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Being a Mum podcast where I, Alison Newman, a singer, songwriter and Aussie mum of two,

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enjoys honest and inspiring conversations with artists and creators about the joys and

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issues they've encountered while trying to be a mum and continue to create.

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You'll hear themes like the mental juggle, changes in identity, how their work's been

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influenced by motherhood, mum guilt, cultural norms and we also stray into territory such

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as the patriarchy, feminism and capitalism.

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You can find links to my guests and topics we discuss in the show notes along with a

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link to the music played, how to get in touch and a link to join our supportive and lively

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community on Instagram.

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I'll always put a trigger warning if we discuss sensitive topics on the podcast but if at

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any time you're concerned about your mental health I urge you to talk to those around

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you, reach out to health professionals or seek out resources online.

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I've compiled a list of international resources which can be accessed on the podcast landing

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page alisonnewman.net slash podcast.

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The art of being a mum would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and water

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which this podcast is recorded on as being the Bowendig people in the Beren region.

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I'm working on land that was never ceded.

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Thank you so much for tuning in today, welcome to the podcast.

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My guest this week is Hannah Olson, she's an artist and a mother of three girls living

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in Utah in the United States.

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Originally from Luton in England, Hannah has enjoyed being creative from a very young age.

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In high school she had two really wonderful art teachers that pushed her and introduced

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her to many mediums like watercolour, charcoal and coloured pencils and encouraged her to

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pursue art.

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A high school teachers words have stayed with her ever since, it doesn't matter what you

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do but always stay creative.

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In college Hannah decided to take all of the art classes she possibly could and discovered

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oil painting and fell in love with it.

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Nowadays she tends not to stick to the same mediums or subject matters, mixing it up between

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charcoal and watercolours, painting portraits, landscapes and still lifes.

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Hannah really enjoys the challenge of working with new materials and subjects.

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She's inspired by many artists like Van Gogh and more recent artists such as Genity Page

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and Cesar Santos.

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And while being a mum to three little girls is not easy, Hannah finds the time to paint

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and draw in between nappy changes, piles of washing and endless messes.

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Although her children are her main focus right now, she can't wait for the chance to create

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more and inspire others through her work.

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Today on Hannah's chat you'll hear from her five month old daughter Millie who joins us.

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Thank you Hannah for coming on, it's such a pleasure to meet you today.

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It's a pleasure to meet you too, I'm excited to be here.

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Oh that's awesome.

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So where abouts are you at the moment and what time is it?

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So I currently live in Utah in the United States and it is 5.30 at night.

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So you would be in Monday still wouldn't you?

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Yes, it is still Monday here.

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That's the thing I find so fascinating about doing this is like the other day I was talking

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to someone, yeah it was their night before, I don't usually get people that are ahead

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of me just because where Australia is, we're sort of fairly close to the start of the day

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I suppose.

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Yeah but yeah I've had some fun ones, like yeah I don't know it's just I find it so fascinating

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that we're all here but we're all existing in these different times.

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And can we introduce your little visitor you've got sitting on your lap there if that's alright?

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Yes so this is Millie my youngest and she just turned five months old and she can be

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quite loud hopefully she'll not be too bad.

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That's cool if she wants to get involved in the chat that's fine with me.

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We love her.

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Oh she's adorable.

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Oh I love that blue headband you've got on her head, it really brings out her eyes like

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it's just gorgeous.

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I know my sister-in-law gave it to me, she gave me two of them and I'm like oh I need

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one in every colour they're so fun.

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I love it.

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Tell me how you got into your painting, is it something you've been doing for a long

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time?

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So yes and no I've been creative since I feel like everyone has been creative at some point

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growing up as a kid like you have your crayons and all that so it was something I always

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enjoyed and then it wasn't until I hit high school I had two really wonderful art teachers

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that pushed me and also introduced me to loads of different mediums mostly wash of colour

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and charcoal and coloured pencils were the main ones I did but I feel like in school

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they kind of show you a bunch of different kinds but they were the ones who really were

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like I think you have a knack for it like you could be really good if you wanted to

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and of course I had my mom who was very like thought everything I did was amazing which

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was very helpful.

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Yeah very supportive and encouraging.

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And so I just remember my one teacher in high school kind of pulled me aside one day and

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he's like it doesn't matter what you do but always stay creative and so I thought in my

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head I was like okay it's with me and I've always wanted to do it since then and then

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in college or I guess is it university over there?

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Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah.

