Hard Work Pays Off With Great Reward

It seems like a lifetime since I jotted down some thoughts to share here.  It's almost been six months.  To say "time has flown" would seem a lie as each day that has passed since my last post has been well spent working towards our life dream. My studio has been completely ignored, dust building on half-finished projects which were cleaned off and packed away as my studio became a spare room for guests over the Christmas period.  I've mentally paused on that part of my life as my attention has been drawn elsewhere and I couldn't handle the muse distracting me with ideas of craft projects.

Every spare second I've had has been spent on being connected with the earth.  The joy I have felt over the last six months is hard to describe.  The honest truth is I've stopped to breathe, take in my surroundings and put down roots. I disconnected myself from screens and TV.  I've stopped spending energy on situations that were soul-sapping.  I was tired and worn out and so I just stopped. And started on me, working on my dreams, which is something I've never done in my 39 years.  

I started with a spade and some spray paint.  The back lawn, despite being lush and a place where I would sit on a blanket and eat my dinner, got severely frost-bitten with our Winter frost.  It turned from a glorious vibrant green to a heartbreaking yellow:

And so we planned and carved out:

And I started digging:

Every spare minute I had, even in the dark, I dug.  Using Heath's grandmother's shovel with worn metal and faded wood, it sliced into the earth which for me was both sentimental and meditative. My mind's constant whirling was replaced by rhythmic breathing and within what seemed like a short period of time, one vegetable bed site was cleared.  Yes, I could have hired a rotary hoe and had it completed in half hour, but the fact that our entire yard was hand dug, tilled, rowed, planted and watered is very special to me and my connection with nature.  

By the end of October, progress was certainly being made:

As each bed was finished, it sat for two weeks prior to planting out with seedlings.  This is a pic taken on 18 November 2017 with one of the beds 'cooking'.

And by 8 December, we were in full swing with planting, maintaining and harvesting (with the two last beds to be finished in time for Autumn 2018):

This is the most recent pic taken on 9 January from the same angle:

The last six months have been a lot of hard work. We have failed, had entire seedlings munched by slugs, nearly lost our entire orchard and ran out of water! I've felt muscles I've never felt before and my, have I been sleeping well!  But to see how far we've come in what we've been told by the veterans has been a very short time is the most rewarding of all.  To say I'm proud is an understatement as, as a child, I couldn't stand gardening; I thrive by succeeding after many failures and the education has been immense.  But most of all, to see our veggie box customers' faces when they see what we've grown for them is what makes me happy.  To share our knowledge, our food and seedlings and the discussions had and relationships formed with great people is what makes all the hard work worth it.  And that joy is indescribable.  I know now what my lot in life is and living that every day is worth more than all the money in the world!

Come and follow what we're up to in the patch on Instagram @ourfarmdream :)

Twelve Months In The Making

It's been a year since we moved out of suburbia to a more quiet area and can I admit I've never felt better.  Moving houses every year or two since I left my maternal nest has been physically and emotionally taxing, so much so the residual feeling of being displaced and not belonging has been a hard one to shift.  It's almost like we're waiting for that moment we'll need to move again making only very short-term plans.  Knowing that I don't need to start the process of planning the next move just as we're settling in has been one that is hard to put into words, but I'm so excited to continue with our plans as we head towards Spring.  I feel my own roots are settling and I can exhale.  

As I said in my last post, I've been enjoying weaving by the fire in my down time and I find it so poignant that this piece of fabric is my last project completed in my first year living here.  

See, I started weaving these straps whilst we waited for settlement, sitting in our lounge room surrounded by boxes.  It kept my mind balanced through the mountain of to dos.  And once we settled in, I made a conscious decision to make a note of my completed projects, at the same time giving a voice to my pieces by writing about them here.  This has enabled me to track my progress as an artist whilst remembering each piece's inspiration whilst the project is fresh.

Here's a small collage I made for myself of the last 12 months of creating.  

I'm so thrilled with what I've achieved and learnt during this time and proud of myself that I've let go and created freely.  I'm almost through my WIP pile and have new ideas flowing for the next 12 months of projects.  There's so much I would like to learn and projects I'd like to do, but half the fun is the planning and stealing snippets of time just for me.  

Hope you have a great weekend!

