Bring on the NEW YEAR, I say...

Sitting outside and listening to the birds chirp while thinking about the last 10 years, was the way I started my morning of the last day of this decade. It made me stop and think about what had happened and man, what a crazy 10 years I have had!


I moved to Rotorua from Auckland and started learning about living on a low income, met some interesting people and started my journey as an artist. I have Mara to thank for helping me make that huge life change!
    
A few years later, when I decided to open a big studio for other artists, I had the help of my family to settle in Wanganui, Mara helped with my move once again, that was a pretty crazy trip in the van LOL!
I found a house and then a huge building, to open the Paint Pit and it all began.
One of the landlords was Shaughan - who would have thought I would marry him and have his baby? You just never know what is in store for you in this crazy world!!


A week after I opened the Paint Pit my Gran died which totally shook my world as I  adored her, it was so sudden! It took 2 years to come right from that!Talk about a bit of a roller-coaster with other members of the family. She had rewritten her will a week before and I was the only grandchild that was in there, and because it wasn't signed it caused craziness to begin. Luckily it all worked out evenly and everyone got a pie of the pie. She got her message across, and it exposed a few true colours, my Aunty is a gem!


A few days before 2005 I moved in with Shaughan upstairs in the old 'Caroline's' nightclub and we started to blend our lives together, bit of a mission to begin with as we were both so independent and being our own boss. I liked to party and have lots of people around me and he liked to be on his own and read. Talk about chalk and cheese but over the past 5 years we have bought a nice balance into each others life. Sometimes kicking and screaming but not too much!  

I really enjoyed having the space downstairs where I could share with over artists and everyday there was someone new walking through the door. We had a great time and as luck would shine on me, like it does, the space next door became available, I decided a gallery would be a great idea! So off I went on a mission with sweat, dust, and paint and got the space looking sharp for the Quayhole Gallery to open. It was a year to the day that I opened the Paint Pit that the gallery opened. Little did I know what was going to happen next, a crazy lady came into our space and totally cause havoc, the Paint Pit dissolved just like that. It was a good thing which I didn't think it at the time as I loved it! But I really wouldn't have coped looking after 2 spaces. Running a gallery and hosting exhibitions is a full time job, I totally love it!!! After the last mop of the floor and looking at the exhibition I had hung, what a satisfying feeling! It was a blank canvas each time to create an exciting place for people to come and enjoy art! I'm sure a lot of people that came through those doors were inspired to get creating or just see art in a different light?
I ran the coolest kids classes, I so miss that and can't wait to get back into it!
I do see myself in the next 10 years creating another space that is all about art again, I'm just not sure when how, or what so watch this space! When I get something stuck in my head, I'm pretty determined to get it done no matter what and I'm pretty lucky that things always seem to fall into place.


I have learnt so much this decade, with being married to a web developer I have dived right into learning about the net and have loved every minute of it, I always was a bit of a computer geek at school as it was one of my favourite subjects, the thing that excited me the most was that you could communicate with people all over the world and it still excites me! I have meet some wonderful people through the internet and also caught up with people I thought I never would see again! A big part of that is thank to Facebook! I wonder if Mark knew what he was starting when he first started his venture? Big ups to him!!!  


The biggest shock to me this decade was getting pregnant! I sat in Vanessa's toilet, my blood pressure at an all time high, with a the stick said YES I was pregnant, I was in shock. I never thought I would have children and neither did Shaughan. I was sitting in Shaughan's office, waiting, waiting, waiting for all the people to leave so I could tell him and he was over the moon! Thank God!!! So from that day our lives were turned upside down.
We wanted to be in a different environment so the mission was on! We found this great place, closed the business down and emptied the building, the biggest missions ever!! I think there was about 50 trailer loads back and forth. In the end Shaughan gave away all the stuff we couldn't fit into the house. His brother had a big garage sale and gave a lot of it away himself. Then the waiting game was on. It feels like a life time when you are pregnant! Maddy was sitting right on my sciatic nerve so my legs were pins and needles all the time which made it a bit hard sometimes but other than blowing up like a huge balloon it was a beautiful experience. It was the day after my birthday that I woke up with a 'Holy Shit'this baby wants to come out! I really didn't know what to expect, I had been with my sister the year before when she had her baby and she made it look so easy! It was a crazy day and at 4:45am wee Maddy was born in the bath at Whanganui Hospital. It was such a nice surprise we had a little girl!

Coming home was a bit scary! But it is 9 months today since it has all happened, feels like longer, and we are a happy wee family! It has taken a few ups and downs to get there but we are getting the hang of it!
I really didn't realise how hard this motherhood thing was going to be. You don't get much sleep and I just don't function very well on much sleep! We love having Maddy she really is a treasure, she brings much joy and laughter into our lives and I can't wait to see what a fine young lady she will turn into! She is lucky to have so many people who love and adore her, to help her along her way! I think she is going to be a ROCKER when she gets older!!! LOL.


I feel really excited about waking up tomorrow, this year has been so crazy, and I can't wait to get onto the next decade of our lives! I know a lot of you feel this way as the past year has been pretty hard on most of us.  I haven't spent much time with any of my friends and I look forward to getting back out there, organising a few parties and maybe even a few exhibitions? It has been nice having Angela take care of my artwork this year, she rocks, I hope the economy takes a up turn soon!! People go out and buy some art as it fills your home with so much more than just a painting!


I wish you all a very HAPPY start to the new decade!


I will leave you with this: 2010 = 2+0+1+0 = 3 (my outlook to this year).......

Three Brings:

Joy for life             Enthusiasm 

Action             Gain of new skills

Awareness              Good communication

Childlike Innocence         Outgoing

Ability to get over things quickly           Playfulness

Open to new opportunity              Imaginative

Luck                         Magic

new integration and wholeness – mind, body and soul

Be careful of pessimism, foolhardiness and unnecessary risk taking

My Youtube clip for the day is....





Get out their and party....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!