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Story of Aboriginal Artist - Wendy Rix
74 Plays1 year ago
Wendy Rix, is an Aboriginal Artist who paints the most beautifully vibrant & happy murals mostly in schools, drawing inspiration from her Aboriginal roots.
This is her first podcast interview & she is my first podcast interview guest. It was such a pleasure chatting about her journey of establishing and growing her business as a single mum who started out through simply making art and selling through word of mouth, to now ‘making it’ as an artist, having to pay taxes and utilising the services of professionals in their field to assist her in continuing to broaden her reach and refine her business processes.
Wendy and I first met through my retail store ‘Creators Nest’ & then I worked with as a coach, which gave me so much more insight into her story & journey of determination & drive, which I suspect you’ll find just as inspiring too.
Connect with Wendy & her beautiful creations here:
Instargram & Facebook:
@wensart
Creators Nest is a unique retail store & workshop space which is ever evolving. As a Dharma Coach I hope to facilitate and support others in realising their dreams of creating a life they truly love, doing work that aligns with their values & unique skills and use this beautiful space to host workshops & events in the area of wellness/wholeness.
Book an immersive shopping experience at Creators Nest, a space showcasing handcrafted wares of professional creatives locally & beyond.
https://creatorsnest.com.au/pages/about-us
Events & Workshops at Creators Nest
https://creatorsnest.com.au/collections/workshops-events
Dharma Coaching service
https://creatorsnest.com.au/pages/dharma-coaching
https://www.instagram.com/creatorsnestyass/
https://www.instagram.com/bymarienicole/
Intro & Outro Music: Shaman Dance by slavamusic
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By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that the entire contents are the property of Marie-Nicole Roberts, or used by Marie-Nicole Roberts with permission, and are protected under AU and international copyright and trademark laws. Except as otherwise provided herein, users of this Podcast may save and use information contained in the Podcast only for personal or other non-commercial, educational purposes. No other use, including, without limitation, reproduction, retransmission or editing, of this Podcast may be made without the prior written permission of the Marie-Nicole Roberts, which may be requested by contacting
This podcast is for educational purposes only. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.
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Transcript
Introduction to Marie and Her Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you desire to turn your passion into income? Connect with other creative souls who also dance to the beat of their own drum?
00:00:08
Speaker
I'm Marie Nicole and I'm devoted to combining beauty, uniqueness and connection in everyday living experiences.
Marie as a Dharma Coach
00:00:15
Speaker
As a creative professional and Dharma coach, I help people connect to the truth of who they are and facilitate them in embodying their uniqueness. It is my hope in this podcast that I inspire you to live your life on your terms and earn your income
00:00:31
Speaker
through being uniquely you. After all, it's the unique thread that we each contribute to the collective tapestry that creates the home.
Introduction to Wendy Ricks
00:00:48
Speaker
I'd like to introduce Wendy Ricks from Wends Art. Now Wendy came into Creators Nest a few years ago now. This was pre-COVID, even. And as a customer, we just connected. And then I ran a competition where I was offering coaching.
00:01:04
Speaker
or anyone who was interested and Wendy won. So we got to know each other even better through that process. I'm really glad we did because I've loved actually hearing more about your background story and that's why I've asked Wendy to join us today to share her journey as an artist earning her living doing what she loves. So Wendy I'd like you to give us a bit of background into what you were doing before your art and how you transitioned into
Wendy's Transition to Art
00:01:33
Speaker
it.
00:01:33
Speaker
as an income stream? Well, I've been doing art for a long time, even while I was working elsewhere. So by training I'm a registered nurse, no longer registered. So I was doing that. I was also mowing lawns. I was also, do I see a dress shop after being a casual? And I was still doing art whilst I was doing all of those things.
00:01:58
Speaker
They all became, I was also running a party plan business, like a tasting food. Yeah, so it was also little pockets of income stream all factored around my children's drop off and pick up times from school being a single mum. But yeah, still doing a little bit of art at the same time. And eventually I just transitioned out of nursing and straight into art. So how long ago
00:02:27
Speaker
How long ago are we talking about him? How old were your children? I became a single mum when they were 9 and 10 and they're now 28 and 26. They're now in their 20s. Children are now in their 20s, a load of half. Were you actually earning an income from your art at that time or were you practicing art?