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I decided to just take all of the art classes I possibly could so the way they have it over

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here is you have for your first few years like classes that you're required to take

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so you've got your maths and your english and all of that and then you get elective

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classes where you get to choose what you would like to do so I just filled them up with as

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many art classes as I possibly could because that's what I enjoyed the most and just had

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a blast and that's where I learned how to do oil painting.

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I had one oil painting class and I fell in love with it so primarily I oil paint at the

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moment but I do get a little bit bored every once in a while where I can't just stick to

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one thing so it's like I'll do a couple oil paintings and then I'm like oh I really want

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to do a watercolor so then I'll I'll do that and then oh I really want to do a charcoal

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so I kind of jump all over the place and I feel like that's also kind of the same with

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my my subject matter too.

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I love portraits yeah I really like like emotions and people and faces and but at the same time

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you know there's those there's good landscapes and still lifes that I'm like oh just you

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walk by and see things you're like oh I just I need to paint that or I need to draw that

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and so I kind of I hop all over the place which is why if you go on my Instagram it's

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very mixed there's not like one nice aesthetic it's just all over the place.

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Yeah I always like a good challenge so yeah there'll be times I'll be like scrolling through

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Instagram or I'll be talking to someone and I'll see that someone do something I'm like

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oh I want to try that I wonder if I can do that and so I think that's also something

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else that just makes me not stick to one thing.

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Yeah.

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I just have to try it all.

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I love that.

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You sound like you've got a UK accent going on.

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Yeah I'm originally from England and when I get nervous it comes out usually I've been

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in the States for quite a long time and even my husband is like I can't hear it anymore

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it's gone away yeah when I get nervous I guess it's still there.

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You revert back to your day to.

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So yeah when you first when you said watercolour for the first time I went hang on a second

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I can hear something in there so whereabouts were you from in England?

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So I was born in Luton just kind of right near London and then my mom was Irish and

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so we also lived in I lived in Ireland for a few years as well in my younger years and

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she was a single mom during the beginning portion of my younger years and then she got

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remarried and so we moved to Texas because that's where her my stepdad was living at

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the time and then we moved to Utah he got a job change and so that's kind of how we

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moved around and so I've just stayed here.

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So how long have you been in the US for?

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Oh let's see I'll do some quick math I'm not great at math probably about I don't know

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seven years maybe?

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Yeah right.

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I want to say it's been quite a while.

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Yeah I love that you've still got your accent though I think that's pretty cool but my best

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friend's Irish from Northern Ireland and she's been out here maybe 12 years 11 or 12 years

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and she's still thick as like I still have times where I have to ask her to repeat myself

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hello Helen if you're listening but and it sort of becomes a bit of a joke like what

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did you say say that again?

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That's great you know it's gonna be funny when my friends hear me over here they're

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like what's wrong with you you sound nothing like you did before.

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Yeah that's it isn't it it's all relative isn't it oh that's funny so um yeah back to

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you sorry I got off track then but I do have a bit of a thing for accents so I sort of

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that's another fun thing about chatting to people.

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So um the style that you do is quite like representative of the object that you're painting

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what do you call that style because I'm not very good at all that sort of technical form

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jargon.

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Honestly I don't really know I feel like slightly like it's contemporary realist thing like

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I like I like realism but I also like to see a little bit of a painterly touch to it if

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that makes sense so I don't yeah I don't I enjoy looking at other people's photo realism

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but that's not for me I'm I don't know if I have the patience to learn all the technical

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skills for that so I enjoy I don't know I think I would call it contemporary realism

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but I don't even know if that's a thing so yeah no well that I mean that that'll give

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people an idea when they're listening but it's like just having a look at the sort of

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the different styles like different things you've the subjects I guess there's a there's

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a gorgeous picture of a cow which I love that I mean I love cows yeah and this building

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that you posted a lot of posts about what what building is that the building so I don't

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know that is a temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints down here in Manzai

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and so that is just part of my religion and it was actually the place that I got married

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in and oh wow that's pretty spectacular yeah and my my husband's family they his I think

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it's third great grandfather was the master mason for building the temple and so it has

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a lot of family history connected to it and so yeah absolutely

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is this your second child you've got this is my third your third oh my apologies third

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I've got I've got three girls oh lovely that would keep you busy oh they do they do a whole

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new world when you have little ones running around so what's the the age the ages of them

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so my eldest is Shannon and she's five and then my middle is Oakley and she's three and

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then Millie here is five months little Millie oh I love the name Oakley that's a really

