I have devoted much of this year so far to something of a review of my practice, taking stock of where I am, and where I am heading.
Part of this process has been the reorganisation of my studio, and the cataloguing and archiving of materials etc .. this has led to my finding many things I had forgotton about, ideas and bits and pieces, I have now had this studio for more than a decade!
One thing I discovered was half a box of these books. Which I decided to put up here and make available for purchase. This particular edition will never be reprinted as the platform and the software I used no longer exists, neither does the husband in the photos (we are now Divorced)!
The more I go through things in the studio, the more I realise the intrinsic value of the tangible, the physical and the real over the simply digital. Books are such a keeper of time and life, and I am so glad I wrote this one.
I am still not quite sure however, how I actually did it. It was written among so much of that chaos particular to family life, with teenagers, small children, and a baby, five kids! No sleep really for years!
I do remember being disciplined and committing to write every night while I sat on my children’s beds as they settled themselves to sleep. I wrote between fetching drinks of water, back pats, foot rubs, songs; you get the picture. Even this is now a beautiful memory of a time past and gone.
I decided to write this book because I couldn’t find anyone else who had. Not really. There was content written on women who were artists and on being a parent, and plenty about being an artist itself, but almost nothing about the actual lived experience of being both, simultaneously, with as much devotion as I could possibly muster for both. It was exhausting as well as exhilarating. It still is actually.
So I wrote the book I needed, and at that time it connected me to a whole community of people; mostly mothers, doing the same. Creating and parenting. The experience is something I will always be grateful for.
The advice in it is timeless. Things I would phrase differently for sure. I am now a decade on. But what I’ve come to understand since is this: it takes as much creativity to be a creative, to build a life that actually holds your art, as it does to create the work itself. That the architecture and scaffolding of a life is its own art form, and this book is about how to do that in your own way. It’s how I did and essentially still do, live to create and create to live.
A new edition will come one day, however I am still living in what feels like a birthing phase, in between worlds. New things are coming and a revised, updated, seen through wiser eyes version will eventually arrive. Please subscribe to my mailing list if you would like to know when this eventually happens.
This little book has become precious to me, and holds a time I can’t get back, (some advice in that itself, slow down Mama and Papa). I was living both a dream and a reality in real time. In a way I guess I still am. I found through it all, while I was still finding it. I have sent such a big hug to that version of me. She made it all happen eventually. She always will.
Much has transpired in my life since this edition; for all of us. The world has changed and is continuing to change. This book was pre covid and of course ai. A great deal will continue to move, and I find myself returning to my own practical wisdom again to find my way. Asking what really matters, what remains?
I completed a new book last year, this time I found a publisher, it contains 25 years of written works; Poetry Buried in Geometry.
In a way this book sits at an ambiguous and vulnerable parallel to my Paintbrush book, as much of this written work was born from the same years, expressing the joys and difficulties of this time in a different register entirely. Together they make an interesting pair.
As I write this, both of my older children have made the leap to being full time creatives themselves. Moving their belongings back home and navigating a life that is prioritising their art. My eldest daughter Caprice left law to make music and Eden is practicing as a multi disciplinary artist. I am looking back and thinking; it worked. The seeds planted in those years grew into something real. The many times I felt I should be giving them more, I was giving them just what they needed. I was giving them me, showing them how to be brave and to make space always for your dreams. By doing it myself I gave them permission to as well. This book talks about all the ways you can do this too, ironically it’s not hard. If you are creative, you can parent creatively as well. Thats your strength. You are already in front.
I admit I have priced these as a collector’s item, being they are a limited edition of what was already a small print run. This version will not be reprinted. Once these ten copies are gone, they are gone! I do have many things happening and have faith the books will only increase in value over time.
Jasmine X
I have devoted much of this year so far to something of a review of my practice, taking stock of where I am, and where I am heading.
Part of this process has been the reorganisation of my studio, and the cataloguing and archiving of materials etc .. this has led to my finding many things I had forgotton about, ideas and bits and pieces, I have now had this studio for more than a decade!
One thing I discovered was half a box of these books. Which I decided to put up here and make available for purchase. This particular edition will never be reprinted as the platform and the software I used no longer exists, neither does the husband in the photos (we are now Divorced)!
The more I go through things in the studio, the more I realise the intrinsic value of the tangible, the physical and the real over the simply digital. Books are such a keeper of time and life, and I am so glad I wrote this one.
I am still not quite sure however, how I actually did it. It was written among so much of that chaos particular to family life, with teenagers, small children, and a baby, five kids! No sleep really for years!
I do remember being disciplined and committing to write every night while I sat on my children’s beds as they settled themselves to sleep. I wrote between fetching drinks of water, back pats, foot rubs, songs; you get the picture. Even this is now a beautiful memory of a time past and gone.
I decided to write this book because I couldn’t find anyone else who had. Not really. There was content written on women who were artists and on being a parent, and plenty about being an artist itself, but almost nothing about the actual lived experience of being both, simultaneously, with as much devotion as I could possibly muster for both. It was exhausting as well as exhilarating. It still is actually.
So I wrote the book I needed, and at that time it connected me to a whole community of people; mostly mothers, doing the same. Creating and parenting. The experience is something I will always be grateful for.
The advice in it is timeless. Things I would phrase differently for sure. I am now a decade on. But what I’ve come to understand since is this: it takes as much creativity to be a creative, to build a life that actually holds your art, as it does to create the work itself. That the architecture and scaffolding of a life is its own art form, and this book is about how to do that in your own way. It’s how I did and essentially still do, live to create and create to live.
A new edition will come one day, however I am still living in what feels like a birthing phase, in between worlds. New things are coming and a revised, updated, seen through wiser eyes version will eventually arrive. Please subscribe to my mailing list if you would like to know when this eventually happens.
This little book has become precious to me, and holds a time I can’t get back, (some advice in that itself, slow down Mama and Papa). I was living both a dream and a reality in real time. In a way I guess I still am. I found through it all, while I was still finding it. I have sent such a big hug to that version of me. She made it all happen eventually. She always will.
Much has transpired in my life since this edition; for all of us. The world has changed and is continuing to change. This book was pre covid and of course ai. A great deal will continue to move, and I find myself returning to my own practical wisdom again to find my way. Asking what really matters, what remains?
I completed a new book last year, this time I found a publisher, it contains 25 years of written works; Poetry Buried in Geometry.
In a way this book sits at an ambiguous and vulnerable parallel to my Paintbrush book, as much of this written work was born from the same years, expressing the joys and difficulties of this time in a different register entirely. Together they make an interesting pair.
As I write this, both of my older children have made the leap to being full time creatives themselves. Moving their belongings back home and navigating a life that is prioritising their art. My eldest daughter Caprice left law to make music and Eden is practicing as a multi disciplinary artist. I am looking back and thinking; it worked. The seeds planted in those years grew into something real. The many times I felt I should be giving them more, I was giving them just what they needed. I was giving them me, showing them how to be brave and to make space always for your dreams. By doing it myself I gave them permission to as well. This book talks about all the ways you can do this too, ironically it’s not hard. If you are creative, you can parent creatively as well. Thats your strength. You are already in front.
I admit I have priced these as a collector’s item, being they are a limited edition of what was already a small print run. This version will not be reprinted. Once these ten copies are gone, they are gone! I do have many things happening and have faith the books will only increase in value over time.
Jasmine X
