Category: Contemplative

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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