00:02:55
Speaker
I was little pockets of money, but not for, I couldn't live on it. No. Nice. So what were you doing? Did you go to, did you have exhibitions or did you sell at markets or you went straight into murals?
Art in Education and Cultural Storytelling
00:03:09
Speaker
Yeah, murals would just come about later. No, I was just selling through word of mouth. A few commissions for a couple of schools. And then I got a request to come down to Canberra to do a classroom
00:03:24
Speaker
because my sister was a teacher, is a teacher here. So I said, I can't do that in a classroom because I'm not a teacher. I don't know how to talk to children. They're a bit scary. And she said, you just talk, just talk about your art. And from that, it just blossomed into huge amounts of classroom work, teaching art. And then that went into murals as well. It just all came into place one after the other. And now I'm completely booked until next year.
00:03:52
Speaker
and it's all classroom work and meals. Fantastic. So they're workshops that you're running in classes? Yeah, yep. So each class gets their own time with me to create a story, usually factored around the NAIDOC theme, which helps the curriculum. I do a PowerPoint about where I'm from, what it looks like, where my family are from, and why we're doing the art and the importance of whatever the story is. Can you give us a little summary of that?
00:04:20
Speaker
Oh, well, this year, the NAIDOC theme is for our elders. So the PowerPoint, which I will be making when I leave here today for tomorrow, will be pictures of where we're from, where I'm from, but also more photos of my elders and the importance of the things that they've taught us. And so relating that to kids for their own family. So for their mums or dads, grandparents, uncles, aunties, and what they mean to them.
00:04:51
Speaker
from what they're teaching. And then they'll create an artwork based on the U shape, which means, which is a person. So I show them how to do that. And then we draw or paint, sorry, together. And then they get to take that home. And they take that home.
Wendy's Mural Experiences
00:05:07
Speaker
Yeah. That's beautiful. So what about your murals? How do you decide on what goes into a mural? The murals, well, they're normally at schools. Most of them have been at schools. So I look at their website. Some schools have an idea.
00:05:22
Speaker
some schools look at my work and say we like that kind of look but mostly like the one I've just done they've just said just do what you do and that I've have a blank wall and I just get out a piece of chalk and start drawing a couple of things and start painting so I don't even know what I'm painting until I pretty much get here. So you do it all spontaneous on the spot? Yeah.
00:05:48
Speaker
which is nuts. I don't draw any, like I don't have any plan. I mean, I might look at the website and go like, oh, well, their mission is love, life. Most of them are Christian schools. So I go, oh, well, I can work with that. I have to work with the space. So there's drain pipes and windows, their budget. I have to work around their budget and my time, what the wall is made of, brick that's easy to paint on or brick that's not easy to paint on, timber.
00:06:19
Speaker
Undercover or not? Yeah. So there's lots of things to consider. How much prep I have to do for the wall to start with. That is a very unique business to have and to transition into that. Like that just unfolded through doing the workshops in the children's classes. Yeah, it was just the first mirror was a ground one up in Queensland.
00:06:45
Speaker
And it was by doing workshops with it a kindy. And it turned out that the director of the kindy, we were actually related, but we'd never met. So her grandma, great-grandmother and my great-grandfather were brother and sister. Wow. So it was just only that they saw a guduga sticker on my car that she just went, I think we're related. And we were. And yeah, her mum knew my mum, three people, you know, we all ended up being related.
00:07:13
Speaker
And she just said, hey, Kuzzy, can you do a big one on the floor? And I went, I can't paint on the floor. She goes, yeah. So I investigated paints, and that was my very first one. And it took three weeks over Christmas holidays, and it was really hot in Queensland. But it's obviously still there. It's still, do you go back and check on it? Yeah, yeah. I've been there a couple of times, says check on it. Yeah, I've changed paint brands since then, but yeah. Of course, you learn along the way. I've been learning, yeah.
00:07:41
Speaker
So they get to walk on it and play on it every day. That's beautiful. It's about 75 square meters. It was huge. Yeah. Oh my goodness. I was really sore. How did you work out how much paint you needed? I don't. I don't have no idea how much paint. So I just turn up with liters of paint. I probably had about 200 liters of paint in my car and I'll probably take, I don't even know how much home. Yeah. I just go like, I think I'll need those colors.
