I’m often asked how my little art business all began. It’s a story of God’s hand at work through my life and I think it’s a story worth telling you all here.
My parents managed to have three daughters who are all artsy and creative.
I don’t know how.
Mum is great at maths and if she ever tries to draw anything it’s with a ruler and calculator.
Dad is a talented ‘jack of all trades’ farmer and can fix/ build anything… but he tried to draw a picture of a dog once and we’re still all laughing about it.
My sisters and I have always loved to create. We are hopeless at calculations but give us paper, paint, camera, pencils, sewing stuff, etc and we’re in our element! I’m so thankful for the time I spent with my Grandma as she taught me to sew, knit and crochet and I’d help her with her scrapbooking and decoupage projects.
I always wanted to ‘do something’ with my art and I guess I did in small ways. I loved to paint pictures and give them to people as gifts or do something crafty for a certain cause. Just because the way I was using my art seemed small doesn’t mean that God didn’t do great things through it. I wanted to say this as a piece of encouragement for you. You don’t have to be a professional or make it big time for God to use your talents in big ways- even if you never see the fruit.
I remember wandering through our local markets and admiring the stalls that sold paintings and craft items and thinking to myself “that’s what I’d like to do one day”…but as I grew up it seemed like art was a ‘hobby’ thing to do. My parents have always supported me in whatever I wanted to do but as I was entering the workforce and social media wasn’t really a thing it seemed like you needed to be Leonardo da Vinci to make any kind of a career from art and have your work seen.
I became a nurse and I’m so thankful for the time that I had caring for my patients and helping others in this way. It really helped me to ‘grow up’ and learn a lot of life skills as well as make special connections with people.
After about 4-5 years of nursing I found myself ‘stuck’ in a stressful nursing job and my health started to go downhill in a big way. I ended up making the decision to give up nursing for good and although I enjoyed being a nurse, I’ve never regretted the decision to leave.
The next few years were a time of self-discovery and healing as well as having my two beautiful children. I also started work as our Church Parish Secretary- a job that I loved so much! I loved that I had the time to connect with people in the church properly (something I struggled with as a busy nurse) and serve in this way. I found myself expressing my creativity in different ways with a bit of graphic design and by also writing a few devotional articles for our local church publications. People really seemed to enjoy reading them (and requested more). My work as a church secretary was such an unexpected blessing and wonderful experience!
I still created as a hobby during this time, but the dream to do more with my art lay dormant in my heart… and I’ve also learnt that that’s ok!
There is a season for everything.
Some dreams are meant to lie dormant for a time. Some things were never meant to flourish at all. Just because we can doesn’t always mean that we should. We can be faithful and worship God in ALL things, not just through our dreams and aspirations.
Being a mum in the newborn/toddler stages of life gave me no time whatsoever to be creative… but I was at peace with that because motherhood is such a gift and I learnt to be content with that season of my life. As time went on I also realised that I needed to organise some time just for myself to be creative so that I didn’t completely lose it and go mad. I learnt that this ‘self-care’ creative time helped me to be a better mother and wife. I even began selling a few of the things I’d created in our local café and it was so exciting for me!
I felt a strong pull once again to ‘do something’ with what I’d been given and I started up ‘Fig Hill Farm’ on Facebook and Instagram as well as a website so that I could continue to write devotional content to share.
When my daughter was 6 months old I went through the biggest health struggle of my life. (You can read all about it in the ‘One of the worst times in my life’ blog post.)
I ended up in hospital in the city for a long time. I knew what a blessing taking ‘creative time out’ had been to me through my motherhood journey so far and I asked my husband, Tim to bring my watercolour paints in to the hospital. Having this time to paint not only helped to take my mind off of the pain and health worries that I was facing, but it also carried me deeper into meditation in God’s word and prayer. God gave me comfort and healing through my art in hospital.
My art proved to deliver a great talking point for visitors, nurses and cleaners who would visit me in my room. My paintings were also a way that I could show my appreciation to the people that loved and cared for me. Before long the nurses even had me painting pictures for their kids!
This experience helped me to realise that art didn’t have to just be a hobby. There was so much value in sharing God’s love through art… after all- isn’t that one of the most wonderful ways that our Master Creator shows his love for us?
God gave me this creative gift.
God gave me a second chance at life.
God wanted me to use my second chance and my creative abilities to worship him!
The day I had my scan and was given the ‘all clear’ I decided (with my husband) to open the Fig Hill Farm online shop to sell my art… and anything else the Lord leads me to do in the future.
Tim and I decided on ‘Fig Hill Farm’ (the name of our property) to use as the name for my creative ventures because we weren’t completely sure (and we’re still not entirely) of the direction that this endeavour would take in the future. What we ARE sure of is that God’s hand is over all things. It’s in him that we live and breathe and have our being. All good gifts are from the Lord God.
At the very highest point of our property a Moreton Bay Fig tree overlooks our farm. We love to sit under the tree and remember how God is always watching over us and will never leave of forsake us. He is always drawing us to him in all things-whether it’s a health scare or mundane everyday tasks or through a beautiful piece of art. He made a way for us to be close to him through Christ Jesus and he never stops reminding us of this.
I’m so thankful for the opportunity I’ve been given to worship him through my art.
To see the beauty of creation, of the simple everyday treasures and to recreate and celebrate these wonders through paint and paper.
I have to add that social media and the internet in the last few years have also been a HUGE help when it comes to sharing art with the world. It’s so much easier for a hobby to bloom into a business when you have the support of an online community as well as your local supporters (and a lot of hard work). THANK YOU, friends for being here, loving my work and cheering me on!
I’m thankful for the insight and Holy words that God provides to inspire my art. The way he shares his love and light through me, no matter how weak and broken I am.
If you think that you are weak, small, too busy, too sinful and broken to use the gifts that God has given you, think again.
He is the good, good Father. I am a living example that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -2 Corinthians 12:8-10
Where it all started…
Some of my earlier work.