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that's a really cool name love that yeah we uh oh no oh bubba we uh had a funny story

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with that with my husband we have a really hard time picking out names especially for

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girls and of course we had all girls the one you know yeah those are the tough ones and

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I I was just scrolling through I think I was on Pinterest actually just looking at different

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names and I saw the name Oakley and I was like oh I kind of like that and I mean by

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this point I was already like I don't know 30 some odd weeks pregnant like it's a long

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time yeah it was coming close so we needed to make a decision and uh I turned to my husband

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I was like I like this name Oakley he's like I suggested that at the beginning and oh you

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like had you didn't say anything about it I'm like oh well I like it now I guess oh how

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funny oh dude hello look at that gorgeous smile hey hey darling oh goodness I worked

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in childcare for nine years and I was in the baby's room for most of that so and now I

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work in kindergarten so I miss out on the all the baby snuggles so it's nice to see

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the baby snuggles are the best they're my favorite

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So throughout the time when you had have had your girls have you have you've been able

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to maintain your art practice?

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I guess I should say it was different I guess I should say that it stopped it was just different

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and came in waves yeah I feel like when I had my first after you know after a month

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or so we kind of got in a little bit more of a rhythm and I was able to set aside like

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okay I'm gonna wake up an hour earlier and focus on myself and have an hour of painting

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and get that done and that was really helpful for me but I discovered the more kids you

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have the less you can plan it is so difficult to plan when you have three little minds completely

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different to yours and I don't know I feel like but I do feel like I have learned from

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having kids that not to waste time like I'm really good at not wasting my time when I

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have like oh I've got an hour that I can spend I could tell you exactly what I was gonna

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do with that hour right now whereas I feel like before I had kids I'd be like oh I've

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got all day I don't have work today so I can just you know I'll watch a show or maybe sleep

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in I'll do this and then by the time I got around to him like oh it's too late now like

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I should be going to bed and so I feel like I'm a lot better now with time management

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but I just have less time to work with so yeah yeah it kind of you know it just depends

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it does help sometimes having like I'll bring the kids in with me into my my little space

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and I'll set them up with their paints or their colors and that works out it works out

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decent however you don't get to get like in the zone because I don't know if you've been

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around little kids but they ask questions all day long and it's like I've answered that

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question 50 times but I will answer it again for you yeah and now give me five minutes

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so yeah that's it isn't it yeah but I feel like there's a difference between getting

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just time to yourself and also spending time with your kids doing your your craft yeah it's

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sort of like only half your your brain can work on what you want to do because they're there and

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you're sort of conscious of what they're up to and like you said the questions and they seem to you

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know their patience runs out so much quicker and you know it's like you just yeah like you said you

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can't get in that in that flow of letting letting yourself go but but that's but that's a really

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common thing that people say you know and I often say like when I didn't have kids I don't know what

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the hell I did with my time like I must have wasted so much time seriously I know yeah I

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I hear when my I have two younger sisters and I think back to when I was their age I'm like

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like what did I do with myself like yeah yeah I don't know yeah yeah that's not a whole answer

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but I I have no idea what I did because there's so many things I want to do now that I can't do and

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oh yeah you know what it's worth it

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So something I like to talk to my mums about is sort of the identity of you know when you're just

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you just yourself or you know with your partner and then you become a mum did you have sort of

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any sort of I don't know tricky emotions to work through when you changed to become a mum or were

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you did you sort of flow through really you know effortlessly I guess I mean I think it depends on

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the day because I feel like yes definitely there was an identity difference but I was lucky in that

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growing up I always wanted to be a mum and so it was something I almost wanted to do more than my

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art and I think that is helpful because I'm like I know that there's a time in a season with my

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girls at this age and that at some point you know they're going to be in school and I'm going to

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have that time back again so I think I think in that way it wasn't too hard but I mean you do get

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those days when you just don't feel like yourself and you're like I just I wish this day could just

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be me creating with no one else bothering me and I mean I feel like everyone's going to have a hard

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day sometime but the majority of the days I feel like no I'm doing what I want to be doing and

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yeah there will be will be time so yeah that's it it's a good way of looking at it like I um

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I was actually at a function on Saturday night and there were some people there whose daughter's just

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turned 20 and got a license and now they have no children to run around or take to places and

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they're like what do we do with ourselves now and I'm like that will come you know that's because

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my kids are seven and 15 so at some point in my life I won't have to do that and then I'll go oh

