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Introducing Photography Fortnight on Do What You Love!

Posted on 2011-08-02 at 8:00 am.

For the next two weeks this space will become a place for celebrating photography – and I hope you will stick around for the party!

I love photographs. Memories captured, beauty preserved, promises unspoken.

My Dad is a trained photographer and apparently one of my ancestors was the first ever photojournalist! I have been taking photographs for years, with all sorts of different cameras. In the Do What You Love e-course go out and about in search of beauty and explore what kind of photographers we are. This has made me reflect more on what kind of a photographer I am. I am fascinated by the way the subject matter of my photos has changed hugely at different times in my life.

When I was younger I used to take pictures of everything (and often process them in my Dad’s dark room in our garage, marvelling at the magic as the images emerged in the developing solution). In my early twenties I travelled a lot on my own and lived abroad for several years – in this period I mainly took photos of landscapes and buildings.

Then I spent several years working for UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and found myself drawn to people’s faces, especially those of children in developing countries – and food (in street markets etc).

More recently I seem to take more random pictures of details – my feet, textures, the sky – and I can’t stop taking pictures of flowers lately. Funny how it changes over time.

I am drawn to simple photos that show raw beauty – whether in the subject, the colour or the feeling of the image.

In the next two weeks I am going to share some of my favourite tips, along with interviews with fantastic photographers (Roxanne Krystalli, Christine Boyd and Xander Neal).

I hope you will also join in and share your own tips and tricks. And if you fancy getting out and about a bit more with your camera this month, why not join Susannah Conway’s ‘August Break’?

So tell me, what kind of a photographer are you?

PS If you want to start seeing the world in new ways, why not join the Do What You Love e-course. Registration is open now!

Some sacrifices aren’t sacrifices at all: Jenny Shih shares her story

Posted on 2011-08-01 at 8:00 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Today’s shared story comes from Jenny Shih who believes in doing work that matters and living a life you love.

Some sacrifices aren’t sacrifices at all.

Two years and two months ago I quit my corporate job because my heart and soul told me it was time to move on. Co-workers, friends, and family saw me as foolishly sacrificing a nice, steady paycheck, great benefits, and 10-year career with a solid professional reputation for some wishy-washy “follow your heart” baloney. But I knew that I would be sacrificing my life, my zest, and my sanity by not leaving.

On the outside it looked like a sacrifice. On the inside, it felt like freedom.

It’s true, income was not guaranteed and success by any measure was also uncertain. My heart and soul were aching so badly every minute I was inside those office buildings. Every cell in my body longed for something more meaningful than working for a company that manufactured high-tech office products. I needed freedom. It wanted to make a difference in the world.

For the first six months after I left that job I was scared out of my mind. Most days I was so afraid that I wasn’t able to enjoy my newfound freedom. I was afraid I would have to return to a job to pay the mortgage. I was afraid I would fail at starting and running a business. I was afraid of the shame I would feel if I had to crawl back to that company and ask for another job, especially when I was so clear that I couldn’t work there any longer. But I still new it had been the right choice.

As time passed and I calmed my fears, I began to feel the freedom I created for myself. Every day I wake up knowing that I am in charge of my day. I get to decide when, where and how I work. Yes, I am reliant on myself and my own work for income to pay the bills. There are days when it’s still scary, but I have no regrets.

Leaving my job, something that looked like a sacrifice to others, was not a sacrifice at all. The real sacrifice was working in a job that was killing my soul. It would have been a sacrifice to my whole being to not listen to my need for more meaningful work. I would have sacrificed my soul and my sanity to stay at my corporate job, and that was a sacrifice I wasn’t willing to take.

Jenny Shih works with women entrepreneurs with world-changing ideas they need to unleash in the world. She is the creator of the idea flight kit, a free guide that covers everything you need to get your idea up and flying. You can find Jenny at jennyshih.com. Image courtesy of Alex Demchak.]

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“Life-changing”, “Revolutionary”, “Awe-inspiring”, “Transformative“ – just a few of the ways former participants have described the Do What You Love e-course.

Do you fancy some of that in your life? Do you want to get closer to identifying your true passion and finding a way to do what you love, for life? Then this is for you!

The Do What You Love e-course is open for registration now. The adventure begins on September 26 but places are limited so book now to secure your place. This is the last time it will run this year.

