Steph P Paints

I often anchor the inspiration behind my work to something immediate or tangible, yet in reality each experience flows into the next. We are constantly gathering information, and when we choose to notice the moments we find beautiful, we begin to recognise more of them. Every piece carries its own wins, failures, and happy accidents, all of which quietly inform what follows. Because of this, it’s difficult to isolate a single work from everything that has come before, or to reduce it to one fixed meaning. It's all a big juicy mish mash. And I love that

Honestly, I struggle at this time of year. I'm playing the role of mum more than artist - and I'm lucky, I know. I get to spend my days outside in the sun and by the water (thank you Perth sunshine). But painting has become a huge part of my life, and i find myself yearning for that time again. While I wait, I aim to focus on creative activities with my kids, and building anticipation and inspiration for what I'll create next. If this year has taught me anything it's that good work often requires space, time, and pause. A moment of stillness is a good thing.
This year I set huge goals for myself and poured a lot of energy into those goals.
I set out with 4 art prizes to enter. I was a finalist in three of those prizes, and several more that popped up along the way. I've sold more work this year than ever before, but (perhaps more importantly) I've never been more grounded in the direction of my work. Throughout this process I've met or connected with some incredibly inspirational people, and I've never felt more at home. Lesson here: being introverted doesn't matter when you're around the right people.
My kids are officially out of the toddler era, and once again I've found myself having to level up my parenting skills and approach. Having kids has held me accountable to taking care of myself more deeply, so I can then better take care of them. This has also taught me the great joy of never knowing everything there is to know - something I've brought into my art practice and absolutely thrills me. Being the perpetual student is a wonderful journey I'm so happy to be on.
The past few years where my life has crumbled, been rebuilt, and crumbled again has humbled me deeply and (thankfully) made me realise that most of what we fear is completely in our mind. So is most of what we think we can rely on.
Don't wait, dive head first into what you want. It doesn't take a lot of time - just devotion
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