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my gosh this is my time now so yeah it's like don't don't stress too much because you know it's coming

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yeah yeah absolutely

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um

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with you creating and with the girls um something else I love to talk to my mums about is this

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concept of mum guilt and I've sort of put that in air quotes because I don't know it's a it's a

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made-up name I guess to that describes a lot of really deep and complex feelings it's not just

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as simple as you know hashtag mum guilt um yeah what are your thoughts on that so I 100% have mum

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guilt or whatever we want to call it and I think that's probably my number one struggle as a mom

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is just dealing with the emotions of feeling like oh I should be doing other things I should be with

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my children um I feel like for me it it almost clicks like as soon as I'm feeling happy about

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something it's like as soon as I'm enjoying what I'm doing I'm instantly like oh should I not be

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enjoying myself right now there's a pile of wash that needs to be done or I haven't played any

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games like children today or and it kind of it's just in the back of your head and it never goes

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away um and I I do have I do struggle with trying to figure out when it's okay to be like no this is

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me time I can focus on myself and do my craft right now and then also yes I have two weeks of

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wash that's in the laundry room and I've got dishes piled up and the floors are a mess and

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my kids are eating snacks off the floor I should probably stop and yeah you know like yeah yeah

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it's I have yet to figure out like the best oh uh is it possible I don't know

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oh that's the thing I feel like yeah I feel like getting it right and and that's also in

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air quotes too because I don't I don't think there is a right or wrong it's just whatever

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suits but it's really hard to get that balance constantly like I feel like sometimes you feel

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like it's going really good and then other times like the scales tip in this the other direction

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you go oh hang on a sec like that's literally me right now I've got so much washing to do

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so much tidying to do and I'm like actually I don't want to do that now I want to do this

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oh it was it was like me last night I was so I was so on top of it last night because I knew

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that I had this podcast and I was so excited about it that I was like I'm gonna clean my living room

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my kitchen while the kids are in bed and then tomorrow I can just focus and look at my notes

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and it's gonna be so smooth and so great never think you have a plan when you have kids you just

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can't because I woke up in the morning well I woke up about eight times last night well I think it

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was really only six but it felt like a lot because my little Millie who's usually a really good

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sleeper and sleeps through the night decided last night was the night to wake up and then

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I woke up really tired but I'm like oh you know what it's fine because I I cleaned and I was like

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the only thing I have to do today is clean the girls playroom because let's be honest it probably

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been about two months since I had cleaned it and it was a little bit disastrous so if I'm gonna

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bring stuff in here to record I need to have it clean but I was like that's grand and so I

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told my eldest I was like Shannon the only thing I need to do today is clean the playroom downstairs

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and have you girls keep upstairs tidy as well and so she's like okay and then she ran off and I

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started getting ready I was feeling so proud of myself for just like being on top of it and like

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oh it was eight in the morning and I was dressed and I was getting you know like I was on top of

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it today yeah and then of course she comes running in and goes mom mom I have a surprise for you

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I'm thinking okay I mean usually her surprises are like oh I tidied up the toys in the living

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room or I helped my sister put on her shoe you know they're usually good surprises

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so I'm not you know I'm like great thank you I'm gonna finish getting ready and then I would love

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to see your surprise yeah and then she leaves and then I keep getting ready and then she comes back

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again she's like are you ready yeah I'm ready to show you my surprise and I'm like well okay um not

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yet just give me one minute she's like it's either gonna be a good surprise but it could be a bad

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surprise oh no I hope it's a good surprise because you I don't for the most part they're good

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surprises she hardly ever gives me bad ones so I'm like okay just give me a minute but she was so

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excited to tell me so I'm like for sure she's done something great because she's so excited

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so excited finished getting ready and I call out and I'm like hey Shannon I'm ready for your surprise

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and she's like I'm downstairs like oh did she start cleaning because I told her I really wanted

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to clean and that would be like so sweet of her because you know she's so nice and I come down

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the stairs and the door of the playroom is closed and I'm like let's never close wonder why she

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closed it and I open the door and we have this it's like a shelving unit that's like steps that you

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can store toys inside and I don't know if you've seen them yet and so as I open the door she is

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standing proudly on the top part of this cabinet and all of the buckets have been taken out and

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dumped all over the floor oh she just looks at me with pure joy I've destroyed the place

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just so proud of herself and I'm like Shannon oh lord I wanted to clean and she's like are you so

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proud of my surprise I'm not proud of your surprise oh it's not a good surprise but you know I feel