From Nursing to Art
00:08:06
Speaker
So okay, coming from nursing to an artist, you were an artist before, but was the nursing just for secure income? Is that, or did you have a passion for nursing? Ah, well nursing was what I did straight from school. Okay. So yeah, I just thought I'll be a nurse. Yeah. And then, so what led you then to start doing your art? I think I was, I just always liked art. So I always liked doing some sort of art and craft and I was dabbling in like country crafts when my kids were babies and
00:08:36
Speaker
just for a hobby. And that turned into recycled furniture. So painting country scenes on furniture, which didn't sell. In your Aboriginal styling? No, no. So pumpkins, limes, birdhouses. Yeah, all that country craft signs. So I was cutting all the signs myself and bought myself a scroll saw and cut out things. Yeah, that was, you know, I'm going to say 20 years ago. Yeah, probably 20 years ago. So it wasn't
00:09:06
Speaker
wasn't that big a seller. I mean, everyone was doing it, it seemed. And I didn't like all the little things, so I just started doing recycled furniture, and that took a lot of effort, and you just couldn't get your money back. So I just stopped doing that and got a real job, like in this kids' school, the holy grail of jobs. But I would do art with kids, and I always was like the art gallery at The Fate, and I always liked doing those little things like that.
00:09:35
Speaker
So what brought in your Aboriginal art then? I think one day I just went, um, I should just paint on a canvas. People will probably buy it. So, and that's what I wanted to paint. And it just happened. And then I spoke to some, um, my great uncle and made sure that I, what I was painting was okay. And, um, cause he's an artist too and I respected elder. So, um, he said, yep, what you're doing is good. And I've got cousins who paint and my mum's cousins who paint.
00:10:03
Speaker
So we're all doing the similar things. So this is not unique in your family then, like people earning their income through their art? No, no one owns their income. No one has a business as such. So how then did you find the drive to keep going with that without an example around you? Yeah, I know because I don't think anyone in my family is a business person. There's no business minds in
00:10:33
Speaker
in our family, we just work.
Challenges and Community Support
00:10:37
Speaker
I think I got really sick, so I had to leave, I didn't have to, but I chose to leave nursing because I was sick. And by then I had sold a house, so I had income, I had savings, I should say, to help me kick it off. And then eventually it just started growing. So yeah, the savings still went down.
00:11:04
Speaker
And still. But I'm just, I'm proud that I never had to borrow any money. I've just been using what I have to keep it going. And then now it's, you know, I was so excited when I had to pay tax for the first time as an artist. I was really excited. Of course. That's amazing. Yes, I got a tax bill. I'm going to have made it. I think that's the second thing that you said you're excited about and that was paying a bookkeeper. And then they had to pay a bookkeeper.
00:11:34
Speaker
That's awesome. I mean, because not a lot of artists actually set up their website and have, you know, you've got your Instagram and actually turn it into an actual business. That's a hard thing to do. While there are artists out there that are earning their living, it still is a big step, especially if you don't have example around you. So what do you think actually gave you that determination to keep going?
