My Creative Journey ~ From Early Inspiration To An Unconventional Career

Exploring Passion, Fashion, Entertainment and Rediscovering Creativity Along the Way!

The Early Sparks of Creativity….

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been artistic and creative. As a kid, I loved colouring. I had this little wicker basket with flowers on the front that held all my crayons. The smell when you opened it is something all artists will know well the scent of well used, broken crayons. That basket went everywhere with me, along with my beloved colouring books. Apparently, when I was quiet as a child, it usually meant I was busy drawing murals on any available blank wall I could find. Ironic that something you used to get told off for doing is now a career path!

Early Passion for the Arts….

As I grew older, I always knew I wanted to do something creative. I had grown up dancing and singing, so the theatre was another love of mine. In my final year at school, I designed costumes for a ballet as part of my higher art curriculum. I just loved it! I still have the ballet dress I designed and made. It’s tiny because it had to be sent off for marking, but I’m still amazed I managed to pull it off. Especially considering I had no idea how to use a sewing machine or draw up patterns, yet somehow I made it work!

Discovering Fashion and Design…

After school, I went on to study fashion design, and that’s where my love for design really began. I’ve always adored colour and experimenting with it, but I also loved creating storyboards and designing from them. We even dabbled in a bit of screen printing on silk (see above). While I was at college, I worked in a fabric shop, where I learned so much about different types of fabrics and how they’re used. I had the opportunity to study textiles as a degree, but at the time, I decided against it.

The World of Entertainment and Creativity…

As long as I’m doing something creative, I’m happy. Although I didn’t pursue fashion or design at that time in my life, I embarked on a very adventurous career in wigs, hair and makeup. I was fortunate enough to travel the world while being part of a highly creative environment. I could spend days chronicling my time in the entertainment industry but I’ll keep this blog short, well, shorter!

Rediscovering Art and Design…

I found my love for art and design again after three major life events, lets just say its not been the easiest few years and it totally changed me and my perspective of life and made me reevaluate.  I realised I couldn’t keep up the pace of constantly being on the move, while missing out on so many life events.

I started playing around with digital art and fell in love with it. Then, I stumbled upon the online art world and discovered repeat patterns, and everything slowly evolved from there. My inspiration often comes from nature, animals, the ethereal, music and the places I’ve travelled to.  Japan was one of my biggest inspirations, I spent a month there through work and we travelled from one end to the other, I have never been anywhere quite like it! 

Some of the beautiful artwork and historical sites of Japan!

Balancing Creativity and Connection…

I absolutely love designing and creating new things, but the only downside is that I sometimes find the isolation hard. I’ve gone from being surrounded by people 24/7 to working on my own, which has been quite an adjustment. Connecting with other artists has been helpful, and fortunately, there’s a lot of artistic goings on in my local area. While most of my art work is currently in the online world, it’s nice to engage with the outside world too.

Embracing an Unconventional Path…

My career path hasn’t been the most straightforward or the easiest, but the best things in life never are. I’ve never been afraid to try new things and dive headfirst into them. I believe that’s how you learn and grow as a person. And in the end, that’s what makes the journey worthwhile!