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like that's just what it's like having kids yes you feel like you're on top of it and then they

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have to do something to show you no mom you're not on top of it I'm in charge today and let me

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show you how I feel about that so I mean I love that story oh Shannon they're fabulous

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but man they can be tough sometimes oh goodness oh she was helping wasn't she yeah

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yeah and she did tell me she did tell me she's like I'll help you clean it up it's okay and then I'm

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like okay that would be nice and as I'm cleaning she's like just in a minute and then she'd like

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pull more stuff out as I'm cleaning and I'm like Shannon we're trying to clean up and she's like

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yes but I'm making a soup and then she would like keep making a soup and then eventually we got the

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whole room clean and she's like see didn't I do such a good job cleaning that up mom and I was

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like I did a good job cleaning that up thank you you did a great job making more mess and making

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so it was okay oh my gosh I love that yeah you literally you never know what you're gonna get

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you literally you never know what you're gonna get do you like I feel like that it's sort of like

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the story like you know when you're about to go to work and your car doesn't start like I feel like

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that's parenting all the time but with your children like there's always something just gonna

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get thrown at you yeah 100% and it's always when you least expect it when you think you've got it

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that's when it yes yeah it's like it lulls you into this false sense of security it's like

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hmm no now we're gonna wreck it yeah oh god and then they keep coming they're just more and more

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you know yeah oh man it wears you out doesn't it

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so

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you're listening to the art of being a mom with my mom I was so

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do you have family nearby where you are like to help out with the girls

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I do yes so um my I have my mom and my stepdad and my two younger sisters and they live

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about 30 40 minute drive from our house so they're really close and then my husband all of his family

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live in Utah and so most of them are about an hour away but still close when we need them so yeah

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oh that's great isn't it yeah yeah we've got good support there yeah that's comes in handy my mom's

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the best what does your mom think now like because you said before she really encouraged your like

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when you made things when you were little like is she like look at what you do now and is like

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super proud of that you've been able to keep doing it oh yeah I mean I think so she's all she I mean

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is she allowed to say that I'm doing terrible I don't know she never does not to you she's she I

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mean anything I do she's like oh I think that's amazing and of course growing up I think I don't

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know if it was my last years of high school or when I was in college I painted a few paintings

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for fun and she bought them she was the first person to really buy some of my paintings and

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I'm sure it was for way more than they were actually worth but it made me feel so good inside

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that someone wanted to purchase my art instead of just look at it and I think that really that

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really helped and so lots of times when I'm feeling down on myself I can uh I'll give her a ring and

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ask for her advice or for her her love and support because she's more than happy to give it um yeah

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today my Shannon again uh I decided to ask her because I was like wouldn't it be nice for the

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podcast to have like this really sweet story of like asking my kids like oh like how do you feel

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about mom and her art and what kind of moment or am I you know because yeah yeah I just thought

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oh it'd be so nice and so I asked Shannon and I was like what kind of mom do you think I am like

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do you you know I was like am I doing a good job you know kind of yeah she looks at me she goes

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you're just a really frustrated mom all the time that was not what I was going for Shannon oh

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my gosh maybe she didn't understand it so I'm like what about like that I do art and that I'm kind of

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creative and I I teach you things do you like do you like doing art with me do you like my art

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what do you think of that and she's like well to be honest the last one you did I didn't really like

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and I just didn't want to tell you because you seem to really like it thank you oh my gosh

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she will forever be honest she's such a character isn't she yeah she's so funny she's so funny

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I feel like we need to have like a section of this podcast dedicated to Shannon she's like earned her place

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yeah oh I love her yeah but that's the thing like I love I love this this idea that you know

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we are as mothers we have this mothering role but we still have all these things

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that we do apart from that and that we did do before we had kids so it doesn't just stop you

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know all of a sudden we have a baby and this part of our lives just disappears into thin air so

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I think it's I don't know that holding on to that part of yourself and that identity

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I think is so important and Shannon's obviously seen it to be able to give her critique

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she gave me a piece of advice as well today where she was like it would be better if I could do it

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with you but sometimes you don't let me and I don't like that so I think she just wants to be more

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involved and yeah you know which is easy to say a little bit more difficult to do with you know

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yeah you're doing these um very detailed and yes yeah oh goodness

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now it sounds like a lot of fun in your house it is it's a bit of a madhouse but I wouldn't change it

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so online I noticed that you you sell like your prints and that sort of stuff do you have um

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and like you mentioned about your mum your mum purchasing you some of your early stuff that you

