A composition in a quiet corner of my art room...a photograph of my son, taken on a lazy mothers' day picnic down in the Tidbinbilla valley, with beautiful mountains surrounding us, him jumping over and over to get the shot just right (it was his idea, this creative pose)...there is a plaster of paris hand casting from a class I did with my art students a few years back, my 'toy' anvil for which I drove all the way to Thirroul, NSW, very functional for small craft jobs in the studio but a wee baby compared to my real working anvils, I fell in love with its diminutive size and elegant shape...there are some gesso brushes in an old favourite, but broken and partially repaired coffee mug, of which the whimsical girly design was instrumental in stimulating my recent Lulu series into development. You never know where inspiration will come from!
Coming to think of it- it's such a happy feeling to be able to say I've been teaching art for a few years already, it has been a dream come true and I still enjoy learning more and more as I teach. It's a great joy to hear others say that they've been inspired by my classes, it's a great joy seeing others coming into their full potential. Art is doing its job well!
We might move house soon, and then I'll have new corners like this to decorate, and as things are taken from boxes in random order, so new arrangements will make magic together. I'm listening to the gypsy music of Circa Paleo in the background as I'm working today and just realised that this particular moment won't last. I get sidetracked so easily, it is crucial that I discipline myself to stick to a chosen theme or body of work, to make the most of every hour.

I read something that really resonated with me this week:
'The hours that ordinary people waste, extraordinary people leverage' 
 Robin Sharma 

I hope you'll be inspired to do something extraordinary with your time this week, it may be as simple as decorating a corner on a shelf with things that inspire you. Mobilise toward your dream! One step at a time. 

'Instead of staying clear of your fears, face them. Sit with them for a while. Ask them questions. And ask yourself what you're afraid of, what's holding you back. Write it all down in a journal.
Then, make a list of affirmations, or direct responses to each of your fears.
The next step is to take action, one small step after another'
-excerpts from Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts, a book that has helped me along my own journey of creatively becoming more me. Let this help you take your first steps toward your dream. If it did, I'd love to hear about it!

Yellow wattle with your sun-filled powder-puffs
despised on strange shores where you mercilessly mutate
and suck dry precious soils
but here
celebrated on coats of arms
bright and singular amongst the eucalypts
bringer of spring
first of all the plants to show:
warmer days are coming!