Oh Creative Lady: Meet Georgie from Mini Monet Studio
The enthusiasm of Georgie from Mini Monet Studio is A-Grade infectious. When she says that her online art club is all about bringing JOY into the lives of mini-makers, it is due largely to the fact that this teacher-mumma is joy personified. Georgie is mum to little Eve who has the most enviable collection of knitted rainbow sweaters you’ll ever see. Hanging out with these two online is the raddest of rad.
Through blogging and Instagramming, I’ve been introduced to an amazing Virtual Sisterhood of Creative Ladies. The Oh Creative Lady series is your chance to meet these incredible, kind-hearted, inspiring <insert ALL the happy, positive adjectives HERE> women.
Meet Georgie from Mini Monet Studio.
I am… Georgie! I’m a Mum and an art teacher living on the Mornington Peninsular with my daughter, Eve and husband, Shaun.
I teach all things art and design in a P-12 school and I am the owner of Mini Monet Studio, an online art club for creative kids. When I’m not bouncing out of bed ready to draw and paint with kids you can find me going for long walks with the pram and sitting on the beach building sandcastles with Eve.
I find inspiration… I have always been drawn to pattern and colour. I have a huge collection of all things bright, bold and patterned fabric that I often dive into to find inspiration for new art projects. My family also love being outdoors and find new bush tracks to explore or rock pools play in at the beach.
My daughter also inspires me every single day! Eve is nearly 18 months old and was born with lung and heart disease. She’s a one in a million baby! Eve requires oxygen 24/7 to support her breathing, this means she is attached to a 15 cord and an oxygen tank at all times. With such a tricky start to life and so many day-to-day challenges, I am constantly blown away by her joyful nature. Her giggles, her smile, her ability to find everything and anything so fun inspires me to keep on being the best Mum I can.
I am excited about … the new launch of the Mini Monet Art Club for Kids. It has been a dream of mine for quite some time to create a space where kids can create and enjoy art-making without expectations, supervision or judgement.
As an art teacher at a P-12 school I know that kids come into my class with a bit of fear about being graded, assessed. We often have rush through a project to submit, and there can often be comparison with other students in the class or worry about not being “good enough”.
The Mini Monet Art Club is all about creating art for pure JOY. I created a membership program for creative families where you can find an online library of guided video art lessons with me, and some Live art classes for members every month. It’s designed to make it easy for families to foster creativity in their home through drawing, painting and creating projects for kids.
I’m always motivated by this promise to my Mini Monet families:
I will help your kids discover that creating art is the shortcut to happiness and that every child can learn to draw, paint and create art that they love.
When I’m in a creative slump, I… stop what I’m doing and get out of the house! Usually a walk in nature, a swim at the beach or some time doing an activity completely different re-sets my creative flow!
I’m really proud of… my baby daughter Eve. She has overcome so many challenges since birth just to be here, and she is THRIVING! Eve was born with a one in a million genetic condition that doesn’t allow her to breathe on her own. We don’t have any answers as to what this means for her future. But we do know her will to LIVE and find JOY every day is incredibly powerful. She lights my world up and I’m incredibly proud of her.
Someone once told me…
“You don’t have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going”
I love this because I often spend way too long trying to perfect minor details before I’m ready to finish/launch/post/start. Perfectionism can be a huge barrier to gaining any momentum in all aspects of life. I often find most people don’t even like to see “perfect”, they relate most to YOU being your authentic self.
I’ve been swimming in the freezing ocean everyday this September! I called it swim-tember! Now I’m on a roll I want to bounce into Ocean-october!
My advice to you is …
Whatever your dream, goals, aspirations are; find someone who is doing it well and connect with them. Reach out and ask them questions, watch their actions closely, observe what they value and how they spend their time. Connecting with mentors who are modelling your own aspirations is a great way to learn and seek really practical advice from.
There is always, always, always someone amazing out there to learn from and help you get to where you dream to be!
You can find me at …