New Singular OOAK Piece

I love this time of year where the ground is covered in a smattering of autumnal hues after the leaves have danced from their limbs and the morning dew so prominent, everything around us appears to twinkle.  The garden is slowing down as we head into the early part of winter and the brisk mornings make getting out of bed that little bit harder.  We're having to start a fire as soon as we get home as the daylight promptly turns to night with the chill seeping in through the large amount of glass windows.  This time of year, my most favourite part of the evening is when all around us quietens and all is finally done for the night.  We sit down for a brief time before bed in front of the fire, winding down with our cat at my feet whilst I weave.  I've slowly been working on some weaving - a project I had started before we moved house which will be a year ago in a couple of weeks.  I look forward to sharing it with you once the fabric is complete.  I find weaving to be something which allows me to shut off my busy mind once the loom has been warped and each thread is deliberately pulled and beaten in place to create straps, which are then hand sewn together, emitting the true essence of handmade.  It's an enormous task, but one which I enjoy immensely all cosy mosy in front of the fire.  

Studio time has been quite limited as we've been getting home quite late over the past few weeks.  I've very slowly been able to work on a piece, again embodying my love of nature in my artistic statement type style.  I made the callistemon flower bead awhile back.  Creating the cup part where the stamens normally grow from was a lesson of supreme patience as I would tend to squish a few.  It was inspired by the Australian native callistemon for its silky stamens in deep, rich and vibrant colours, for its nectar-filled cups attracting Wattle birds and New Hollands to feed upon, for the beauty of its seed pods and ever changing foliage.  This bead in turn inspired this piece "Nature's Way - 2".  

I used my handpainted focal bead to represent the Callistemon flower pod; handmade beaded leaves to represent the ever changing leaf colour in Autumn; a Tagua nut, wood and ceramics as earth elements; and Dupioni silk to represent the fact that the plant looks rough from afar, but the foliage and flowers are silken to the touch.  All components are bound together by my favourite vintage bronze wire and measures 52cms around the neck, with the pendant being a further 15cms.  

Wishing you a great week ahead!

Knowing Your Worth

If you have been following along my creative journey, you will know how much I love creating.  The exciting part for me is not only the end result but the entire process, which begins with a sketch.  Wracking my brain how each piece will be made, what materials best represent each line for the overall story of the piece excites me.  Yet, the most wondrous part of all is seeing the finished piece that works aesthetically and practically.  There are some times where my ideas don't quite come together in this way when taking the design and transposing it into something tangible and so trying to keep within the same theme, I correct my mistakes.  And so the story evolves.

As this entire process for me comes when it's ready, the completion of each piece has no timeframe.  Components are sketched, made, rested, painted in multiple layers with resting in-between, sealed, rested and each part is pieced together with intention as the sketch becomes alive.  And once the piece is complete, it sits and waits.  I pause and observe making sure each piece is just right and I smile to myself with that internal warmth of joy.

Then I begin the online process - taking numerous photographs trying to capture the piece in such a detailed way so the intended market can virtually feel the essence and intention the piece has.  I do this as my life is such where I'm still unable to attend markets.  And so inlays my problem.  My dream of being a successful jewellery designer is still that - just a dream.  I'm so grateful to have a few pieces bought online as well as in person but for some reason, online selling continues not to be for me and I'm unsure as to why my pieces are lost in translation as the feedback I've received has been wonderful.  So yesterday I decided to close my Facebook page and let it go.  

Today I finally knew my worth.  This is something I've been working on for many, many years.  Being and feeling confident and aligned in my own skin.  Today, I realised I'm more than just likes, comments and shares.  I'm someone who expresses themselves emotionally, meaningfully and mindfully through art.  I love what I do.  I love what I make.  And that's all I need to be.

On that note, I finished a piece that's been in progress since mid-March.  I shared the intended pendant dangles in my last blog post and now, its story was complete.  Intended for my "Findings of Nature" series, this one features a found piece of driftwood, recycled sari silk and handmade polymer clay components inspired by my love for nature.  It's certainly a statement piece, bold and armouresque representing my love for the forest - the strength and wiseness of the old trees, the whispers amongst the leaves, the life that lives deep beneath the earth amongst the roots or on the branches of the trees, finding comfort in the stillness, new life protected in tiny cups bursting free into the wind and the smell of deeply rich earth laying in wait for the cycle of life.

