The story behind The Feels Collection

The Feels Collection is a celebration of colour and embracing the fun colours that spark happiness in my soul. Yes, there’s a lot of pink. And no, I haven’t always loved that colour.

As a toddler and young girl growing up, I loved all things girly, bright, dressy, pink, purple, showy, fun, you name it. But it wasn’t long before all that fun got teased out of me. Literally. I was teased a lot as a kid, called a ‘show off’ for wearing pretty dresses, there were sniggers and taunts from my peers when I turned up to dance class (at the ripe age of 7) in a colourful new leotard that I thought was the bomb, and I always felt laughed at and left out, like I didn’t belong anywhere. And so by the time I was about 9, I retreated and decided to instead be less sparkly and more tomboy-ish (aided, in part, by some crooked mullet haircuts given to me by my dad who is not a hairdresser) in the hope I would blend in just enough to eventually make a few friends. It worked. And so, as I got older and turned from girl to adolescent to woman, I hid, and eventually forgot about that girly girl. I changed my opinions to fit in with those ‘cooler’ ones around me, toned down my favoured colours (no more pink eeew!), dressed down instead of up wearing baggy, boyish, grungier clothes and steered away from anything too feminine, too girly or too extra, unless it was in a rock n roll kinda way.

For the most part, I successfully squashed that colourful sparkly girly girl down so far that I had well and truly lost her, lost me.

That went on for years. Many years. But as I ventured into my forties things started to change and not just my hormones. I remembered that little girl and realised there’s nothing wrong with being feminine, showing feminine and embracing the feminine. I started surrounding myself with colourful everything (from stationary to water bottles to homewares to spectacles), embraced the prettiness and beauty of flowers (yep I denied myself of the joy of pretty flowers for all those years), and began wearing and being confident in colourful, patterned, expressive clothes (the brighter the better!). You may have even noticed the change in my painting journey - when I started only a few years ago, I used pale and muted colours (me, still trying to blend in with what others liked, I guess), but more recently I’ve been drawn more and more to bigger, brighter, bolder, stronger, funner and more neon colours. I can now admit it and I’m unapologetic, I love colour! All colour. Not just pink, but pink in all its shades, is up there as one of my faves. I embrace it all.

These new paintings give me ‘the feels’. The good vibe, joyful, expressive, fulfilled, happy, sparkly and dance-on-the-spot kinda feels that I lost all those years ago but have recently found again. I’m super proud of them. And while the bold colours may not be for everyone (I get it, not everyone likes pink), they are for anyone. Anyone who is ready to celebrate colour in all its forms and who has found whatever it is that sparks happiness within them.