A long, but hopefully interesting story

Grab a cuppa and settle in for a little story-time. 

Once upon a time, a very curious little girl liked to be very creative. She'd sit on the couch with her younger sister, and make up stories to 'read' to her.  The stories usually involved her favourite book characters like Top Cat, Officer "Dribble", Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo and Yogi's girlfriend, Cindy Bear.

That was me.  And still is!  Though I don't tell stories to my sister anymore, or my kids, my creativity now pours through into my art and my morning journalling practice.

Not only did I love to talk (which frustrated my teachers and attracted a few 'discipline' moments), I also loved to draw. 

My first memory of drawing was when I was 6 years old, in Grade 2. I remember vividly my first ever school project. We chose our favourite animal to draw and write a few facts about.  I chose an elephant and I can still smell the lead pencil on the greaseproof baking paper (I traced it, I was 6). I can still feel the silky smooth texture of it with all that lead pencil (it was probably still actually lead then too 😬), that I used to colour in the elephant. I can see myself sitting on the floor of the timber classroom, in front of the small square, red fire exit door that was open on a hot day, showing the teacher's assistant my drawing and feeling so proud after receiving her praise. This is my earliest memory of feeling like I was 'doing' art. 

Now, let me backtrack a little.  My dad was an aspiring artist when I was a baby and he studied Commercial Art via correspondence with the Art Training Institute in Melbourne, Victoria. He wasn't able to complete the course and after a while he felt there was no future in commercial art (ie print/billboard advertising), the way it was being taught at the time. Computers came along and advertising went digital. So he figured there was no point in pursuing commercial art. Or that's how I remember him telling it. And I believe he felt any other form of art would create a 'starving artist' and he wouldn't be able to provide for his family so when I was very young, he gave it up. 

It wasn't until mid 2021 that my dad showed me a letter he wrote in 1971 to the school he was studying with, in which he made an unusual request. A request they honoured. He asked if they would mail out the remainder of the course material so that he could pass it on to his daughters. They agreed. 

After that though, I don't remember Dad mentioning it at all. At least not until much later.  When I was in my teens I did a couple of drawing exercises from one of his books.   But it wasn't until 2021 that he gave me all of the course materials.  It's fascinating to go through now and I think I might carve out some time to play with some of the studies. 

But back to when I was little.  A couple of years after my elephant project, my next memory of art was when I was maybe 8 or 9 years old when I wrote to the Possum Pages - a children's column in the Sunday Mail newspaper here in Adelaide - and they published my drawing (and later a poem).  I remember feeling so proud that someone thought my creations were good enough to publish in the big people's newspaper! 

A few more years later, when I was 13 I was a bit of a loner. I'd moved schools and felt as though I'd lost my tribe. It took me a while to feel comfortable and confident enough to find new friends (though it didn't take long thanks to five gorgeous humans who I still catch up with to this day!).

It was during this time I had a massive crush (some would say unhealthy addiction) on the TV show Hart to Hart. All of my sketches between 1983 and 1986 were of 'Jonathan and Jennifer  Hart' 💕.  I'd sit in my bedroom after school or at night after dinner (or if I'd been grounded for not eating my dinner) and challenge myself to get better and better at proportions.  I couldn't draw faces without having a tantrum until about 1986 when faces start to appear on my drawings. I have every single one of these sketches still!  

The lighting in this photo isn't great and I always drew really lightly and only in pencil as I wasn't very confident (which is why I hid my drawings from everyone as well). I got a bit braver later on and the last couple of sketches I went over in biro.

I often dreamt of being an artist.  In my early twenties I had all these romantic notions of being part of the 'starving artist' crowd, in Montmartre, France or a studio apartment in New York. These were really the only associations I had with artists - from movies and TV. 

I'd always wanted to paint, to use colour.  I remember being told as a kid that I was really bad at colouring in because I'd always go out the lines. And my school projects or cover pages always seemed to get worse when I added colour.  I'm pretty sure that was a big reason why I decided I didn't have what it took to be a painter or artist. That, and being reminded I'd 'never be able to make a living from art'.  So I followed what seemed the more sensible route and went into corporate, eventually building a career in Human Resources.

I stopped working due to a health issue in 2017. During recovery, I did a lot of journalling and soul-seeking. I really wanted to follow my dream and see where it would take me. Plus, I had the time! All the time in the world! 

Fast-forward 18 months from there, some other personal stuff that happened and the defining day for me was May 3rd, 2019. 

It was settlement day for the sale of my house and I was living in a new place which I loved!  I decided to reward myself with one of those Paint n Sip nights (you know, where you can have booze to loosen up and in a group setting, follow an instructor to paint something pretty cool).   I went alone and met some lovely people there, enjoyed a glass or two of red and painted my first ever proper painting! On a real canvas!  We created "Señor Frog", a painting I'd been wanting to do for years, and I LOVED how he turned out!  I was hooked!!!

After that I kept painting at home; whatever took my fancy. I watched YouTube tutorials on everything. I was so hungry for information.  After 3 months of painting pretty much every day,  I started painting gifts for friends and family. I was self-taught for the first 16 months, following YouTube tutorials and Patreon memberships with artists I admired and learned from online.

I soon got bored of that though and wanted to up my game. I wanted to learn the fundamentals of drawing and joined a group face to face class and started drawing from scratch (thanks Con!). I was surprised at how quickly I picked it back up again after so long.

In addition to seeking out ways to continuously upskill my drawing, I wanted to learn how to find my own style and create images on my own (ie not copy other people's photos or voice). 

That's when I found the Milan Art Institute, and I continued my art education for the next year, graduating in October 2021. And how lucky was I?!!  The 12-month Online Mastery Program provided me with top-class foundational skills in drawing and working with oils (I'd been avoiding oil paint up till then). It was through the Mastery Program that I started exploring my voice and kick-started the discovery to my unique style. 

If you read this far, you are a legend! I hope you enjoyed the read.  I'll be popping back into your Inbox again soon with what to expect as part of the Inside The Studio updates. 

Now go create an amazing day!

PS - if you came across this journal entry outside of the email list, I'd love you to join me there, Inside The Studio.