SO WHERE THE HECK HAVE I BEEN?!

Yes. YES. I hear all of you. I'm 46 years old, and have been invisible as an artist for just about half of those orbits. I've got various reasons - some good and some downright terrible - but what really matters is that I'm here and I'm ready and I'm hitting the ground running.

IN A NUTSHELL?

I AM A MOTHER

One day you're making drawings of women depicted as goddesses from different religions and mythologies (with a vision of having a 28-piece show) and the next you've got a baby in your arms and nothing else matters. Sixteen years later (yes - that went as fast as they say it will) I have not an iota of regret. Olivia is the spark of joy at the center of my Universe; my teacher and my muse. Now it's time to make her proud, and get on with my other big work in this world.

I AM A FOREST THERAPY GUIDE

I discovered in 2021 that a job exists where you can connect people to Nature, so I studied and qualified, and launched a business in Cape Town. I love guiding people within our spectacular natural spaces. Forest Therapy also reminded me that I truly love drawing. Thanks for having my back, Nature.

I GOT LOST IN THE CORPORATE WILDERNESS

Gosh. And not even only "corporate". I got lost in teaching. I got lost in graphic design. I got lost in photography. I even decided to be all Renaissance-woman and study Homeopathy for a year! I got lost in facilitation and corporate cartooning. I got lost in tattooing. I got lost in other people's passions. I kept trying to convince myself that I'd find my groove doing something else (all the shadow-artist things Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way warned me about). The security of a pay-cheque became too integral of a filter. And an excuse not to JFDI.

Well, that was daft...

I WAS A SLAVE TO FEAR AND DOUBT

From daft to RIDICULOUS? I let the critics (some outer but mostly in my head) get to me. In truth - I was scared to fail. So I hid my light under a bushel; limiting my audience to those with whom I shared a home.

Susan Jeffers famously wrote: "Feel the fear and do it anyway!"

So here I am. Better late than never...