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made do you sort of have this idea about the value of your your art or the value of your

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your creativity that it's dependent on what you get for it or that society can still value art

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even if it doesn't have a monetary value attached to it um that's a good question I think

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I don't know I feel like deep in me I'm a little bit of a people pleaser so I feel like when

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when I do sell a work of art I get very excited especially because I don't sell very many I'm I

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don't have a whole lot of time and when I do do commissions they usually take me anywhere from

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like six to eight months to complete because I don't have a lot of time to work on them so

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those I do like I don't know it does make me happy however I do feel like um almost more so when I

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someone sees a work that I've done or when they purchase it and then they tell me how they feel

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about it like it makes it 10 times better like I would much rather have someone look at my work

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and say that really affected me or changed my life or really touched me then I would sell the

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work to someone that I don't even know if they appreciate it if that makes sense so yeah so I do

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I do feel like there's um I don't know there's a lot of worth in just the work without it being

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sold however it does you know I do like when it gets sold yeah yeah yeah no I could like a lady

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I spoke to the other day um put it really well said like as artists we sort of exist to be able

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to share and and like whatever things that have influenced or things we're going through that we

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put into our work it's so lovely if someone at the other end can relate to that in their own way um

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and then if they tell you about it that's even better you know yeah 100% agree with that yeah

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yeah

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did you notice after you had your girls after you became a mum that what influenced your work changed

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I mean yes yes it did there was an influence however I also feel like I have so many ideas

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of things that would show that a lot more I feel like in the work that's on my instagram

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there isn't a lot that's child related or any I don't know you know what I'm talking about

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anything like that however I have like I do have a picture of my girls that I've started painting

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that I just love and I love the idea of kids when they like discover new things like my

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littlest Millie here the other day found her toes and we she was just sitting just sitting in the

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bumbo just in like a little seat on my counter just playing with her toes and she was just so

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full of wonder and I'm like that would be just the perfect little like little picture of just

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her toes and her her cuteness and there's I don't know just when like kids go outside and they see

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I don't know birds or something my my middle child Oakley the other day we were on a drive

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and she was like birds I see birds there's two of them and she was just so thrilled at the idea of

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seeing birds I'm like I would love to capture just that happiness and that wonder of that just that

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that excitement so I feel like somewhere down the line there's going to be some works of mine that

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encompass just childhood wonder because I really I really enjoy that and I think also with some of my

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my religious pieces I have a few of those that I would like to work on and just to kind of share

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that with my girls and have that feeling in our household and share that with the world too would

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be would be really nice so yeah absolutely I feel like that because like I said I worked in in early

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childhood for a long time and that moment when kids discover something it's just this just when

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you were telling me about it then I was getting that that beautiful like warm feeling and almost

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like goosebumps like it's just I think as adults we just we've seen it all we take it all for granted

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and then when you're brought back to those minuscule tiny moments like toes you just it blows your mind

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and just it's wonderful yeah I love it I think we need to have more moments like that where we just

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stop and look at our toes and go oh my god the world's amazing yeah especially in this busy busy world

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yeah and that's it isn't it and then you know we've got all these distractions and things that

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are there to take our time up and you can we can sort of lose track of what's just you know the most

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important stuff no it's right in front of us and sometimes we don't see it

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sorry I'm getting all philosophical now

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by the way I love the way you said grand before because my Irish friends say grand all the time

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oh that's grand they say oh I love it probably my mom and me

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yeah no I love that

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I love that

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so have you got any pieces that you're working on anything you want to share about future works or

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anything at all so I mean I have really a lot of work to do and I'm really excited about it and

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I'm looking forward to it I'm looking forward to getting to do some of my own books or anything at all

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so I mean I have my one painting that you can see on my Instagram of a pioneer lady and for

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for me with that painting I really wanted to kind of symbolize the strength of women and just um

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the Mormon pioneers. I won't go into detail about it, but basically they came across the

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plains in hand carts during all types of weather and faced lots of hardships to arrive in Utah and

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eventually, you know, make their city and live and, what's the word I'm looking for,

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have their religion as they wanted to. But there's so many stories about just how strong those

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women were and what they went through. And I mean, they had children and family members who passed

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away and there was, I don't know, there's just a lot for me that I look up to in the pioneer women.

