Sometime life throws a curve ball at you and often when you least expect it. And if you leave the door ajar for it to happen it materializes even quicker.

A year ago exactly, I was in a place where I felt a little bit lost. Nothing seemed to make me happy. Nothing was triggering interest let alone passion.

The boys had returned to school after the Summer and I didn’t want to return to work.

Ironically, for once in a long time I felt I was onto something professionally but the one thing that was drastically missing was the interest. So I made a huge decision, I was going to take some time off and just go with the flow.

Now, this is not something that comes easy to me. Wandering without aim is something I find very scary, so I had to force myself into it.

I called it my Creative Sabbatical and during that time I renewed my passion for drawing, painting, sewing and DIYing (thank you Pinterest!). Then, slowly, very gently I rediscovered the love of holding a needle and make something beautiful appear on fabric.

I realized that I could even draw and imagine my own patterns and colors and from that was born my first series of Crowned Animals. For a while they became a drug for me and the most exciting part of it was to see the impact they had on others.

You see, creativity is a part of me that for a very long time I kept silent.

Like many people my generation, being an artist was a good thing but it certainly wasn’t going to make you a millionaire. Consequently only a few of us would find themselves allowed to really make it a thing in their lives. Others, like me, would push this urge into a drawer, hoping that someday there would be enough hours in a day to selfishly use just for that. Real work had to take first place.

One thing I have discovered during that time, is how wrong this is! For me, letting my creative side express itself is something that helps me stay balanced and reliefs my anxiety. Some go for a run or at the gym to release their stress, I love nothing more than translate my creative vision into something real. Like a sportsman who suffers through training to feel the reward of his hard work at the end, I feel the frustration and pain that sometimes comes with the process of creating only to feel the immense joy that comes with the achievement.

Modern Embroidery is my thing and it gives me so much more than pretty hoops to put on the wall.