Creative Moments

Tuesday, 14 April 2009

Paintings sold at The Mapua Easter Fair 2009

Four paintings were sold at The Mapua Easter Fair. I had 19 paintings on display of varying sizes. I took photos of all the paintings the night before and apologise that the quality of the photos isn't the best. I've included a painting of a dog in a hat and a scarf that I gave to our neighbours little girl.

About Art For Children

I enrolled in a beginners course in painting in acrylics in 2008. I'd never had any formal art training before and wanted to bring my signature style of cartoon-like characters to life on canvass.

After ten years of (computer) graphic design, it was time to get my art off the computer and on canvass. In recent months I've held stalls in three markets in the Nelson region - at The Richmond Annual Market Day in December 2008, The Founders Fair in February 2009 and most

recently, The Mapua Easter Fair in April 2009. I've sold twelve paintings thus far. At this point my art is for children's bedrooms but I plan to bring some of my cartoons to life on canvass in the near future as well.

Tuesday, 6 May 2008

When plans go out the window

"New Mum On The Block "
Nelson District Parent Centre Newsletter May/June 2008

Having babies isn't always a simple affair. I don't think any Mums I've spoken to experienced child-birth in quite the way they'd “planned”. With the number of births that occur each day around the globe, it always amazes me that no story is ever the same with childbirth. Things can go wrong or at least, not as planned. It does pay to be semi-prepared for things to go differently to what you might have hoped.

Amelia's entrance into the world was the complete opposite of the birth plan I had carefully considered with my midwife. I'd envisioned using a swiss ball to rock on as contractions passed through my body. I thought I'd spend some time in a bath in a birthing room at Nelson hospital. I was planning on taking minimal pain relief and was looking forward to seeing how I'd cope with a natural childbirth. I attended antenatal Yoga classes and my husband and I endured many sessions of The Pink Kit video which were incredibly intimate so I figured my body was ready in many ways. I was looking forward to experiencing childbirth and felt as prepared as I could possibly be.

Or so I thought!

Turns out the only part of my birth plan that happened was having my daughter in Nelson hospital! My daughter was in foetal distress and so she was delivered by c-section. Even though we had “acted out” a c-section in our antenatal class at the Parent Centre, when it came to the crunch, the reality of having an emergency c-section was quite a shock. It was the first time in my life I'd been on an operating table and I just didn't know what to expect. It all happened so fast so I didn't have a lot of time to digest what was going on.

C-section deliveries are common but what is uncommon is the fact that I had an ovary removed at the same time. That was the part that was definitely unexpected. I had unexplained pain for three weeks before my daughter's arrival and the cause was never found. But because I was five days away from my due date and in obvious pain that seemed to be unrelated to pregnancy, I was admitted to Nelson Hospital via A&E at four in the morning on a Saturday. Amelia was delivered at 11pm on a Sunday night.

I ended up having a general anaesthetic and this really threw me off for weeks, if not months after my daughter's arrival. It certainly threw me off emotionally. Losing an ovary was traumatic so I did seek out the local Post Natal Depression Support group which was very helpful in talking through my experience.

I was forewarned by the obstetrician at Nelson Hospital that I might enter menopause early as a consequence of losing an ovary. She could have been right in her prediction as it has been a painstaking 19 months of trying to conceive a second baby. Next week I am going in for surgery to have a 6.5cm cyst removed that is believed to be affecting my fertility. That is also quite unexpected - I certainly never envisaged having two major operations over a three year period.

I always thought I'd have two children so it has been a hard road enduring secondary infertility. It has been an emotional roller-coaster ride to say the least. Becoming a parent rocked my world big-time in many ways and life has never been the same since! However despite some of the unexpected medical issues that have arisen along the way, I still wouldn't trade my time with Amelia thus far for anything. It has definitely been worth it all.

About me

I'm Lynda. I was born and bred in Wellington, New Zealand, and in my late primary school years submitted short stories, book reviews and cartoons on a regular basis to KidStuff - a page exclusively for children's writing and artwork in Saturday's edition of The Evening Post.

My writing and art was somewhat squelched during high school, although I chewed through many books and cartooned frequently.

I spent my years as a twenty-something exploring new horizons with travel and gaining a tertiary education. I have a BA (Hons) in Psychology and Education, which was completed at both Massey and Victoria Universities. I've lived short-term in both Sydney and Melbourne and completed several OEs which have taken me to the UK, the USA, a fraction of Europe and to Egypt and Israel. My longest overseas experience was a total of almost three years where I nannied in Vancouver , Canada and worked for two Summers in a children's camp in Pennsylvania, USA.

Variety is the spice of life could well be my personal work motto! I've worked on the ski-fields as a lifte in Queenstown, picked apples locally in Nelson, cleaned toilets, served pints, cleared tables, pushed paper, temped in offices in Wellington and Sydney, telemarketed, knocked on doors selling Christmas cards and calendars, and wiped other people's children's bottoms.

In 1999 I completed a Diploma in Computer Graphic Design at NatColl in Wellington and I worked in the industry for over ten years. My first design position led me to a job in Palmerston North with an agricultural company. It was at this company that I met my husband to-be Kev. At the end of 2001 Kev and I relocated to Nelson and married in Ruby Bay January 2004. Our daughter Amelia was born March 2005.

I have an interest in scriptwriting and in 2003 completed a Certificate in Television Production at NMIT. Around 2004 I declared myself officially out of the writing closet.I have been published in The Nelson Mail, have entered a number of writing competitions and in 2005 had a short story published within an anthology of Nelson writers. I wrote a a bimonthly column for The Nelson Districts Parent Centre Newsletter for a couple of years. I also have two other blogs - one about my experience with SIF (secondary infertility) and one about mothering a child with ASD (autism spectrum disorder).

In recent years I made the leap from graphics on the computer screen to art on canvas. As I'd never had any formal art training, in 2008 I enrolled in a beginners course in painting in acrylics. I held three stalls with friends locally in Nelson late 2008/early 2009 - at The Richmond Annual Market Day, The Founders Fair (sold seven paintings) and The Mapua Easter Show. (sold four paintings).

Towards the end of 2010 I enrolled in an experienced arts course. On January 2nd 2011 I had a stall at the Tahunanui Arts and Crafts Fair with some workmates and sold eight paintings - and a painted rock. I had a stall at The Mapua Easter Fair in 2011 with one of the same workmates and sold four paintings and two painted rocks.

In October 2012 I won a short story competition and was published in the February/March 2013 edition of Her Magazine. My first piece of fiction to be published in a magazine, which makes it an exciting writing milestone!

In November 2012 I held a stall with a friend at the Plunket Bonanza. After an eighteen month absence from painting, it was great to get out the brushes again!

In the Summer of 2012/2013 I held a few stalls at the McCashins Saturday market in Stoke with my own pergola that I got for Christmas in 2012. At the same time I launched my hobby-business Lynda J T - which is essentially art for children's bedrooms specialising in personalised art. There is a Facebook page for Lynda J T which features some of the work I have created for friends, family and clients.

I completed a Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education) through Victoria University in 2013. I'm looking forward to combining teaching with my love of art and writing in 2014.