This is your chance to join a global tribe of like-minded people who will support and encourage you to find your way.

It could be the most influential six weeks of your life…

Join now!

Life-changing events led us to do what we love: Hillary Rubin and Cathy Bueti share their stories

Posted on 2011-07-25 at 8:30 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Today’s shared stories come from Hillary Rubin and Cathy Bueti who have overcome huge life-changing events – including the loss of a loved one and a serious illness – to discover their life’s purpose and passion.

Hillary Rubin

For me doing what you love is being in alignment with your desire. I’m not a believer of purpose even though it’s in my tag line and women come to me to discover what their purpose is. Most of it really is work to go back to what they love, tune into what they desire or rediscover what they love now.

I have seen from my personal experience when I’m not doing what I love my soul aches. When I’m not doing what I love my body cries. When I’m not doing what I love the best part of me dies.

In 2010 my husband had a crisis – or what I call a course-changer. He was not doing what he loved and like a good man was providing for our family. His soul suffered so much that he ended up in the hospital.

It was scary to see the man I loved suffer. He had a foot of his colon removed and made a promise to himself never to do it again. Today he is healthy in mind, body and spirit.

Now we have a contract that we do not take on projects, jobs, or clients unless it is for something we love to do. I cannot think of a better commitment to have to yourself and with your partner.

Being a Gemini, I love to do so many things and always like to have a healthy learning curve. At the beginning of my life most of my choices were from survival of what I had to do. I chose to move to NYC to study at Fashion Institute of Technology. I loved it. I felt alive and free.

I went from doing windows at ABC Carpet and Home to being a fashion editor at a menswear magazine, and then to styling, to producing fashion shows, to having my own PR company and then at the top of my career landed a plum job at Prada.

Prada was not as cool as I thought. I hated it but wanted to be on the in-crowd so I stuck it out as much as I could.

Until my time in fashion came to a painful end with a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. After I let myself out of a prison of victimhood, I was on a new quest to heal myself and to my surprise found what I loved.

It was through my pain that I found what was next on my what-I-love-to-do path as an artist, healer and cultural creative. I devoured all I could in the alternative realm to defy my prison sentence of ending up in a wheel chair. In 2002 I moved to LA to take a yoga teacher training course and worked as a PR director for a fashion company. It was worth giving up a six year relationship, a fabulous apartment in the west village and the fast hip lifestyle for my healing cocoon.

But I really did not give anything up… I got so much more.

Right after my yoga teacher training ended, I started teaching and never stopped. Something came alive in me. Not only was I healing but I was stimulated like never before. It was love at first sight. I was on my path. I travelled the world teaching yoga, connected to amazing people and ended up getting certified in Anusara Yoga(TM).

Not only did I love teaching classes, I went on to create a yoga podcast called Hillary’s Yoga Practice + produced my own bestselling DVD called Yoga Foundations with Hillary Rubin.

I loved it and never looked back.

With hindsight, I know now that whatever I do creatively is my body of work. It will always evolve and I cannot do it wrong. I listen to myself and let my intuition guide me. When the fun stops that is my red flag to shift my attitude or let it go so the next wave of creativity can come in.

If you are feeling challenged to do what you love then I suggest you release the following:

Release the need to care what others think – live your life for you.
Release the need to have it ‘perfect’ and take small baby steps.
Release the need to believe your fears – you don’t know if you’ll fail or succeed unless you go for it

Once I released this for myself I was able to flow and evolve. I have a foundation in yoga, am a spiritual life design coach and a multi-passionate entrepreneur. I help women stop licking their wounds and create a life filled with passion, purpose and unshakable self-confidence. I love creating valuable content that breeds transformation and freedom to live the life you desire.

What’s next for me is launching a group program for women to get back to prosperity without shame, be healthy without guilt, find purpose without overwhelm and be happy without excuses, publishing my first book and hosting my television show called Get Real with Hillary.

[All images courtesy of Hillary Rubin]

Find out more about Hillary on her website or connect on Twitter.

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Cathy Bueti

I remember loving art when I was a child. I was always doodling something or spending hours with my coloring books. My most vivid art memory was when I created a pastel butterfly in the fourth grade. As I grew older art seemed to disappear as life got in the way. A crazy childhood with an alcoholic father, my parents divorce, becoming a widow at 25, and then a diagnosis of breast cancer at 31 halted any thoughts of creativity. I graduated college with a degree in occupational therapy and worked for almost 20 years in the healthcare field. After my husband was killed I began keeping a journal. I discovered I enjoyed writing. I continued journaling during my cancer experience and began writing a book hoping to one day share my experience and help others. It was during this time I also discovered a love of photography and most recently painting.

