September Journal

High

September was all about spring! The sun started peeking out from behind the clouds, I got to leave the window open all day while working. Work has been so crazy for me since June, and towards the end of this month the stars finally aligned to allow me to slow down to a more manageable pace, which I’m so grateful for. I’ve been taking some more walks outside in nature and snapped some beautiful photos of the wildflowers and snowy white ducks, which is a nice reminder to slow down.

Low

I’m not going to lie, September was a pretty tough month for me in lockdown. I felt largely uninspired (which I think is the 2020 trend amongst creatives!), I struggled with motivation and it took a lot of force to get me through the month. I largely avoided being present on social media, since I felt like I had nothing of use to say, and I felt like all my energy was being poured into making it through the month.

Lesson of the month

This month my big lesson was all about acceptance. I realised I’d been pushing myself to ignore the way I’ve been feeling about COVID and lockdown, and it was finally time to accept my emotions and sit with them. Melbourne currently has some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world, and while I’m so grateful that we are protecting our most vulnerable, when we reached the predicted easing date and were told that the lockdown would be extended for the better part of 6 weeks, it did really deflate me and I found it tough to bounce back. So I spent the month trying to ‘parent’ myself - I made myself take breaks, I spoke really kindly to myself, I asked for help, and it was a big moment for me to lean into how I was feeling.

Goodies I snagged this month

This month I treated myself to some fun fluffy slippers and oversized t-shirt nighties from Cotton On. I love the Pink Floyd t-shirt particularly, and I can see this translating into something I’d wear out to a picnic in the park, or as a bit of a work from home uniform during the warmer months.

Another purchase I loved was my new nighttime eagle print and oracle cards from Annie Tarasova over at Dreamy Moons. Her artwork is all hand-drawn and the care she puts into packaging and shipping her work never ceases to amaze. You can literally feel the love. 

Lastly, I snagged myself a gorgeous dotted grid notebook (with silver gilded edges omg), two super sweet enamel pins, and a bunch of stickers from Crafting Witch! Again, I was blown away by the attention to detail and care that went into packaging these goodies, let alone the quality of the items themselves. My notebook has become my new business planning notebook and I feel so inspired every time I use it.

Things I’m loving

• Glitter POSCA paint markers

• This airpods case designed by Lisa Congdon

• The Serenity Now rollie by Frankie & Myrrh

• Citrine. It’s just so beautiful to keep around, and it’s sunny colour gets me excited for warmer days

• Using gold foil textures in my work! Grab a free one from Google and give it a go in yours!

What in the world is happening?

Things are weird, and it’s freaking me out. So I decided to take the time to re-do my website!

If you’re anything like me, then completely revamping your portfolio, blog, or IG is always in the back of your mind. Given that we are currently LITERALLY stuck inside with not too much to do, I decided to take this as a push in the right direction to start the projects I always wanted to start (after first taking a couple of weeks to wallow and rage at the state of the world). So here you have it! CW 2.0, the big whizz, the remake.

I want this website to be a little more than just a secondary grid of artwork, I want it to be a community, a resource hub, and above all, a bit of fun.

My work generally tends to be a bit more on the emotional side than some other artists. It can be fun, sure, but it usually has to be imbued with some deeper meaning for me to feel connected with it when I create it (I had a heavy childhood okay, this is therapeutic!)

So I want this space, my showerthoughts (if you’re a fellow Reddit browser like me you’ll appreciate the name) to be a bit more of a lighthearted space, where I can come and we can chat! There is a fun, lively, quirky side to me (I swears it) and I’m excited to be able to connect with you in this way too.

A Creative Day.

Okay, full disclaimer: I’m writing this post literally 30 seconds after finishing the last one, because I want there to be more than one blog post on this page when I launch this thing, and I’ve decided I’m launching today shrugs.

But let’s chat about it anyway! Yesterday was a weird, but really fun day. I filmed my first ever vlog for YouTube, going up this coming week! (this is a blog secret, I’m currently too embarrassed to talk about it on IG because my friends will go and watch it and I feel cringe af).

I made this animal crossing piece in the morning, partly because I’m obsessed with Animal Crossing (Dennis bought me a switch and the new AC the other night because he took pity on me playing New Leaf on my 3DS and watching YT vids of New Horizons).

I also partly made it because TikTok is weird and I’m trying to experiment with the kinds of content that perform well (anything with me drawing does not.)

Then last night, at maybe 11pm, I decided to start this second piece after watching Matthew Encina from The Futur (go check them out on YT!) going through his 20 year design portfolio. It was so comforting seeing how far he has come as a creative and it left me feeling both peaceful, inspired and energised, and I decided to make this before I went to bed! I’m really happy with how it turned out and I’m thinking of turning it into a print <3.

Well that’s it from me for now, I think we’re ready for launch!