00:12:00
Speaker
Because I to me I felt I didn't have a choice as in this is what I want to do So you have to make it work and as much as all that admin stuff is painful. I mean you have heard all about that It's also necessary and I just had I had to find people to talk to like yourself and A guy that does my reproductions He's a really good business mentor. So I just had to find people that I
00:12:29
Speaker
would reassure me that what I was doing was right or encourage me to go even further. So he goes, that particular guy, Mark, will say, you're ready for the next step now. So I've now got a marketing person to help me redesign my website and remarket myself. So having to be unable to pay him to help me do that, which is currently happening right now, was pretty exciting. And yeah, people who just say you can
00:12:59
Speaker
people want what you do, so why not do it? And why not make money out of what makes you happy? Absolutely, because that filters out into everybody else in the family too. Yeah, and I feel like I can support more people then, my parents and my children. And your children, have they followed their own dreams with the example that you have set? They're trying, yeah. One is a playwright, actress, so yeah, she's
00:13:27
Speaker
She's the starving artist, but she's still young, but she's never done, never wanted to do anything else either. She's wanted to be an actress from the, from, I don't know, when she was in little art competitions when she was at school. Yeah, that's all she's wanted to, but she fell into playwriting. So she's following that. So, you know, her, one of her, her very first mainstream production is on this year in Queensland theatre. So she's,
00:13:54
Speaker
finally got one of her writings to a main stage theatre this year which is great so yeah she's following her dream and the other one is well has been following her dream as a Christian missionary and has travelled the world as a volunteer but now yes she's stepping out of
00:14:13
Speaker
regular income and trying to find what it is that she wants to do. And she's studying makeup. Yeah. So that's an artistry in itself. Yeah. Yeah. She was a dancer, her, her art otherwise. Um, but both of them have been helping me with the murals when they can, um, this time. And, um, I think, yeah, I've always just said to them, do what you have to do to get where you need to be or get where you want to be. So, um, whatever that
00:14:41
Speaker
without obviously hurting people, you know, not doing that stuff, but yeah. That's really inspiring. And the thing that I wonder about it is, what did you find the most challenging along the way?
Financial Risks and Business Mindset
00:14:56
Speaker
Lack of funds, knowing that I was slowly eating away my only security, which was the sale of a house and what was left from the sale of a house, and knowing that if that goes,
00:15:09
Speaker
If no one's buying my paintings, then I have to go back to nursing. I have to find a job. So I work a lot to make sure that that doesn't happen. But now you're finding that you also need to make sure you make time to take that time off to sustain the momentum and the health and wellbeing. Yeah, I'm trying that bit. That is definitely a challenge for anyone that works for themselves. To have a day off.
00:15:40
Speaker
Yeah. And a holiday. You had a holiday last year. Yeah, I've got one booked in March as well. But that was the first thing. So I bought a huge whiteboard before Christmas. And that was another thing. My youngest daughter now works for me one day a week. Fantastic.
00:15:58
Speaker
created this big whiteboard planner for the whole year and the first things that went on it, you'd be very proud of me, was my holiday. Good. So the holiday was marked in first. Yeah. So that's booked and it's going on a holiday. But that's like setting up your milestones. Yep. I've got to make sure I get enough to cover that holiday. To cover that holiday. Yeah. And I'm going, well there's murals, murals, murals, murals, murals. That should be fine. Yeah. Fantastic.
00:16:22
Speaker
So the youngest is a playwright who's working. She's a barista. She's the assistant to her pastor at her church. She works for me one day a week and now she's doing a makeup course.
00:16:37
Speaker
And that diversifying income streams for some people can sound scattered, but in my mind, that actually adds more security to the whole process because if something falls down in one part, you've still got the other thing that you can build up. So I think, yeah, good honour for doing that. And that's why I do it as well. I just can't. Ideally, it would be an amazing artist job to just paint a painting and people spend thousands of dollars and they buy it as soon as you finished it. That would be
00:17:03
Speaker
like a dream, but that's not going to happen. You never know. You know, one day I'll be too old to do murals of the scale. So doing murals, working in classrooms, selling fabric, like creating, doing commissions. Yeah. All the little pockets.
00:17:22
Speaker
You have plates, last time we spoke you had some plates that came in, are they something you sell through shops? I haven't done that, I haven't sold any plates yet, I've just been working on those with my great uncle because he is, well he was a ceramicist and now he paints on greenware, biscuit, so he thinks my work would translate really well to
00:17:43
Speaker
ceramic. So yeah I've just done some more with him in Will and Gone recently but yeah they're all new little things I'm just doubling in trying to work out how that would work. You learned now that you wish you had known back then? I wish I could have known then about but I don't even really want to know about bookkeeping and that sort of stuff that's why I've passed it on.
