If you have been following the creation of this new body of work via my Instagram account, you will have seen that this week I decided on a title: THE STOLEN MOMENTS COLLECTION. This is the first finished piece, and I've just realised that this collection will also be the last I release in 2019!

So, I wanted to tell you a little more about where this collection comes from…

Joy and I have had a rocky relation over recent years and these pieces are all about the work I have been putting into intentionally creating stolen moments of stillness and clarity, time to breath, moments that help me clear headspace to 'be', instead of 'do', time to feel like me, time to feel gratitude and joy.

Visually, this series depicts my feelings when I am still, fleeting moments of joy, that day by day I'm cultivating to last longer. I've used a bold bright colour palette and the compositions are more ordered than some of my previous paintings demonstrating the clarity I feel in the calm.

I’m not new to creating new habits, but the habit of creating more moments of stillness has most definitely been one that I wasn’t ready to create until recently. For the last two years meditative drawing has been part of my creative process, but it wasn’t enough for my overall well being, I wasn’t still enough, I was breathing, but still doing in the process.

I started to take action with my intention when I went to Marseille for the Art3f fair, I woke every morning and meditated, no children, no husband, just me, that meant that I had the mental space to get a solid start with this new habit.

I’ve been doing a 7 minute morning meditation almost everyday since and setting a new intention for how I want to move through each day.

Since integrating this habit of being into my day, I’m calmer, more focused, my anxiety has been reduced and I have gained confidence in the actions I take throughout the day, I’ve heard and read about the benefits of meditation for many years and only now at the age of 40 I am experiencing the benefits for myself. It is an almost daily habit that I’m hoping to build on until it just becomes a natural part of what I do each day.

I'm excited about how this new practice will effect my work going forward and to showing and sharing the rest of the #STOLENMOMENTSCOLLECTION soon.

I’d love to hear more about how you create stillness in your day and what meditations work for you.

Until next time, take care and please remember just how strong and capable you are.

Johanna xo