Hi all,
I sit and write this from a desk far tidier than it would have been if Covid-19 hadn’t showed up. My garden has less weeds and my kids have had a lot more hugs.
So, while there is much to be anxious about there is also much to be grateful for if you look for it. In tough times this is hard. At the moment we don’t have a lot of options though and despair and fighting what we can’t fight, just doesn’t feel good.
What is working for me at the moment is to check the facts once a day, absorb them, feel them, and then let go of all I can’t control. I then focus on being present with the small, good things and I do my best to pull my thoughts back when they drift to negativity.
I have also started to-do lists of things to “do what I can with what I have” and I am looking to see where there might be ways I can change what I have been doing, and do them differently, (that’s a lot of do’s I know).
I started this journey as an artist doing things which grew, and then grew some more till they became bigger things, and so something I can do is go back to some of those basics, and the things that connected me with people in the first place.
One being writing again, ( do you remember all the Creative Womens Circle guest posts?) and sharing more of my journey and my practice and the ways I work, which have changed so much in the nine years since I started this website. So, if you have any questions I would love to hear from you in comments or in an email. If I can help I will.
Another thing I am going to start doing again is Friday Small Works, when every Friday I post a small affordable art work here in my shop. This was a lot of fun when I did it and it will help me keep things ticking over in the background while I am unable to work at full capacity.
In many ways, money and health concerns aside, I am actually enjoying the change of pace, I have spoken to family and friends I haven’t in ages, and done many small, worthy, yet un-instagram-able things that I have been too BUSY to do for far too long. So, it may be a different capacity I go back to anyhow. Maybe some of you are feeling the same.
My exhibition SHAPE SHIFTING is currently showing, (online only) at the Studio Gallery in Melbourne and Sydney see here . If you are interested in purchasing a painting and have any questions regarding lay buys etc.. now is a great time to get yourself a good deal. The gallery also has Art Money which is another option to help support artists and galleries in these tough times.
Also, I am taking on commissions for new paintings, please email to chat about whether we can make something work for you. My favourite commission last year being the one I did for Bec Judd. !!!
And I am also making more videos like the one below, this one was part of a project I am working on in London.
Anyhow, time to wrap up…
Sending warm wishes wherever you are.
And don’t forget to tell your friends to subscribe and get onboard for the Friday fun!
Jasmine X
P.S I think the worst thing so far has been to not see my big girls in Geelong. I imagine people everywhere are missing their loved ones.