00:18:10
Speaker
You just said was actually key because knowing about bookkeeping, not that you enjoy doing it, but still knowing about it benefits you because now you know what someone's doing when they're doing your books rather than just handing it all over and not having any idea. At least you've been through the process. We'll try to, yeah. My very first way to account and I had a
00:18:31
Speaker
like a shoe box full of paper and said, well, I've put them in order of date and it cost me a lot of money that year. So I learned then not to be more organized and then tried to be more organized each, but then it would still take me three weeks and then your receipts are fading, all that sort of stuff. So learning about a bit of technology with apps that record that stuff straight away has been helpful. Yeah. And then obviously paying a bookkeeper. So yeah, I do know,
00:19:00
Speaker
bit more about what she needs to know. Yes. Because I tried it myself. Yes, fantastic. Unsuccessfully, but yeah. No, well there's no failure, it's all learning, right? Yes, right. Now I just want to check my notes because I did have, oh okay, so you just said before that you've taken on someone to do your marketing. So before that your marketing strategy was
00:19:26
Speaker
post once a day, post like at dinnertime. Yeah. That's actually that peak period. Yeah, but depends on your work that I've learned as well. So it depends, your audience mightn't be on there at dinnertime. If they're all women who might be a bit younger than me, they're all doing dinner then, like they're cooking dinner. So it was, there was more like the workshops that I'd done about
00:19:49
Speaker
social media will, yeah, these were the peak periods to post, blah, blah, but it was blanket. So this guy, I just did a workshop with him, a one-off workshop to start with, just to see if, because he had like a, I think we had a free Zoom one or something to start with. And then if we would fit, then we could do just a one-off workshop. And then in the end, I spent a day with him going through what it is that I do, and then what if he could help me
00:20:18
Speaker
and then now it's taken to the next step and um yeah what is road creating website or and that sort of stuff and yeah and i'm actually dropping the wensart name because rebranding yeah rebranding and everything so it's just me like it's so it's just wendy ricks yeah now i mean it's still wensart because then nothing's happened but um yeah it's so rebranding um i said i've just got my bus wrapped i've got to drive a high ice with a big artwork with wensart
00:20:47
Speaker
But you can just easily remove those bits. You can just cover it. Yeah, they're in two, and that's probably why they do it. Because if you change your website, if you change your email, those bits just come off. Fantastic. Yeah, so that'll have to happen when it happens. Yeah. So tell me about your bus. Like, can you share an experience you had last year with your bus?
Branding and Marketing Strategies
00:21:10
Speaker
We're not the Thai Blue.
00:21:14
Speaker
Yeah, because that is something that would make people go, I'm not doing this anymore. As I'm driving like 90 kilometres along, it was Max Reef Road out towards Bungendall. I don't know, it was dark, but it was in Canberra in the winter. It is dark earlier anyway, but it was like probably six o'clock ish. Yeah, really, you know, it's very quite windy and quite high traffic as well. Might have been a Thursday or Friday night. And yeah, and
00:21:44
Speaker
Back tide just blew. And I lost all control of the car. And I was on the wrong side of the road. And just praying that no one was coming the other side. It probably lasted seconds, but it felt like hours. Yeah, just trying to fight control to bring the car back over. Because it's, you know, double lines. You're not supposed to be on that side of the road. And to bring it back over. And then I got it off as far as I could. Just one lane each way. And then went like, whoa.
00:22:14
Speaker
Yeah, and I got out and my tire was completely in two pieces. The rim was all, the rim was skidding along the ground, so the rim was flat. Yeah, caught up in the handbrake cable and everything. I couldn't actually drive it. Yeah. And how much paint did you have in there? I don't know, I'm not sure. It was full, wasn't it? It was probably full. Yeah, I'm going like, oh man, RACQ means gonna have to like lay on the NRMA guys, gonna have to lay on the,
00:22:41
Speaker
get on the ground and it's out on the road like this traffic and it was a bit scary and then once I called him and then looked at the tire and rang my family and cars came then to stop other cars from driving really fast because of course it's the tire that's on the road. I said I can't get it off any further and it was lucky because it was like a big drop sort of beside it. Yeah so someone was
00:23:04
Speaker
looking after me and one of my friends is going like, oh, I think God was with you in the car that night. And I'm going like, I had all the disciples. I've got 12 seats. They're all in there. No one was driving the other way. Like I would have just, I would have killed someone. Big, big bumper bar on the front. Cause how big is your van? Cause we can't see it right now. Okay. Yeah. It's it's should be a 14 seater. But yeah, two seats have been removed in the back. Yes.
