It is usually said:

Home is where the Heart is

I also like this new version:

Home is where you are loved.
Home is where you love

Now that I’ve moved house 3 times in one year – the big theme in 2012 for my family was building a home. I learnt that no matter how strange our new house was, we were home as long as my love and I (+ Jelly) were together. I learnt that home is more than a house. It’s also more than a space that is just familiar.

Home is a space you can create where you love and are loved.

What if you’re alone?
If you can surround yourself, no matter how new or how lonely a space is, with mementos of love, you have created a home.

A home is not a mansion of luxury. A home is where you are surrounded by your loved ones even if the house is strange and different.

A home is not the house you grew up in. A home is created with souvenirs that remind you of being loved. Even if you’re far away from your loved ones.

A home is not filled with junk and forgotten knick knacks. A home is surrounded with beautiful items that fills you with memories of love and brings you joy.

Find the Home is where you are loved print in the Sashe Shoppe.

It’s been an exciting – overwhelming – chaotic last few months. Not only did we move house for the second time in less than 6 months (!!), we also moved interstate back to Melbourne. During all this I was battling morning sickness + all the lovely joys of hormonal and emotional changes that came with our life being packed into boxes again.

But now, I can breathe a sign of relief as the chaos has calmed down a little. We are almost back into our previous home in Melbourne. I’m no longer feeling exhausted and nauseous. Bubba’s been growing and is healthy and quite active (during scans anyway! I can’t feel any kicks yet).

I’ve had to learn to surrender to God’s bigger plan – even if it wasn’t quite what I imagined. I’ve had to learn to flow with it, though there were a few tears of overwhelm. *sigh* Hubby has been great in handling his little emotional, pregnant wife with gentle compassion.

I’m looking forward to more adventures. I know I’ll be just that little more practiced at rolling with the waves of change as our new journey into parenthood begins.

Plus will you join me in the excitement of the new creative changes that is to come during this time ?! I’m full of new ideas for new paintings + design products.

Keep an eye out for new work in your inbox. (Sign up for a Sashe Society membership if you want to receive the first sneak peek news)

xo brenda

In contrast to the visual overload and chaos of India & Hong Kong, our mini road trip down to Melbourne was a chance to move at a slower pace. Even though this trip was a necessity for hubby’s health/doctor appointment. We took this opportunity to explore new beaches that we came across on the way. Letting the days unfold easily with open plans. We have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world here, so we were super glad we took the time to meander down the coast.

A true relaxing break after our overseas break.

It also meant I got to breathe in as much ocean over 3 days as I could. It’s a place that seems to absorb all the stress of my busy days and inspire a restoring of my creative well. You know what I mean?

All this relaxing helped restore some burnt out creativity from 2012 – I even set up a temporary studio at my parent’s home and began painting in earnest!

This has been a great start to 2013 – I wanted to practice more self-care without the guilt this year.

How has your 2013 been?

Join me in seizing opportunities for self-care (relaxation, enjoyment and anything that restores your spirit) and let go of the guilt?

xo brenda

HONG KONG

It’s been a busy holiday period for the Mangalore household with Indian weddings, Hong Kong holiday and a road trip back to our home town. These are a select few snapshots of our Indian trip (for a friend’s wedding) for you to see what I’ve been experiencing. Plus a few images that have been feeding my visual library and nourishing my creative well. There were alot of lines and pattern that I know will show up in my work in the future.

Next week I’ll share our mini road trip down the Sydney to Melbourne east coast. It was the opposite of our overseas holiday, much more relaxed and spacious. Plus my temporary studio set up in Melbourne!

xo brenda

Embrace began like all my paintings, with a rainbow of colours on my glass palette. (which I took from a broken frame and duct-taped the edges to save my fingers). I love the possibilities from those little globs of colour, especially before I start to get all messy as the painting progresses.

The first few layers are always very raw yet playful. I was clearly loving the long drips with some zealous use of my spray bottle

I sometimes turn my paintings around every so often to change perspectives. Sometimes it’s just easier to paint left to right. Sometimes, a new turn could bring out an element I hadn’t noticed before. You can see though, that I kept some parts from the very initial layers – not really able to allow them to be covered up.

When it’s nearer the finish line, that’s usually my favourite + most dreaded part of the process. I have to ruthless in editing rather than adding more elements. Sometimes new parts are added, created only because I was brave enough to fight through the chaos and edit out other elements. (like that pink leaf? it’s appearance surprised me too). I find it’s easier to use my design + ‘arty’ compositional skills + experience in partnership with my intuitive, emotional reaction. Together they ‘tell me’ what to add as final touches to pull the whole painting from chaos to completion. Well, as completed + finished as my part in its story is anyway.

EMBRACE Acrylic on canvas 16 x 12inch ©2012 Brenda Mangalore

Over to you,

please share in the comments below

What do you see in this new painting?

p.s You can see some detail closeups of Embrace in the shoppe — additional exclusive details are released to society members only. Don’t miss out on future exclusives by signing up below.