There are times in an artist’s life when the creative flow simply disappears.

You can sit in front of a blank canvas, surrounded by paints, pigments and all the things you normally love, and somehow… nothing.

That’s where I’ve been for a little while.

I’ve also been off social media for about four or five weeks. And honestly, I needed the break.

Social media can be a bit of a soul-sucking machine, especially when you’re a creative and a small business owner. Sometimes I just get tired of jumping through all the hoops, particularly when the goalposts — or should I say algorithms? — keep moving.

So I stepped away and went back to what I really needed to do.

MAKE ART!

Getting out of my own way

For a while, I was struggling to paint.

I have a tendency to overthink my work. I second-guess my processes, question my decisions and let self-doubt creep in.

Then self-doubt turns into self-sabotage, which turns into freeze… and suddenly the creative flow has packed its bags and gone on holiday.

I’m also a procrastinator of magnitude nine.

Did I ever tell you that?

Probably not. I probably couldn’t decide whether to tell you or not. 😂

 

So lately, I’ve been trying to come back to some very simple questions:

✔️Where do I feel most authentically myself in my art?

✔️What do I want to say?

✔️And what do I actually love to paint?

Those questions have been quietly bringing me back to myself.

 

Returning to Ocean Alchemy

This week I found myself returning to my Ocean Alchemy work.

And I think this is where I feel most authentically myself.

Ocean Alchemy is a process I developed over several years, inspired by the Australian coastal landscape around me — the texture of sand, the movement and rhythm of water, shifting light, layers, erosion and the passing of seasons.

For a while, I honestly thought I had exhausted it.

I became a little tired of it. A little bored.

I wasn’t sure where else I could take the process, so I put it aside for a while.

But now I’m wondering…

Perhaps I haven’t exhausted it at all.

Perhaps I just need to challenge it.

What happens if I move beyond the ocean colours?

Can I explore different palettes? Can I take the process into landscape? Can I push the textures and layers further?

What happens when I take something familiar somewhere I haven’t been before?

These are the questions I’m exploring in the studio now.

The art I really want to make.

And underneath all of this is something that has become increasingly important to me.

I want to create art that someone looks at and thinks:

“I would love to live with that.”

Not simply something that looks beautiful on a screen.

Something that connects.

Something that makes you feel good when you walk into the room.

Something that brings beauty, calm, energy or joy into someone’s everyday life.

Because ultimately, art isn’t just about the artist.

It’s also about the person who lives with the work.

Their space.

Their feelings.

Their story.

And perhaps that’s something I’ve been thinking about more deeply lately — creating from my own authentic place, while remembering that the finished work eventually becomes part of someone else’s world.

 

Showing Up Unfinished

So, these are a few very real shots from my studio this week.

The painting isn’t finished. It’s very much in process.

And yes, these photos show the eye wrinkles, the double chin(s), the unstyled hair and all the other things that usually get edited out of the internet. 😂

They’re not particularly beautiful or polished.

But perhaps that’s the point.

A little raw.

A little unfinished.

A little more honest.

Just me, showing up and making art.

And maybe I’m beginning to realise that the creative path isn’t always about finding something completely new.

Sometimes it’s about returning to something you thought you had finished with…

and asking:

“What else is possible?”

That’s where I am right now.

And honestly, I’m quite excited to see where it takes me.