00:23:33
Speaker
So it's a big, long, it's a long base, long wheel base, high ace, high top. Huge. So your message is meant to get out there. It's not meant to be stopped yet. It's like, you can't stop me. I'm Wendy Rips and I have a mortise. And then I cried. Of course, that would have shaken anyone up. If you could see the lines the next day, you could still see where the rim had just like skinning right across the road.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yeah, I just, I was just scared that I would have hurt someone else. Of course. Yeah. And you were so lucky you didn't even roll it. Yeah. So, and this is not the first car accident you've had too. No. So it's, what is it
Artistic Vision and Aspirations
00:24:16
Speaker
with you? It was the first one I was driving. Okay. The other ones I wasn't driving. Yeah, I wasn't driving in the other ones. So you're a very determined lady to keep going. What's the message in your art that you are trying to deliver?
00:24:31
Speaker
I think hope, hope and yeah, just keep going. Yeah. Yeah. And I'd like to think joy. I'd like to think people find joy. Absolutely. And happiness if they look at it, even if it's purely because they like the color, like just that it makes them feel happy. Yeah.
00:24:49
Speaker
Well, it sounds like the kids are happy with it. And you keep getting asked to come back to school. Yeah, like, good job all the time. It must be a cat's cry at schools or something. Good job. Thanks. Do you do classes with just Indigenous kids as well? Sometimes. Yeah, not often. Sometimes. I would like the message to be for everyone. But yeah, some schools get me just to work with them.
00:25:16
Speaker
They're indigenous students. I'm thinking more to open up their indigenous roots and art culture and activities. So, you know, the fact that you were going from country scenes and furniture to actually I could connect back to my roots. Yeah. Yeah. So I wondered if that was a part of the school program. Some do. Some do. Yeah. Otherwise, they just want everyone to be a part of it. Which is fantastic. Everyone should be aware of it. I don't think it should just be exclusive to indigenous person. No, no. That doesn't spread the message. Yeah, exactly.
00:25:46
Speaker
That's beautiful. So where do you want to take your art next? If you were to reduce murals, what would you then do more of? If I could have like the ultimate dream, I suppose, would be to have my own gallery where other people's art could come as well, but not just mine. That would be lovely and that would be less traveling. You know, I don't really like being away from home for five weeks.
00:26:15
Speaker
at a time, even though it sounded good before, after a few years, you just go like, no, it's like being at home. Yeah. Yeah. If I could have my own gallery and paint and just paint, that would be lovely. Um, maybe a coffee shop in there and a florist or something. No, I don't actually, yeah. Um, that would be probably, and
00:26:41
Speaker
where I live, I'd like it to be where I live so I could be at home and have it close by. Yes, because Queensland to Canberra is quite a journey. Yeah, yeah. Do you do other things along the way or you just come straight? Oh yeah, just come. And so this year I've only booked like the one time and I said that's it, I'm not coming back this year. So if you want me, it's next year. So I will have bookings for next year for them. But
00:27:09
Speaker
But for the first year of COVID, if it wasn't for COVID, I had three months booked here. I had three trips booked. Wow. Down to Canberra. Yeah. That's big. And I was hoping to get more local work, and that's what started. So now, apart from this month, everything is local. That's what was going to be my next question. Can you bring it up to your area? I was trying. And because my work, it's just word of mouth. So it's been word of mouth from school to school down here, particularly.
00:27:39
Speaker
It's like one principal sees you work at some other school and they go like, we want that at our school now. And it's just, and we want it bigger or, so that's how it's grown here. Cause it's such a small place and it was little bits of in local work up there. But now that it's, it's starting to pick up up there. So principals are tagging each other on Facebook and things like that. Or schools are tagging each other going like, we need this at our school. Fantastic. So it's growing.
00:28:08
Speaker
So yeah. So what would we do without the internet? If it wasn't for Facebook, I wouldn't, I don't think I'd be here doing this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know there's a lot of negativity around social media, but for business, it is such a good tool. They were looking for a website of mine. They wouldn't find it. I would be lost, lost, lost, way down the line. Because there are, I'm actually, I have a lot of peers, but it's not as unique. Like there's a lot of Indigenous artists and there's a lot of mural artists.