I remarried eight years ago and am now a 10 year cancer survivor. During the first few years after I finished my treatments I realised that something was missing. It was getting more and more difficult to work with patients after having been one myself. With my husband’s support I left my day job as an Occupational Therapist a couple of years ago and have the opportunity to create everyday. My life has been tough but what I have found is that creativity helps me deal with the fear that comes in a life after cancer. Being creative gets me to a nice place in my head and quiets my mind. I get lost in those moments with my art. I am discovering myself and seeing all that I am capable of which is more than I ever imagined.

In May 2009 my memoir “Breastless in the City” was published and I was able to fulfill my dream of being a writer. Last August I started my blog Artsy Butterfly where I share my creative life, pieces of my art, and pieces of myself. I also opened an etsy shop which allowed me to achieve another goal and put my art out there into the world to hopefully inspire others.

It was scary to leave a career I had done for so long. I thought, “who am I to even dream of anything else?” Then I thought about how much I have lost and how short life is. I started to realize that I couldn’t let the chance pass me by. I longed to live in the moment and do what would make me happy every day. I believe that everything I have been through has led me to this moment. I wouldn’t be who I am without surviving those difficult experiences.

I can’t help but smile when I think about the man who has shared a few pieces of my art with his little girls. One of them wants to be an artist too. It makes my heart happy to know they enjoy my work. It connects me with the little girl I was so long ago… the one who drew that pastel butterfly.

[All images courtesy of Cathy Bueti]

Cathy is a self taught photographer and mixed-media artist living in Brewster, New York. Visit her at Artsy Butterfly.

If I ever write a book…

Posted on 2011-07-21 at 8:09 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

… I hope it makes people feel the way I felt when I discovered ‘My Heart Wanders’ by Pia Jane Bijkerk.

It is so beautiful it made me gasp.

It is like a precious treasure, which reveals breathtaking natural elegance and soulwarming words with every page.

It even has a little gift buried at the back – a paper heart tied with a ribbon and the note ‘from one wandering heart to another’.

Aesthetically this has to be my book of the decade… These photos really don’t do it justice. It was as if the book didn’t want to be photographed, but I really wanted to share a peek with you.

The perfect gift for a close friend – or even for yourself…

Morning rituals

Posted on 2011-07-19 at 10:11 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

When I woke up this morning I had this really strong flashback of my time as a student in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan (and my favourite city in the world). I was sat in my homestay family’s kitchen some 15 years ago making cheese on toast in their strange grilling machine, using the delicious squidgy doorstop bread I have only ever found over there. I had this incredible sense of joy in the moment, as I went through my breakfast ritual in this foreign land, before heading off to school past rice fields and bamboo forests, a whole day of adventures stretching ahead of me.

I keep feeling a very strong pull to Kyoto these days. It comes in waves and my mind keeps wandering East. And when I woke up this morning it struck me what an incredible sense of freedom I had at that point. I was virtually alone the other side of the world, with very limited money but a whole year to savour all for myself. I was picking up the new language piece by piece, with mini triumphs every day as I managed to converse with the old man selling sweet potatoes, or read a new roadsign or sing along with a festival chorus. I went to school in the mornings, and spent the afternoons exploring. My time was my own, to spend how I chose.

And then I realised it is not that dissimilar now. I have a business to run and bills to pay, but one of the reasons I made the leap away from the corporate world was to have that freedom to choose how I spend my time. Sometimes you find yourself working so hard that you forget that it is completely up to you whether you start your day on the computer, or in the park, or in the studio… So I’ve started a new routine for my mornings – tea in the garden and half an hour with a book about Japan before the day begins, and a moment of thanks for this freedom.

What about you? What is your morning ritual?

Life is not a dress rehearsal: two inspirational women share their stories

Posted on 2011-07-18 at 8:00 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Today’s shared stories come from artist Kim Beller and comedienne Jenny Wynter.

Kim Beller

For me, doing what I love means to follow my heart wherever that takes me, to surround myself with people I love and to be open to all the possibilities that are usually right in front of me!