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And I just wanted to, I don't know, I just wanted to kind of capture that in a painting. And I don't

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think I'm there yet. I still feel like there's a few things that I need to add or do, but that is

402

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the main one that I'm working on is just, I want to paint a strong, powerful woman who's been through

403

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a lot, but also knows she's doing it for a purpose. So that's my main one. And then,

404

00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:18,200

I don't know, I had an idea the other day from a friend to do with my kids. She showed me

405

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someone painting a little, one of their little kids stuffed animals and all of my girls have a

406

00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:30,360

little stuffed animal that they just adore. In fact, they're kind of my eldest elder too,

407

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they're kind of torn to pieces. They get chewed on and they were loved. I mean, honestly,

408

00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:39,480

they're a little bit gross for anyone except for my girls, right? I'm like, how sweet would that be

409

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just to have all three of them on a shelf just to represent my children? And we'll see, but

410

00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:49,800

you know, got to get through this other one first.

411

00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:53,880

That's the thing when you've got so many ideas, it's like literally,

412

00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:58,840

yeah, you've got to actually have the time to do all these ideas.

413

00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:03,320

Yeah, well, I have a page in my sketchbook of like, oh, this is something I want to paint,

414

00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:07,960

this is something I want to paint or draw. And there's a whole long list of them. I will never

415

00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:15,320

be out of ideas. I just need a bit more time. Yeah, not short of ideas. I love that.

416

00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:44,280

Is it important to you that they see you as more than in your mothering role? And I don't say just

417

00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:49,080

a mum, I've got to stop saying that because we're not just a mum. But yeah, more of them the mothering

418

00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:59,880

role. Yes, I think anytime you can show your kids how you can be your own person, but also

419

00:43:59,880 --> 00:44:11,400

be a mum at the same time. I have an aunt who growing up, she was also a young mother and then

420

00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:15,800

also did art. And I came to stay with her for a little while and she showed me her portfolio.

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And I was just amazed at her skill and her talent and how she was still able to,

422

00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:27,400

you know, paint and draw and do the things she loved and also still have kids because I was like,

423

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that's what I want to be doing. And so it was nice to have someone to look up to, to be like,

424

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no, she can do it, I can do it too. And so I think it is good. Even if my children

425

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don't end up into art or don't want to be creative in something, I think just showing them that

426

00:44:45,640 --> 00:44:50,280

you don't have to be just one thing in your life. You can be a multitude of things, I think is

427

00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:55,640

important. Yeah, that's very well said. I like that. Because I think it doesn't have to be a

428

00:44:55,640 --> 00:45:00,360

thing in particular, like you said, doesn't, they don't have to take it on, but it's, it's saying

429

00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:07,080

that mums can do lots and lots of different things and things that don't necessarily revolve around

430

00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:13,560

that mothering role. Yeah, for sure. As I was, I don't know what question it was, as I was going

431

00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:19,480

through some stuff, I got thinking about myself, I think it was talking about like identity maybe,

432

00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:25,960

and just that there's my one aunt always tells me, she's like, there's a time in a season that,

433

00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:31,480

you know, right now you're raising your children and that's a beautiful, wonderful thing. And then

434

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later you're going to have an amazing time doing your art or whatever it is you'd like to do.

435

00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:42,920

And so I got thinking about how I sometimes feel, feel bad that, or like feel like I'm missing out

436

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because I haven't gotten myself out there. Like you scroll through Instagram or social media and

437

00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:53,240

you see like all of these moms doing it and more like accomplishing what you want to, but, or even

438

00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:59,240

people that aren't moms just, you know, being out there and doing things. And I think sometimes I

439

00:45:59,240 --> 00:46:05,400

get down on myself thinking like, Oh man, like, did I, did I mess up somewhere? Did I, you know,

440

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did I have kids too early? But then I realized like, I'm not, I'm not ruining my chances by having,

441

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by having kids. Cause there's still going to be, there's still going to be time. And I heard this

442

00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:26,600

analogy that it was, it was talking about how being creative is kind of like exercise. And it's like,

443

00:46:27,720 --> 00:46:35,000

it's preferable every day to exercise. I mean, if we could, it would be really great, wouldn't it?