00:28:37
Speaker
We're all out there and there's enough work for us to share. So, but if it was, yes, I would just get lost in a search and...
00:28:48
Speaker
Yeah, so if it wasn't for Facebook, it wouldn't have happened. So if people do want to find you, are they best to go to your website? Is it actually WensArt? It's still wensart.com.au until anything about that changes. And then it'll be wendyricks.com.au. Fantastic. I think that's what it is. Yeah. Well, if they search Wendy Ricks, they'll find you. They'll find me. Yeah. So have you had any domestic work?
00:29:18
Speaker
like people's houses, courtyards, I can imagine, a mural in someone's inner city. Let's plant the sea. Cool. I've done a cafe. I've got a cafe. Yeah, even warehouse walls. One of my original ones was a cafe. That's pretty cool. That's in Red Clute. The rest are schools.
00:29:41
Speaker
all kindies. Yeah. So there's still a lot of scope for you to, you know, once all the schools are painted with Wendy's work, we can go beyond that. One school at a time I've been doing. Yeah. That's huge. And you also had a niece who helped you with some of the painting. Do you still? I've had two nieces because they're here. So they've come out because they're on your new new holiday. So
00:30:05
Speaker
And that just helped me get through quicker. So one of these murals could take two or three weeks if I'm doing them by myself. So I could cut it down to a week. One day I had a daughter and two nieces. So the four of us working on, that's cutting your work in a quarter, just that day. So that helps speed up the work and they don't mind a bit of cash either. Last year, one of those nieces travelled, like she came to Goulburn with me, she came to Cootamundra with me.
00:30:32
Speaker
to do those murals. So yeah, it cuts down, obviously, with a lot of time. Yeah, and they've all said, we don't know how you do this on your own. So what, yeah, how do you do it on your own? I just keep painting. It's very meditative, it's very calming, but then I get a bit stressed when I'm like, oh man, the rain's coming. I've got to get this done or I've got to work under tarps or I've got to
00:31:02
Speaker
Yeah, it can be a bit stressful. Or if it rains for so long, then all that work is cancelled. So then where's the income? And that's where the plates are going to come in. So that's where the other little things, hopefully, you know, the bits of fabric and reproductions and schoolwork. I have to have enough schoolwork to cover or enough schoolwork in the bank as in I can't do you this year because I'm booked out. But if something happens and there's a huge rain event, then
00:31:32
Speaker
Could we bring it forward? And some schools are going like, yep, yep, we'll do that. We'll have you, we'll do it this year. Other schools with murals and things, so they would just change it to let's paint on timber and get it mounted. So then lest you're still getting work. And that was, I was very grateful during COVID that a couple of the schools in Canberra said, we still want your work. Can we, how do we translate it from you painting with the kids down here to you still doing it from Brisbane? So I created work on timber.
00:32:02
Speaker
and then had it sent down and then they could mount it.
00:32:05
Speaker
So they said, we want you to be able to work. So I'm very grateful. That's fantastic. So if somebody was starting out as an artist, what would you tell them would be, this is what you need to do.
Advice for Aspiring Artists
00:32:19
Speaker
Run, run. There can't be, because how long have you been going for? A full time, like seven years or something. You're not running yet. Run towards not away. Yeah.
00:32:33
Speaker
I guess just back yourself and surround yourself with people who are supportive. You can't do this. I could not have done this on my own to start with. So people who feed you, um, people who say, you know, keep going, um, people who are helpful as in we can do that for you. So you can do that. Like my mum does a lot of posting at the post office and little things like that. Or we can pick stuff up for you so you can work. Um,
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah. I hate to say the word carry, but they kind of carry you a little bit at times when you could, I could go for months without any income. So if you don't want to, um, you know, there's a point where your savings aren't there anymore. So they kind of help, but then you got to give it all back. So I make sure that whatever people have given to me in time, um, resources, money, like I give it
00:33:29
Speaker
I give something back in return. So it sounds like community is a really big part of making it work. Yeah, you have to be, I don't think you can do this on your own, any art type business. Well, you could, but if you want to actually have holidays and have a life and survive. And still be connected to other people. Yeah, you have to be surrounded.
