My mum and dad were hippies in the late 60’s and 70’. We had an unstable, not always safe, but beautiful life surrounded by family and the best friends anyone could ever wish for. When I was four, my mother married a zionist jew and I was hurled into his far right, fundamentalist hassidic sect. It was a dark, airless place. I was encouraged not to learn about myself or the world around me, we were isolated from our friends and family and from life. Over the years, they had more and more children, less and less money and mother became increasingly abusive and narcissistic.

I was an artistic child, but that child wasn’t allowed to grow into adulthood. Consequently it took me longer than most to find meaningful, personal direction. In my late teens and early twenties, I no longer saw myself as a creative person or even as a person with value. Instead of following my heart, I studied Psychology which was a depleting choice. After a number of years of housing insecurity and distress with work in the welfare sector, my mental health declined very sharply.

I stumbled upon ceramics when I was twenty eight, while working at a mental health day program in Moonie Ponds. I seemed to have a knack for engaging participants in art activities and some spontaneously drew images of things that happened to them in their lives. I decided we should make a big ceramic mural of a landscape containing anything their ideal world would have in it. I became so completely enthralled with the medium, a few months later I quit my job in a great big ostentatious flood of tears and went to tafe to learn about clay!

Making things out of clay brought me groundedness, facination, joy and helped me rediscover the freedom, excitement and pure happiness I lost during my childhood. In my late twenties, I learned how to play, have fun and create just for the sake of playing, having fun and creating. I realised that I can’t allow myself to be separated from my creativity again, because without it I can’t be me.

During the difficult years, Zen Buddhism helped me find insight. I learned about the concept of Wabi Sabi, a celebration imperfection, impermanence and simplicity. The Wabi Sabi way places value on the natural, aging and weathered quality of objects and embraces the idea that nothing is ever truly permanent or perfect. It’s focus on minimalism and unadorned beauty supported me in my search for a simpler and more meaningful existence, but above all, it taught me to forgive myself for my flaws and weaknesses. The beauty of imperfection forms the basis of my ethic and aesthetic.

I built my first house in Clunes in 2016 which was a profoundly grounding and empowering experience. I held down a part time job at a gaudy commercial art gallery in Daylesford for a few years and managed to save up for my first ceramic kiln. My strong attachment to my new home and life in Central Victoria created an interest in working with local wild clays in order to explore more literally and deeply, the earth on which I reside. I went on field trips with my dog Cece to find clay and sand deposits to hand build with in the little studio I set up in my front room. I spent a few years making minimal, small batch coil pots with rustic, textural, matte speckle glazes and sold them at art markets, mostly in Melbourne.

On the art market circuit, I became inspired by some of the textile artists I met and felt an overriding urge to sew! So this past summer, I ordered a crappy beginner sewing machine from Spotlight and taught myself how to make clothes. I love the process so much that I’ve decided to expand my small creative business to include a range of hand stitched linen garments and bags.

I’m only ever happy when I’m sitting on my bum making stuff so that’s what I have to offer. Contemporary, minimal, timeless treasures to wear, personalise your home, engage the senses and invest the ordinary moments in your day with belonging. I hope you can join me on my creative journey and I hope that you love my handmade treasures as much as I love making them for you. After all, art and life should always be a part of one another!