Unique Beautiful Fun
22 April 2016 by Sarah-Jane Smith
sjsmith.com.au - blog
New Directions
Out With The Old
I'm about to change my business! I'm moving away from large scale florals and textiles to watercolour prints - like those that are featured weekly on my blog. The reason is simple - I can no longer hold a paint brush or a crochet hook for very long and this makes producing items for sale impossible. Four years ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I didn't tell anyone but close friends and family at first. Denial played a big part in that as well as not wanting to talk about illness (yuk - boring!).
I also didn't want the illness to be the thing that defined me. It’s been a real roller coaster over the four years but the bottom line is that my hands no longer work like they used to. I've had some tears and railed at how unfair it all is but I am slowly getting to the point of acceptance.
What does an artist do when they can no longer paint (or crochet)? After drying my eyes I needed to find something creative I could do. What were my hands still able to do with reasonable reliability? I could still take photos, I can still use a computer most days. I started messing around with photos, editing and digital apps and came up with the watercolour images that I've been using in my blog.
Most of the images are of Brisbane and around Wynnum near where I live. Which is great because I love Brisbane and I love where I live and it's easy to be enthusiastic about that. Figuring out a product from those images, I decided to start at the simplest place and that was prints. I'm a little scared and not a little bit excited. If you'd like to see what, where and when come and find me on Facebook or Instagram. I'd love to hear what you think.
Till next time,
Sarah-Jane X