Here is a close up of the pendant:

And a full view:

Enjoy your week :)

Gardening, Beadmaking and Painting

It's been a little while since I last stopped by my blog, mostly as my time has been spent in the garden tending the patch when not working.  We had such an abundance over Summer which was quite surprising as we started late in the season getting ourselves sorted and secondly, as we were just seeing what would thrive or fail not knowing what the summer temperatures and the amount of rainfall would be like impacting production.  Ummm .... all I can say is we haven't needed to shop for fresh fruit and veggies since early January.  We've only needed to purchase the staples - onions, garlic and avocado - but that is it, which is massive as three-quarters of all our meals use fresh vegetables.  Am remedying the onions and the garlic with seedlings growing already for next season and will attempt a test run on avocados by building a suitable environment, so keeping fingers crossed for next year.

Since early March, I've only had a chance to work on two projects.  I recently completed the design and made the dangles for my next "Findings of Nature" necklace:

And over the last few weeks, I finally plucked up the courage to paint a painting in colour.  Now I've painted before in my dot-like style, however, I've never actually painted something 100% with a brush.  So dealing with serious handshakes, constant confidence questioning and concerns of stuffing it all up was uncomfortable, but fulfilling as I finished it by pushing my boundaries way out.  It is a bang of colour ... perhaps too bright for some, but I wanted something seriously vibrant and weirdly interesting to adorn our plain, stark walls with dark brick in places.  I've named this piece "Woodland Faerie", acrylic on canvas, 40x30cm.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead :)

New Piece from the "Hint of Tribal" Series

Awhile ago, I handpainted some wooden pendants with two feature beads to each pendant as part of a component kit I was trading.  A couple of them sold, but I kept my favourite of them all in hopes to use them in a piece.  Like with many of my pieces, the materials I wished to use sat waiting (the story of my life!) until recently, where I've been on a major creative push.

This piece wasn't created from a story, an expression, a feeling or something I saw which inspired me, but simply, texturally.  The pendant was my favourite for many reasons: it inspired a painting using the same texture as the feather; the design came so naturally that once it was finished, I literally jumped for joy and it prompted me to extend on the idea to sell the kits; and more importantly, I loved painting it so much that each time I hold it, it makes me smile.

I had made a cute wirework bail which was perfect for the chain to pass through which was sprinkled with some wire wrapped seed beads.  Next, I added the feature handpainted beads, a singular Tagua Nut cube, Czech glass and some Mykonos Greek ceramic spacers, all wire wrapped together.  I finished it with a hand macrame and seed bead neckpiece and wirewrapped embellished clasp.

It measures 40 cms from the base of the neck to the bottom of the pendant.  It is quite light-weight and texturally delicious!  I love how the pendant pops, all the other pieces add to its warmth and the soft cashmere blend neckpiece completes the piece.

Completing this piece was a triumphant moment for me as it was another design I'm seriously proud of.  It was also the last piece for me to complete from a collection of designs and materials to use I had grouped together back in 2015.  Yep, laughably, it takes me that long to get around to finishing things!  But I trust in myself enough that one day my ideas will transform from a sketch, to singular objects that will connect together so meaningfully and materialise into something a person will one day wear against their heart. 

When I test drove this piece, I felt the energy of my love of creating it almost like a protective shield, so this piece naturally became a part of my "Hint of Tribal" series. 

The Bowl That Inspired The Necklace

Back in January, I blogged about an offering bowl which inspired my new "Dream Weaver" necklace series.  In the throws of creative energy, I had stopped working on the offering bowl and jumped straight into making the pendant for the necklace.  Here it is below:

I was terribly unsure if it was too outside of the box, however, reassurance came in the way of a tremendous amount of positive feedback and the above piece sold straight away, which totally floored me!  

So after what feels like yet another week from hell, where absolutely everything that could go wrong does go wrong, I needed to calm my mind with some meditative creating and ended up finishing the offering bowl last night.  I love the way it sits in the hand, tightly coiled with splashes of colour, with its warmth permeating the fibre.  The only downside to it being a bowl is the fact it's so difficult to photograph hahah so here it is top down:

It's almost the weekend (yayyyyy) so enjoy every minute whatever you choose to do :)