My art is about creating beauty but it is more than that. Creating art is a lifestyle, it is a lifestyle of slow living, of seeing and finding beauty in little things – like having time to watch the inks dance across the canvas or the joy of witnessing an idea form into a finished painting.
My art is also about finding inner peace and transform some of life’s chaotic moments into peaceful and beautiful pieces of art.
I attempt to let this ethos influence the way I create and what materials I use.
Ethical creating:
I try to pay attention to where my materials come from and how much waste I am producing.
When you work with resin, it is inevitable that you will produce some waste. Unfortunately, resin sticks to everything except plastic. This means that the materials I use to mix the resin and the cover I use to keep my table clear has to be plastic. This creates a lot of plastic waste. I have been researching other more sustainable ways of working with resin, and I have found that using silicone instead of plastic is a more sustainable option. I have a silicone cover for my table that I can reuse and I use silicone moulds for my coasters. I do not use a silicone mixing cup as I have found they break easily. Instead, I use a plastic mixing cup, which I turn upside down when I have finished using it. This way, I can let the rest of the resin drip onto the silicone cover and it is then easy to remove once it has set. If you do not clean your mixing cup before the resin sets, it will be a lot harder to get out.
I also try to use recycled packing materials for when I send my paintings. I reuse the boxes and the bubble wrap that I get my materials in. I use recycled backing boards, recycled mailers and cellophane (much better than plastic) for when I need to send smaller paintings.
I attempt to source as many of my materials as possible from other Australian businesses. My art boards have been made in Melbourne by Art Tree Creations, my prints are made to order (no excess products) by a Blue Mountains local company called Cottontail Press and my scarves have been printed in Melbourne.
How to incorporate Slow Living into your life
Of course, you do not have to be an artist or even creative to incorporate slow living into your own life.
My family and I try to be as mindful as possible about the way we consume, the things we surround our self with and how we spend our time. I have listed some of the ways we have incorporated slow living into our lives and you can do the same.
Consume mindfully:
For us, this means to buy Fairtrade and organic wherever possible.
We get Fairtrade coffee, chocolates, tea and clothing. I also often go to op-shops to find clothes for my boys and myself.
Some of my favourite fair trade brands are (these are not sponsored):
Alter Eco (chocolates)
Thunderpants (underwear)
Josophan’s Fine Chocolates (chocolate)
Oxfam (coffee)
West Elm (they have a fair trade section on their website)
Who Gives a Crap (toilet paper, although they are not fair trade certified they are an ethical business)
Patagonia (Fair trade outdoor clothing)
We buy organic vegetables from a local farm, and our organic dairy products are from IGA (Australia). We get our meat from a local butcher that can ensure their meat is from either organic or free-range animals. If we cannot get free range meat, we prefer to live as vegetarians.
I also enjoy shopping in my local area for handmade luxury products such as candles, flowers or decorative pieces, including art.
Some of my favourite local artesian shops and op-shops (these are not sponsored, although I do have my products in some of these shops):
Foothills Eco in Glenbrook
Mountains Made in Wentworth Falls
Red Cross Op-Shop in Leura
Josephanes Fine Chocolates in Leura
The Nook in Leura
Uplift Fair Trade in Blaxland and Katoomba
Lyttleton Stores in Lawson
Blackheath Creative
We also try to consume less (I guess this is also to consume ethically). My husband is a collector, and while things do pile up in our house, it also means that we have been able to build a whole deck out of repurposed materials. Instead of buying the materials necessary, my husband got all of the materials from builders who did not need the excess wood. We have also acquired furniture’s by picking up perfectly good tables or chairs from the side of the road. And whenever we have excesses of something, such as clothes or toys, I give them to local op-shops (but only if they are in really good conditions). Of course, it is also important to know when you have enough of something. I, for instance, do not need to buy any more clothes, and my boys probably do not need any more toys for a little while.
Things to do:
Apart from making thoughtful choices when consuming, I am also careful with what I choose to spend time on. It is easy to spend most of our days in front of a screen both for work and leisure purposes. Having an art business is more about admin than you would think. If I am not careful, I can spend most of my day trying to market myself online or engage with people on Instagram. While Instagram is an amazing place to find a community, it is also addictive and takes time away from creating actual paintings.
Instead, I try to spend more time with my family. As a family, we like to prepare homemade food and eat together. We also like to eat in season. This means, that we try to source as much of our food as possible from our local areas, instead of relying on products having to be shipped from overseas, or in our case from across the country (Australia is very big). Eating seasonally eliminates those transport and storage environmental costs.
When I feel I have a little extra energy, I like to make bread or cookies - this often turns into a family affair! I also love to source local produce myself. I went mushroom picking with a friend and my two boys earlier this year (never do this if you know nothing about mushrooms). We also went to a local apple farm in Bilpin and picked lots of apples. We enjoyed the dishes I made from the mushrooms and the juice I made from the apples a bit extra.
Carve out time for yourself: Make sure you carve out some time to do the things that you really enjoy. For me this can be to read a book or to have my morning coffee without being disturbed by my boys. I also enjoy having time to knit and of course paint.
Carve out time for your family: This can be as big as going on a family holiday or as little as preparing food or eating food together. Some of my favourite things to do at home is to have a fire in the back garden, to prepare food together, to go for a walk in our local area or to paint or draw with my boys.