00:33:57
Speaker
That's beautiful. I like it. So is there anything you would have done differently over the journey? No. No. Even if what I did was wrong or because that's why I'm here. Like that's how I kept going by learning. That's the perfect answer. Isn't that right? In my books, that's the perfect answer because there is no wrong. Yeah. Really? Yeah. There's no regret. No.
00:34:26
Speaker
So being myself, I think, yeah. Have you been yourself the entire time or have you evolved into becoming more of yourself? I probably became more of myself. I think I was really worried to start with, like being Indigenous and not looking Indigenous to lots of people. So I guess like a street cred kind of thing. Yeah, my family are all supportive and all of that stuff. But then if someone was to, I don't know,
00:34:55
Speaker
look at you or think, oh, I'll go with that artist more than that one or, or being a Christian where, so yeah, being indigenous can be very political and there are lots of different opinions about lots of different things. So try not to step on toes, but at the same time as being yourself can be a little bit stressful at times. Yeah. Can be very, there's a lot of negative stuff around. So trying to be a positive role model as well.
00:35:25
Speaker
to younger indigenous people is important to me. But also, yeah, being true to myself in amongst that huge grain scope of lots of opinions, lots of where you've all come from different places. I mean, that's like everybody, but within Australia and particularly, I'm thinking of, yeah, we're all we've all come from a different space. So being true to me and
00:35:55
Speaker
and my family, even though where there's lots of different opinions just within that as well. Yeah, let alone the world. Yeah, it can be really challenging. So what practices have you put into place to maintain that being true to myself? Stay off social media and significant times of the year. So I stay away from negative. I don't share anything that I think is negative or too controversial. And I know that even in saying that is controversial, like I should be
00:36:25
Speaker
sometimes a bit more of an activist, but I think my family have always just been hard workers and we'd rather educate by being true and helpful rather than being negative.
00:36:41
Speaker
I don't think there's any should though. It's just people's perceptions that you should stand up and say your piece, but you can actually be that example just by being. And you're definitely doing that. And look at that, your Indigenous art is everywhere now, with its Christian take. Yeah, so there'll be those that say, well, you can't do that because of that. And then others will go, well, that's just might be your mob, but it's not my mob. So it's within being Indigenous and being Aboriginal, that's
00:37:11
Speaker
whole other we're all so different from where we're from as well so yeah let alone personally. I think it's amazing that you have
00:37:23
Speaker
pushed, not pushed through, I don't like to use the word pushed, but maintained the determination even through all the challenges, because it sounds like it is actually being authentic to yourself and what's in your heart. And so keeping that drive and being that example for other people that, you know, it is actually okay to be you. You don't have to try and fit into what the expectations are.
00:37:46
Speaker
Thank you for doing that. On behalf of anyone else, he was like, I can't help you me. Yeah, well, I don't really know who else to be. Like, I'm not very good at lying. I'm not really good at making anything up. No, I do. I make a lot of things up. No. Yeah, it's just, and as you get older, that's also, yeah, you don't, you just, you sort of care a little less because you go, I'm only here for this time. So I might as well be this person.
00:38:18
Speaker
Take it or leave it, I am myself. It's pretty much it, yeah. It doesn't get any better. I'm the vintage best right now. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here, Wendy, and being that inspiration for everyone. And I will, in the show notes, include all of the details of how to find you, because there is a way for people to take your art into their home. And I'd love for that to be the case too.
00:38:41
Speaker
That's a true wild woman.
00:38:45
Speaker
So if there's anything else you want to share or you're happy to leave it at that. I'm good. I'm good. Good. Thank you. So lovely. Thank you for being my first podcaster person. Thank you for being my first interview. I'm just as nervous. It was wonderful. Thank you.
00:39:04
Speaker
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is, and I hope you got value out of listening to this podcast. If you are looking for a coach to support and guide you through your own unique journey of creating a life you love, then reach out for a connection call. And if you'd like to connect with other creative souls in person by joining us at a workshop, a retreat, or to book a unique shopping experience here at Creators Nest, I run those by appointment. So check out the website for more details. The link is in the show notes.
00:39:35
Speaker
Oh, and please leave a review. I'd love to hear any insights or inspirations that were activated in you from this podcast. And I look forward to drumming, dancing or soaring alongside of you.