Dear, wonderful Alice
I'm so happy to have stumbled across you. Please bear with me as I explain why....
For as long as I can remember, creativity has been my life. As a child, I always thought outside of the square and my parents and grandmother encouraged & celebrated my creativity. I could turn my hand to anything creative and always had several creative projects on the go. Drawing, painting, writing, and floral arrangements. There was never any shortage of imagination or ideas.
In the early 2000's I suffered an accident. I was working a successful career in PR, media and marketing at the time of the accident but was cooped at home for about 9 months during my rehabilitation. It was during this time I picked up my paintbrushes again. I ran out of room to hang my paintings so decided I'd have a crack at selling them once I was back on my feet. I started with selling them at a weekend market and before long, I was receiving commissions for custom artworks. This evolved into my clients asking if I could help with their interior decorating as it was clear to them that I had a good eye for colour and design. I decided to take the big, bold plunge and gave up my steady, well paid corporate job so I could focus on this creative direction. A lot of people, though well meaning, thought I was "crazy to give up my corporate work when I had no formal design qualifications - especially in such a competitive field"....🤔😳🤯 But... I was undeterred and stuck to my heart calling. I knew I could always fall back on corporate work if I had to. Things took off very quickly - in fact, almost too quickly...! My very first project graced 8 pages in a leading home design magazine and I found myself working on a variety of homes ranging from historic homesteads and ski lodges to sleek penthouses and display homes.
Unfortunately while my creative dream was unfolding, I started experiencing frightening symptoms including heavy fatigue and stroke-like collapses. It took a while for me to obtain diagnosis. A fairly rare, incurable and life shattering neurological illness. It is very challenging to manage to the extent it feels this has become my day-to-day existence. I fought hard to keep going/following my dream however, it was not long before I had no choice but to stop working altogether. I fell into financial hardship and found myself forced to "surrender" my home which resembled so much more than a roof over my head. It was my whole sense of belonging, stability, my peaceful oasis and studio space and I loved my neighbours and the community I had around me. It's proven a VERY traumatic and exhausting journey. Losing my home, my health, my entire "sense of self" is something I could never have envisaged. To suddenly find myself cast adrift and with so much uncertainty rattled me to my absolute core. It still does. I suffer PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder and Generalised Anxiety Disorder as a direct result of the trauma and painful life impacts - which are continuing to unfold. Needless to say this has had a profound impact on my creativity. I have found it virtually impossible to find my creative flow. I've been told to paint through the pain and uncertainty but I am an artist accustomed to seeing joy and lightness in anything I produce. I also need energy, calm and focus to access my creative flow. As such, my creativity, my all important lifeblood has been distressingly AWOL for the past 7 years.
I appreciate this is a long story (not 6 words....🫣) however, I just wanted to convey how much your course means to me. I feel it will be key to helping me recover my lifeblood once again. I will come back to this and also look forward to any other pearls of creative wisdom you have to share. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart my creative compadre. You've made a difference to me from afar.
All the very best in life, health and creativity my friend.
Warm regards
Mon 💛👩🎨🥇👩🎨💛