Perth is ok.

Totally. Recently, Jenny Tian made fun of Perth for being the least confident city in Australia. Yes, Perth has a slogan that reminds you of “R U ok, day.” Check it out here: Perth is ok.

When we first arrived in Perth, everything felt new, a little uncertain, and not quite ours yet. I wrote about that feeling in my last post.The in-between of starting over.

Five months in, things are beginning to shift. Slowly, this place is starting to feel like something.

Settling in and making friends.

Perth has been very good to us over the last five months. I can’t quite believe we’re nearing the six-month mark. Not to mention the arrival of baby number two.

Moving here at the same time my son was meant to start school was one change I hadn’t quite anticipated on top of everything else.

He’s currently on waitlists for a few schools we would love for him to attend, but as it turns out, waitlists are long, and our local school unfortunately wasn’t an option (we even had mould reactions after one visit, so that decided for us). At this point, I feel like we’re quite well versed in navigating unexpected challenges… so I decided to homeschool him for now.

How has that been going, you might ask?

Honestly, better than I ever expected!

I gave myself a migraine just thinking about how I would manage it all, but it’s turned out to be one of the most beautiful decisions for our family.

Having this extra time together has meant we’ve been out exploring, joining playgroups, and slowly building a little circle of like-minded friends. It’s been fun and easy and has made me feel really hopeful for what the rest of the year might hold.

He’s become more independent, more content and I would say it has due to me being able to be there for him when he needs me.

It’s also made me realise just how much will shift again once the baby arrives. There’s something about having a second child that really pulls at your heartstrings. knowing your time will be shared between two.

Of course, we miss our friends in Brisbane.

That feeling has settled in more over the past few weeks, as the newness of everything here has softened. There’s the awareness that when the baby arrives, we won’t have those friendships of the past eleven years close by.

I miss my creative circle too. The spontaneous café drawing sessions, the art events, and the fun of being surrounded by people who create.

But I also trust that, in time, that will find me here as well.

What have I been doing creatively?

In the middle of all of this, I’ve still been drawing.

Working on my monthly commissions while homeschooling has actually been more doable than I expected. Slower, yes, but still very much part of my rhythm.

Life drawing has also found its way back into my routine, thanks to being more central here in Perth. I hadn’t realised how much I missed those sessions at Studio Maverick in Brisbane until I sat down to draw again. Now I get to go to Sticc and Thicc Social Club, if you are in Perth, I highly recommend.

I’ve also been working on a commercial project, designing a mural, and sending off a piece for this year’s Incognito Art Show.

Listing it all out like this makes it sound like a lot, and in a way, it is, but it’s been a quieter kind of working. One that fits around this season of my life.

And through all of this, I keep coming back to something I see in my work all the time.

Places don’t start out to be special. They become special with time.
Mostly because of who you go on adventures with and what you experience.

Right now, I’m living in a place that is still becoming one.

The parks and playgrounds we visit, the cafes we explore, and the routines we’re creating…
They don’t hold years of memories yet. But I can feel we have our favourite go-to places and they are becoming better every time.

And maybe that’s why I feel connected to the places I draw for others.
Because I know how quickly a place can hold a whole life inside of it.

Before I take a break to welcome our little one, I’m opening a final few spots to draw your places too.

If you have been wanting to get your own original art drawn up of one of those places, this is your chance.