444

00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:42,200

But it's not like a must has to be done. You have to exercise. And if you went to the doctor and

445

00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:48,440

you said, I am so sorry. It's been two years since I've exercised. I'm just going to quit because I

446

00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:56,520

can't do it anymore. I've forgotten how to do it. I'm done. Like, I'm sorry. I've given up. I can't

447

00:46:56,520 --> 00:47:03,480

do it. No doctor is going to be like, you're right. You haven't done, you haven't exercised in two

448

00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:08,600

years or five years or 10 years. You can't exercise anymore. It will not be good for you. I mean,

449

00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:14,120

that would just be, that would be ridiculous. So it's the same way with, with your craft, whatever

450

00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:20,920

it is that you choose to do. Like it doesn't matter if you've had a 10 year break, if you said,

451

00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:25,800

Hey, I have children and I want to raise them and I haven't done it in 10 years. You can always start

452

00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:33,720

back again. You can always do a little thing. Even just five minutes here and there, it's only going

453

00:47:33,720 --> 00:47:39,960

to make you better. It's not going to be any worse for you than just leaving it behind.

454

00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:47,320

Cause I feel like at one point when I had my first daughter, I didn't paint for a really long time

455

00:47:48,600 --> 00:47:54,440

because I just couldn't find time for it. And I just, you know, it's difficult because you're

456

00:47:54,440 --> 00:48:00,440

getting used to a whole new life with a little baby. And I thought to myself, is this it? Should

457

00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:08,680

I be, should I be done? Like, should I give it up? And that's just silly. I eventually learned like

458

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I go crazy if I don't paint. Like I, I can't not be creative. And when I try, I just, it's like,

459

00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:20,680

I'm about to explode. I get in this big bubble and then I'm like, I give up and just everything,

460

00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:25,720

you know, it kind of all goes to pot. And then I just, I spend all day painting and

461

00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:30,920

the house becomes a mess. And my husband wonders what happens. And I'm like, I'm sorry. It had been

462

00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:39,960

too long. He's so nice. He understands that some days that's how it's going to be. But anyway,

463

00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:43,800

but yeah, I just really liked that. It's like, it's just like exercise. Even if you've left it

464

00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:49,960

for a long time, you could always go back to it. And so what there will be days when you'll get

465

00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:54,120

you'll get, you won't do anything, but then there'll be other days where you'll get in the zone and

466

00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:59,160

get lots of work done and it'll be great. Yeah. No, I love that. That's really good. I've never

467

00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:04,280

heard anyone put it quite like that. That's really good. Love that. And I think it's so true. And a

468

00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:10,200

lot of moms say this, if, if they're not filled up, you know, the cups not filled up, the metaphor,

469

00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:14,920

you know, you can't pour from an empty cup. If you haven't done the things that make you regulated

470

00:49:14,920 --> 00:49:20,680

and fulfilled, then you're not going to go out into your family and project, you know, perhaps

471

00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:25,800

the person that you want to be. So it is so important to do these things for ourselves. And

472

00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:31,080

it just makes for an all rounder, you know, more harmonious household, I guess.

473

00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:40,520

Until Shannon does something in the play. I've just got a vision in my head of your daughter.

474

00:49:40,520 --> 00:49:47,240

I just love that. Oh, I do. Little Jim. Thank you so much for coming on Hannah. I loved your chat

475

00:49:47,240 --> 00:49:53,480

today. It's been gorgeous meeting little Miss Millie here. Hey, little darling. Thank you for

476

00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:59,320

having me. I feel really special that you let me join. I was going through all your podcasts and

477

00:49:59,320 --> 00:50:03,240

listening to all of these other wonderful women and their stories. And I'm like, I don't think I

478

00:50:03,240 --> 00:50:09,960

have anything to add on these people. Oh my gosh. No, you have so much to add. They have such good

479

00:50:09,960 --> 00:50:17,640

information. Oh, no, no, it was never feel like that. You've got so much to add. And honestly,

480

00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:25,240

that imposter syndrome too, you know, oh, yes. Yeah. Kick it to the curb. There you go. Bye bye.

481

00:50:25,240 --> 00:50:33,560

Imposter syndrome. Yeah. No, good on you. Thanks again. Thanks for your company today. If you've

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enjoyed this episode, I'd love you to consider leaving us a review following or subscribing to

483

00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:45,480

the podcast or even sharing it with a friend you think might be interested. If you or someone you

484

00:50:45,480 --> 00:50:50,040

know would like to be a guest on the podcast, please get in touch with us by the link in the

485

00:50:50,040 --> 00:50:57,720

show notes. The music you heard featured on today's episode was from Alem Joe, which is my new age

486

00:50:57,720 --> 00:51:03,080

ambient music trio comprised of myself, my sister, Emma Anderson and her husband, John.

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00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:09,160

If you'd like to hear more, you can find a link to us in the show notes. I'll catch you again

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next week for another chat with an artistic mum.