I lost my mom a few years ago to cancer. She was only 62 when she died, but lucky for me, we were best friends and she taught me many lessons while she was here. It was after I lost her that I began to listen more closely to the voice in my heart. Things that used to matter didn’t matter so much anymore. I poured myself into art and journaling and making jewellery…..anything to stay busy but more importantly to express myself through art. I have said more than once, “art saved me”. I decided that I wanted to be more serious about my art and creating, but couldn’t come up with exactly how I wanted that to happen.

With Mom

This idea has evolved over the past few years and kept coming up over and over until it pretty much hit me in the face. Thanks to the encouragement of a dear friend, Nicole, I began to share my love of art journaling with others. It started with a few girls in a yoga studio and has since gotten bigger and bigger. I recently co-taught a book-making “playshop’ in Manteo, North Carolina. The joy of sharing the things I have learned over the years and creating with other women (men are welcome too) is priceless.

My world was rocked with my mom’s diagnosis several years ago and we found a house with an apartment so she could live with us, but have her own space. It was really hard to go into that space for quite a while, but thankfully, time heals.

I have recently turned her living space into “heART space”, a place where anyone can come and be true to their self….to make art, work in journals, whatever they need to do in a safe, nurturing and loving space. “heART space” is where I teach “playshops” and share my journey with others. Although it was a lot of work emotionally to re-create this space, it has paid off in so many ways. Being able to share what I love with others, and to honor my mom in this way has been a huge part of my healing. I am able to make art, teach art and share with others in a way that I know my mom would love and be proud of. I love being able to stay home with my girls and to create and work at the same time.

Now that I have this beautiful space to create and teach and play in, my bigger dream is to have some of my favorite artists come and teach workshops here. Perhaps Judy Wise, …..Misty Mawn……L.K. Ludwig…..just to name a few!

[All images courtesy of Kim Beller]

Kim Beller is a mixed media artist, inspired by the sea and all of nature. Her passion is to create expressive pieces with recycled metals, found objects, heartfelt quotes, photography and bits of nature in her art and jewelry. Most days Kim can can be found in her in the studio with the music turned up and the windows wide open. Find out more about Kim by visiting her website or Etsy shop]

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Jenny Wynter

Doing what I love means feeling grateful for the opportunity to make a living – and indeed, just a life – out of something that I would gladly do for free. My own mother was an artist, a singer actually. She was beautiful inside and out, and when she was around my age now, she won a very prestigious song-writing competition, the prize of which was a recording contract in Sydney. Very sadly, she never made it; she very shortly thereafter, completely out of the blue, died. (She had an aneurism.) Thus, not only have I been inspired by her example to do what you love, but I also realised from a very early age that life is finite. That knowledge, that it could end at any moment, has I think, ultimately made me feel like there’s not much point wasting the short time that I have here doing something I’m not passionate about! ·

The first time I saw Edward Scissorhands, I desperately wanted to be an actor. I cannot explain it, other than that it moved me in such a profound way (I was only twelve!) that I remember thinking “I want to make people feel as deeply as I felt today!” From that point onwards, I was hellbent on being an actor. I never sought out comedy roles (indeed, quite the opposite, I really wanted to be the pretty girl, the romantic lead!) but instead found myself constantly cast in them. That probably should have been a hint…

When I was 22, I finally made the move to Sydney to seriously pursue acting and three weeks later found out I was pregnant. I was completely shocked and at first I thought performing was over for me. A couple of years later, with two kids under two, I heard through the grapevine about an improv comedy troupe looking for players. It sounded so fun, so I called up, auditioned and the following week was performing! That gave me enough confidence that people thought I was funny to start pursuing it professionally, and it just kinda snowballed. Not long after that I entered a stand-up comedy competition and to my surprise, it went really well and it didn’t take too long before I was making a meager living from comedy. It’s funny now to think that I accidentally fell into my comedic calling, because in hindsight I think it had been biting at me for quite a number of years before I really recognized how much I loved it! ·

