Hello dear blog reader, thanks for popping by. I thought a lot about my identity and inspiration before starting Lucy Hawkins Art, I wanted my art and products to be authentic - so this blog is a bit of background into me and what makes me tick.
I’ve always sketched and painted what I see and since moving to the Yarra Valley I see a lot of native Australian birds and animals. I really love them. Their colours, their songs, their strength and resilience. I walk in the bush around our property most days, it reminds me of my childhood. I grew up in the UK, daughter of an English father and Australian mother with mum bringing me back to Melbourne every year to see the family.
My great, great grandfather Robert Pattison came to Australia from Scotland in 1854 aged 20. He was a farrier, shoeing horses. My grandmother’s side came to Australia from England, starting a tannery making horses saddles. I didn’t know any of this until recently - no wonder I love horses!
My dad came to Australia in 1958 and worked as a stud master on a cattle station in the South Australian outback. My husband’s Australian, my two daughters are born and raised here and this is my home.
So, I’ve always felt part English, part Australian. But, and this is where it gets strange, there’s also a bit of me that now feels… Viking! I shall explain.
I bought a DNA kit a year ago and it showed what I expected, that I am for the most part from British stock. But there was a small surprise chunk from Scandinavia! At some point a Viking had come to England and… interfered with my bloodline. So, a bit British, a bit Australian, a bit Viking! It’s what I tell my daughter when she refuses to go to bed, you don’t want to mess with a Viking. Annoyingly she reasoned that if I’m a bit Viking then she is too. Cheeky little Viking.
Anyway, all this Viking business was put to the test this year when I started reading the Wim Hof Method. Wim Hof, known as the ‘iceman’ does daily breathing exercises and then bathes in ice cold water. I bought it because I am always freezing, I have terrible circulation and an actual fear of the cold. I don’t like being scared of things so I decided to fix it with this book. And it worked! I’ve had a cold shower every day, even through winter, I’ve swum in the sea and lakes and rivers. When my usually fearless husband has only dipped a toe in before declaring ‘no thanks!’, I’ve just waded in.
I’m aware that my body’s cold because of the goose bumps but my mind is completely calm. When I do the breathing exercises I feel like a fire’s been lit in my stomach. I can’t tell you how liberating and empowering it is! And every time the cold water hits I think, bloody hell I’m such a Viking!
So that’s a bit about me, basically an English Australian who loves painting, and nature, a new fan of freezing cold water and a horse rider with an odd interest in Vikings. Nice to meet you :)