the Australian fire crisis unfold over the last few months. Perhaps you experienced it or had family experience it directly. If you did, then my heart goes out to you. The horror must have been unimaginable.  The amount of loss and devastation tally’s high. From 24 deaths, to estimate thousands of dwellings burnt. And the affected animals falls into the 100’s of millions as declared by Sydney University. Amongst that boggling mix has been disenchanting behaviour by Australian politicians, toxic smoke haze issues, river and sediment imbalances and the list goes on. ABC recently reported on widespread misinformation and “bots” spreading arsonist claims that aren’t true. The fact that climate change discussions, in a country dedicated to coal got ah, heated, is hardly surprising. But it’s enough to increase the agitation and despair we all feel. Australia ended and started the decade with a physical and emotional enormity that no-one anticipated. I think feeling all the feelings is so important; sadness, despair, fear, uncertainty, agitation and contempt all help to mobilise action.

Action is the reason I am writing this blog post. Because alongside the terror and the pain there has been incredible amounts of action and as time continues i hope that much action will continue. This beautiful country we live in requires better care urgently. Continue reading Art for Change

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Process Art Christmas Cards

When Christmas to-do lists feel overwhelming injecting some creativity into your week can be just what your heart needs. Process Art  Christmas cards are easy, playful, fun and the perfect antidote to commercial craziness.

With Christmas and New Year just around the corner this time of year can be a mash of workplace busyness, sweet treats, social catch-ups, shopping lists, budgets, New Year’s resolutions, holiday dreaming and much more. When Christmas to-do lists feel overwhelming injecting some creativity into your week can be just what your heart needs. Utilising process based methods of creating can alleviate performance pressure and provide a moment to let go, play and relax. For this activity I have combined some process based painting techniques with the Christmas giving spirit to make Christmas Cards.  This activity is suitable for any age.

When making Christmas cards, I find a good variety of textured and coloured papers will set you up well. My three favourite ways to make patterned paper are paint blowing, string pulling and paint scratching and brushing. Try all of them, one of them or mix and match. The instructions for each are below followed by suggestions on how to turn the patterned paper into cards. Other process paint options include paint flicking, smudging, dribbling and marbling. There are no limits so get experimental.

Continue reading Process Art Christmas Cards

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Where to buy Eco Art Materials

Despite many dead-end google searches I have been replacing “all too hard” with a list of ethical producers and suppliers and alternative ideas to our fast paced art cupboards. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about starting and transitioning one thing at a time. 

So you have your eco hit list; the one with your regular purchases and habits that your determinedly and slowly switching out for more ethical and environmentally friendly alternatives. Reusable shopping bags-tick  Glass Tupperware- tick, reusable straw- tick, stainless steel razor- tick, art materials- um, cross. It’s no secret that certain things are harder to find ethical alternatives for and art materials, i believe, are right at the top of that list. It’s not that there aren’t ways to make art without the plastics,  environmental toxins and  ocean threatening micro-waste, it’s just that these ways aren’t as convenient or as pretty and sometimes they are even a bit hard to find. Bright colours, fast-drying and affordability have all become trade-marks of the art supplies industry. For the last year as i slowly wade through my back-log of art materials i have wondered, where to next?  Despite many dead-end google searches I have been replacing “all too hard” with a list of ethical producers and suppliers and alternative ideas to our fast paced art cupboards. There is now enough of a list of eco art materials I thought i would share. Each mention of a store or brand should be hyper-linked for you to click for more info- I hope you enjoy!

Continue reading Where to buy Eco Art Materials