In 2007 my family and I moved to Canada, so that I could pursue some comedy opportunities over there. I had these grand dreams of returning to Australia a comedic superstar, but my hubby asked that before we move to the big smoke in Canada, that first we go to a quiet little town just to get our family on track (my family having received the brunt of the time sacrifices involved in making my comedy career happen). Then something strange happened – we ended up loving small town Canada so very much, in that it was so fantastic for our family’s sense of togetherness that we ended up staying there the whole time. I was able to do bits of comedy here and there, certainly not to the extent that I would have liked, but enough to keep the flame burning. While I was there I developed a new full-length show, which is much more theatrical and incredibly personal than anything I’d ever done before. On the opening night of its work-in-progress showing, I was literally four minutes away from the curtain opening, with my newborn baby still breastfeeding on me and not a scrap of makeup on my face. I had a moment there of thinking “What am I DOING?!” and wondering whether I was insane to attempt this kind of thing. But then afterwards, when the show had finished and I was basking in the afterglow of post-performance euphoria, I have never felt more happy. ·

I wish I had known how long it would take to actually get good. I think that as an artist, you have to have a certain amount of cockiness and belief in your ability to succeed. But I think that, especially in the first couple of years of my work, I really thought I was a whole lot better than I actually was! Who knows, I’ll probably be saying that about myself throughout my entire life, but I think at the beginning I really thought my stratospheric rise to success was going to strike at any time. Now I’m realizing more and more how it really does take time to master a craft and that actually, whatever that ‘meteoric rise’ I was chasing even looked like, it’s a damn good thing it didn’t happen in my first couple of years because I was not even close to ready! ·

Now I have HUGE dreams. My new show (the one I developed in Canada) is called “The Unexpected Variety Show” and I just debuted it last month at the Cabaret Fringe Festival, where, to my delight, it received some beautiful glowing reviews. So now my biggest dreams are for the show. I’m taking it to the Melbourne Fringe this September, Adelaide Fringe early next year and have my eyes set on Edinburgh in 2012. My ultimate goal for it is that we will deck out a big family tour bus and spend the next couple of years taking the show around Australia and then the rest of the world. Blogging and video-blogging the adventure along the way. That would be heavenly. And I’m sure at times, hell-ish! But I’m so, so excited about the prospect of it and you know, I think we might just do it. Life really is too short not to!

[All images courtesy of Jenny Wynter]

Jenny is a comedian, musician, writer and mother-of-three. To find out more about Jenny and her work visit her website or blog, or connect on Facebook or Twitter]

Wandering contributions…

Posted on 2011-07-17 at 2:05 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

[Image courtesy of Gypsy Girl’s Guide]

I am so excited and honoured to have been invited to join a tribe of inspiring women – including Christine Mason Miller, Boho Girl Denise Andrade, Marianne Elliott and Jen Gray – as a wandering contributor to the gorgeous Gypsy Girl’s Guide.

One of the most delicious sources of travel and life musings I have come across, Gypsy Girl’s Guide was one of the first blogs I ever read when I discovered this online creative world.

So now it feels so precious to be invited along for the ride by founder and talented photographer Alessandra Cave.

This is my first ever ‘column’, and today I posted my first contribution (here), musing on ‘Travelling Light’. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts – so please do stop by and share how you travel these days…

Did you hear? Jessica Swift is making wellies!

Posted on 2011-07-14 at 1:46 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

[Image courtesy of Jessica Swift]

I love happy people.

And Jessica Swift is definitely one of life’s happy people (see here for the Do What You Love interview with her).

Have you heard she is making rainboots covered in her gorgeous designs and carrying secret messages?

We would call them ‘wellies’ here in England.

She needs your help to get them manufactured – and bring puddle-splashing happiness to people all over the world.

Check out her fun Kickstarter video here – only six days to go!

Overthinking things

Posted on 2011-07-12 at 8:30 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Sometimes I find myself overthinking things when I am trying to create something.

Usually when I find myself stuck, or frustrated with what I am making, it is because I am thinking about it too much. And when I am in the zone, not really thinking at all, it always works out better.

Last week my little nephew – who is five years old – took this photo of me with my ipod. He didn’t think about it at all. Just aimed it at me, moved it around a bit then hit the button. And for someone who doesn’t usually like photos of myself, I love it!

And it really made me think that sometimes we just need to ‘hit the button’.

Have you found yourself overthinking things lately?

Tough choices and positive life changes: Artists Ayesha Puri and Rhiannon Connelly share their stories

Posted on 2011-07-04 at 8:03 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Today’s shared stories come from Edinburgh-based artist Rhiannon Connelly and designer Ayesha Puri in New Delhi, India.

