Hello lovely people!

It’s been a few weeks between Glimmers…I think I told you that I would be exhibiting at The Affordable Art Fair in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. This was both a wonderful and also totally exhausting weekend, so I know you’ll forgive me missing a couple of weeks to recover…not that there weren’t plenty of glimmers to notice.

23,000 people and a little bit of hope for the world

One of my biggest glimmers from the fair was simply being there.

23,000 people visited over the weekend. 23,000 people who chose to spend part of their weekend looking at art. Walking around, stopping to look, chatting to artists, asking questions, discovering something they loved and, very often, taking a piece of art home with them.

There is something about that which gives me enormous hope.

In a world that can sometimes feel so consumed by bad news and big, complicated problems, there were thousands of people choosing to spend their precious weekend looking at beautiful things and talking about creativity.

People were curious. People were kind. People wanted to connect.

And honestly, I found that incredibly hopeful.

The conversations

I loved talking to people about my paintings.

Not just the “I like that one” conversations (although I loved those too!) but the little stories people shared about what a painting reminded them of, where they imagined it hanging, the colours they loved, or the memories it brought up.

It reminded me that art doesn’t have to be complicated.

Sometimes a painting simply makes you feel something.

Sometimes you see one and think, Oh, I love that.

And perhaps that’s enough.

The people who came back

There were people who had seen and collected my work before and came back to find me.

People who remembered a painting from another show, or had followed along online and finally got to see the work in person.  That felt particularly special.

There is something lovely about knowing that the little things I make in my studio can travel beyond the studio walls and become part of someone else’s world.

The paintings that found their people

Of course, watching paintings leave the stand and head off to new homes was a very big glimmer.

There is always that strange mixture of excitement and sadness when a painting you’ve lived with for months suddenly belongs to someone else. But I think I’m beginning to understand that this is actually one of the most wonderful parts of making art.

I get to make something that didn’t exist before.

Someone else sees it, feels something, decides it belongs with them…and then it becomes part of their story. I love that x

And knowing that one of my paintings is now making its way all the way to Austin, Texas is a particularly lovely little glimmer. 🌿

The little paintings

And perhaps one of my favourite things to come out of the fair was a new love affair with my little 20 x 20cm paintings.

These tiny paintings feel like little pops of colour and joy to me. They’re easy and fun to paint, and I love the idea that they can bring a little moment of happiness to places where it might not normally reach.

They’re also small enough that they feel almost giftable.

And I keep thinking…why shouldn’t you be able to give someone you love a little glimmer of joy?

I think there might be a lot more of these little paintings to come.

The wonderful art community

Another really lovely part of the weekend was getting to spend time with my fellow artists.

Making art can be such a solitary pursuit — and most of us genuinely love that part of it. Hours alone in the studio, following an idea, getting lost in the process. But I think it does us all good to occasionally step outside our little creative bubbles and spend time with people who completely understand what it is to make a living from something that begins with an idea in your head and a blank canvas in front of you.

And one of the things I love most about the art world is how much generosity there can be between artists.

There doesn’t seem to be quite the sense of competition you might expect. We all have different styles, different stories, different collectors and different paths. There really is room for all of us.

So we cheer each other on.

We congratulate each other when a painting sells.

We admire each other’s work.

We share the excitement when something wonderful happens, and we offer a little encouragement on the days when things don’t go quite so well.

Because there are always difficult days when you’re an artist.

And perhaps that’s another reason these occasions are so good for us. It’s a reminder that we’re not doing this completely alone.

I’m very grateful for the friendships and connections that have come from being part of this creative community.

They are a glimmer all of their own.

The people behind the scenes

And then there are all the people who helped make the whole thing possible.

There is a huge amount of work that happens behind the scenes of an art fair that nobody sees. The planning, packing, transporting, framing, labelling, loading, unloading, setting up…then doing it all in reverse at the end!

I absolutely could not have done it without my family, who all helped in their own ways, and especially Brooke, who has been such an enormous organisational support behind the scenes over the last couple of months.

And then there were my wonderful stand buddies, who made the whole five days — from bump-in to bump-out — such a joy to be part of. Having good people beside you makes such a difference. We laughed, encouraged each other, admired each other’s work, survived the long days and celebrated the good bits together.

It reminded me that while making art can be a very solitary pursuit, it doesn’t have to be a solitary life.

Sometimes the biggest glimmer is simply having good people around you.

Oh wow! thats seven this week!

And now…

After the whirlwind of the fair, I’m back in the studio.

Making things. Thinking about what’s next. Noticing little things.

And, perhaps more than anything, feeling grateful.

Grateful for the people who came to look.

Grateful for the people who stopped to chat.

Grateful for the people who took a painting home.

Grateful for the people who helped me get there.

And grateful that I get to spend my days making things that might, in some small way, bring a little more colour, beauty and joy into someone else’s world.

Those are pretty good glimmers.