Life itself is a process, a journey, not a piece of art, but a creative process.
Motherhood was challenging for me, being away from my family as well as facing a difficult pregnancy which took me to through an emergency C section eight and a half weeks early. My baby was not ready for this world, he was tiny and couldn’t breathe properly. The doctors kept reminding me that they weren’t sure how well he would develop as blood flow to him was severely restricted for a number of weeks.
I stopped my work, my art and my life. I poured all of me into my tiny precious baby. All I had, all I was became him. I was numb, not sure who I was other than Nima’s mum!
Nima was highly sensitive, very unsettled and completely attached to me for the first four years of his life. He would not stay away from me as if I was oxygen to his weak lungs. He survived and was growing beautifully and I was grateful for it all. There was no time for drawing, painting or sketching… my joy, my passion, my soul. I started to believe this was the trade-off for my son’s health.
Four years after becoming a mother I lost my beloved father. I was not with him when he passed away and my whole world crashed. My heart was broken beyond repair, I could not breathe, eat or sleep properly. The pain was so severe that I could not even cry. I was numb I went into shut down. The only thing I wanted to do was to paint... I could not stop drawing in my little sketch book. I read poetry and drew... slowly, slowly the tears came, the dreams came and I started to grieve.
Art saved me from deep depression. Art became a tool for my healing. Art became my hero once again.
It became obvious to me that I had to share this tool with all mothers. It’s my passion to help them the most challenging and glorious experience that no one prepares you for. Motherhood is a highly creative process. Through these workshops I would like the participants to trust the process of creativity and allow themselves to explore this tool as a space to express how they feel, be it happy, sad, frustrated, angry or simply tired and confused.
Together we have created a safe and sacred space. We come together for solace, we laugh, we support each other and we explore our emotional state through colour, specially acrylic ink and charcoal.
The sessions are very relaxed and laid back, we work around the children in the room and as we go on I see how each one of them is opening up to their creativity, I can see they come in for a bit of solace and joy like their little ones who come to play. I truly take pleasure in facilitating these workshops and see the positive influence in their daily lives. Two of my participants are now working on their own personal projects at home.
We have had our first exhibition which was highly successful a true celebration of the process of creativity rather than producing a work of art.