April Journal

pushing through creative vulnerability.

Suddenly it was April, which meant I really had to put my foot down to focus on some personal creative work. For the last month I had been exploring ideas for the next range of photographic artworks and I was itching to actually bring it to life. With this came extreme vulnerability. Some of which brought me to a stand still, some woke me up in the middle of the night with panic but they still pushed me further.

Creating new collections always makes me feel a little self conscious. These have always been a way for me to explore my creativity and express it without a client in mind however they still are a revenue stream for me so it is sometimes hard to juggle.

As I write this I am finalising what will go to print and what won’t and I honestly can’t wait to share it.

The Highs

Not only did the League of Extraordinary Women go amazing but I also was involved with Alison Rice’s Offline live recording this month. You can listen to the episode wherever you listen to podcasts by searching ‘Offline The Podcast'. I went wild at Flower Lovers for the shoot and got so many beauties. We managed to shoot the collection concept despite the horrible weather. Spending the Easter long weekend with my family by the sea. Multiple public holidays which gave me an excuse to slow down a little. Spending a few hours in a rose garden with Michael on his day off. Started a very exciting product collaboration that will launch later this year. Some wonderful women/life savers on Instagram tagged & DM’d me the perfect skirt for weddings I have coming in May/June. All my clients paid on time this month - huge win.

What I learnt this month

You can’t please everyone. Some people will hate this collection and some people will think it’s their favourite. I can’t lose sight of why I create these collections. I create them to push myself creatively, to take myself out of my comfort zone & create artworks that I would love in my home. The other thing I learnt is watch how tightly you hold things to your chest. I think fear really took a hold this month and I held ideas, experiments and thoughts quite close to my chest. That left me feeling closed off and isolated from an audience that has always been so supportive.

The Lows

Self doubt. The weather the day of my collection shoot was rather difficult and meant we had limited shoot time between the wind/rain came. I got two green ant bites on the same foot while in the rose garden. Two public events in one weekend wiped this introvert out completely. I lost my Karen Walker’s off the edge of a boat.