Ayesha Puri

I recently gave up my career of nine years as a tax consultant with a leading ‘Big 4’ firm to pursue my dream of becoming an entrepreneur and setting up my own venture, All Things Pretty (ATP). We focus on cushions and table linen and are slowly looking at expanding into other product lines in home décor.

Giving up my job was not an easy decision as my nine years in the role had given me a comfort zone. I had worked hard to build a career and position for myself and often wondered if it was worthwhile to give it all up to do something entirely different. However, although I had no experience, I did have faith, which to my mind is the most crucial ingredient to success.

Though my family was very supportive of my decision, I did meet a lot of people who warned me against the competition, the long gestation period for setting up your own business and the many other factors involved in giving up a steady, secure means of living. This meant it took me a while to make up my mind. The realization to finally take the plunge came about two years ago when I was setting up my home with my husband and shopping for home linen. That’s when it struck me that if I had a keen eye to spot things for my home and I actually enjoy the process of hunting for the right stuff and finding the perfect spot for it, I would probably enjoy it as a business. I do believe in the adage that you must do what you love and love what you do. However, though that was the trigger that sent me thinking.

I finally took the plunge only a few months ago when I decided “If I am going to go give this idea a shot, it has got to be now” – and thus ATP was born. I currently retail my products through a few home décor stores across India. It wasn’t an easy start with the retail stores – I wrote to dozens of them requesting for them to see my work and give me an opportunity to display my products. It took a while for me to understand how to go about manufacturing and showcasing merchandise at stores. During my initial few meetings, I met some very helpful, wonderful people who very kindly showed me my mistakes and guided me on how I should proceed. Even though every meeting may not have resulted in a sale or an opportunity for a tie up with a store, I learned so much from meeting experienced people who had been involved in this field for years.

It has been about six months since I have been fully involved in ATP. I am looking at expanding my market and selling my products overseas. In the next few years, I hope to get into exports, open a lifestyle store and be known as the one stop shop for home décor.

[All images courtesy of Ayesha Puri]

Find out more on the ATP Facebook page

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Rhiannon Connelly

Doing what I love – without realising it, this has been my guiding principle all along. My first experience of a “proper job” was so spectacularly awful that I left after a few months, and from then on I’ve always felt it was a priority to enjoy what I was doing. But that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been ups and downs and I’ve had to maintain a flexible approach. However, the threads of colour and travel keep appearing.

My first real passion was textile design using painted silk but after seven or eight years I basically burned out and made the difficult decision to stop (despite having been quite successful with a lot of outlets including Liberty of London, and seeing the likes of British TV personalities Jon Snow and Philip Schofield wearing my ties.) This tough choice led to quite a blue period – however, I was fortunate that I could return to tourist guiding ,which I also really enjoyed, and this gave me some breathing space.

Image – Rhiannon Connelly

Over time photography became more important, growing from something I did ‘on the side’ into a full time occupation. At first I did weddings and portraiture, which I liked but realised after a while I did not love. And then photographic art became my main focus – specifically a particular style of Polaroid manipulation, which partly attracted me by its vibrant colours.

But then Polaroid went out of business, leading to another period of creative block. I resolved to find a way to use up the last of my supplies in a joyful way to get past this. What I came up with was the “12 City Project” where I spent a week a month for a year photographing 12 European cities. This was quite an ambitious plan but I did complete the shooting part on schedule. I think that just announcing my plans at the outset gave me a lot of the momentum to carry it out.

Now I have used nearly all of my supplies and although the Impossible Project is working on new film types, so far it does not yet suit my style. For me, the bright colours are as essential as the ability to manipulate the images. Instead of falling into another blue phase I’ve started to develop a range of textiles using my existing images. And I’m on the lookout for a different medium in case the film doesn’t give me the results I want.

If there was anything I would like to have known earlier on it would be that discovering and doing what you love is not something that happens in a straight line but rather spirals in and out so that no skill learned is ever wasted. And to follow any interesting avenues without worrying that it is a “wrong” direction.

Whatever happens, in the future I would like to grow the textile range, explore licensing and find ways to share some of the techniques I’ve learned with others.

[All images courtesy of Rhiannon Connelly]

To find out more about Rhiannon and her work visit her website.

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Would you like to share your story on Do What You Love and reach a new audience of creative souls?

Please see here and contact me for more details