I’m the black sheep in my family: I swear too much, wear too much black, have a black sense of humour, cover my body in black ink and have a severly reduced sense of grace and tact. Plus I chose a career that is so far from being financially viable, it’s laughable. Thankfully, I somehow get to justify it all under the umbrella of being ‘creative’.

But I’ve often wondered where I get this 'creativity' business from: is it nature or nurture and if it’s a bit of both, where the fuck in my family did I get it from?

On the nurture side, my parents always encouraged my ‘art stuff’. Mum kept childhood drawings, allowed me to have a homework desk covered in tracing paper so that I could draw/paint all over it and morally supported my slightly wacky choices to throw in stable jobs for the sake of my art practice.

And as far as my short black genes go, I always though my right-brain thinking was from my fathers’ side - from my uncle Graeme, who used to draw beautifully, although he never pursued it as anything more than an enjoyable pastime. And even then, it didn't really seem to fit all that well.

That is until I moved back home and realise that i got most of this stuff from my own mother!! Soux chef by day… interior designer by night!!

These are pics of her sketch book that she keeps filling up, planning, designing and working away at evolving her home into an aesthetic living space.

She’s not so great on the perspective business, but just look at these plans! Look at that process – she’s even stuck paint samples in!









3 houses now, from dowdy to downright shambolic, have been transformed and resurrected into these amazing social spaces – all by a woman who learns all her stuff from Monument, Artichoke and Wallpaper* magazines.

How cool is that!

Labels: creativity, heritage