About me

Hello You,

My name is Aymie. However you came across this page, i hope you have a read and enjoy what it has to offer. 

I'm a creative soul, attempting to raise children, and love my husband. We spend our days off together, frequenting Op shops and market stalls, pursuing forgotten little towns and antique stores. The beach is our second home, our first is a little piece of our own we have tucked away in a small coastal town.

I am a nurse, working in critical care, the science and art of nursing (and all things medical) thoroughly intrigue me. I can honestly say i love my job.

Previous to this i was a professional photographer for  years. I suppose to an extent i still am. These days i find myself shooting more and more for myself.

I often am asked why i left the photography industry, i guess the demands of an unappreciated profession got the better of me. I was worn down be people who wanted it cheaper and quicker, but with all the quality of a seasoned pro.

So here is my happy medium. A place where i can enjoy my creative soul and life's inspirations, big or small. I hope you enjoy it as much as i do.

xxx

Aymie

4/52 | The small stuff

Today i had some fun playing with the multiple exposure setting in my D700. I think a new lens won't be far off.

As the holidays wind down, so too has the heat. We find ourselves tinkering around in the backyard, catching frogs and lizards. 

I am trying take the time to stop and be grateful, for all the little things my children delight in. The things they innocently revel in. In return they gave me a few short moments in front of the camera, before tottering off for trampoline action.... of course i got in on that too!

"Listen earnestly to anything [your children] want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.”

                                                                                                                 ~ Catherine M. Wallace

The coward punch: A societal fail!

I jumped on line this morning as i turned on the T.V. I was instantly confronted with an assault of media contention surrounding the very despicable act known as the 'coward punch'. 

We are seeing it everywhere, in the papers, on T.V, discussed in our social circles. We are turning to our politicians, demanding them to 'step up' and make change. 

But wait...

Hang on...

What about YOU!

What I see when i turn on the T.V. When i read the newspaper, when i jump online. Is a narcissistic generation, raised without accountability. Good job.

We live in a time where it is OK to celebrate the mediocrity. Is OK to let children live at home well into adult hood, because well, you know, times are tough. I am sorry but that it such a cop out! All you are doing is enabling your child's self serving, lazy attitude. Congrats!

I have several friends who enjoy a wander-lustful lifestyle, Financed by their hard work and sacrifices. Mummy and daddy do not finance their lifestyle. These people are mature, giving, considerate members of the community (when they are here to engage in it). They were raised in way that meant, they respect themselves enough to not 'mooch' off their parents hard work. They earned their life, therefore they appreciate it's fruits.

When i look at the violence fueled nights at kings cross, what i see is a bunch of BRATS!

Plain and simple.

A generation of 'children' raised to believe that the world begins and ends with them. That to take a life is nothing. That it's OK to fight and argue, to yell and drink into a stupor. Desecrating public property and spewing profanities into the night. In fact, they believe it's their RIGHT!

You taught them that! Good job.

You taught your child that this, all of this, was Ok. You taught them not to be humble, you taught them not to be accountable or selfless. You said yes when what you should have said was no!

And now you have the audacity to rely on the government to step up where you failed. 

What i will thank you for, is the insight and clarity of thought surrounding my parenting style. I will say no to my child. I will take responsibility for them. I will raise them to respect and to give. Most of all i will teach them to step up and be accountable for their actions.

There are brilliant people out there, they are not all bad eggs. Though unfortunately the situation is what it is, on a whole, this generation has been failed in their upbringing and now we are living the results. It must stop here.

3/52 | Something for moi

natures candy... a blackberry bush. The boys and myself will delight in these soon enough!

the wistful dandelion

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possibly my favorite image of the afternoon. The flow and composition scream beauty, fluid strength

I awoke today in the midst of midday heat, scattered after a night shift of answering buzzers and cleaning bottoms. This year will be a challenging one for me personally as i take on full time work. It will be the first time i will work full time since having children. I find the hardest concept to wrap my mind around will spending time away from my youngest who will be potentially having his last year at home before 'big school'.

As the holidays come to a close and my new graduate year creeps upon me, i find myself savoring the sweet (and chaotic) moments of time with my babies. An everlasting beach romp, topped with ice creams, midday naps and late nights on the couch.

I kiss their soft skin, just in that crevass of their little necks, the hint of salt still left from the days endevours. They are my world. Though despite all this, and all my motherness. I am also simply me. I am not mother just as much. There are parts of me that swell with want, for which no amount of them can fill. These parts of me are not to be ignored. They call and reach for me, tugging at my deeper parts. 

These are the parts of me that desire, vision, thoughtful renderings, creative pleasures. If i neglect to pursue a balance in my life of these parts along with my motherness, then i fail to be the best of myself.

So this evening i took my camera and i headed barefoot for the bush. Just me on my own, the sounds of birds, the smell of summer afternoon heat. It was lovely to just exist. Never underestimate the power of connection with the world around you. Walking barefoot revitalises the soul, you can feel the energy pouring through you from the earth.

I took these images by flipping my prime lens, a sneaky little trick that can be used to somewhat replicate the delicate macro flavor i was after. The result being some divine images, that remind me of the soft delicate feminine nature of the flower, which has the strength to remain strong and beautiful in the harshest of environments. Reminding me of how,we as mothers are delicate too. With the capability of unmeasured strength in the face of adversity.

Tend to all your you parts, what ever they may be!

Disconnect to re-connect

I lay back, i look up and i see.

I was chatting this week to some friends and it got me thinking... How often are we plugged in? We live in a time where it is considered socially acceptable to text or inbox people at 10 at night, to call them and to expect them to instantaneously answer - or at the very least, call right back! Why is it that in this day and era we face the demand to be available 24/7? And why is it that we are so insecure, that should someone not reply right away, we assume that something must be wrong?

Any one who knows me, understands that i am not a talker, i'm not even a great texter. I enjoy my own company and i realise that this is a personality trait rather than a conscious choice to 'disconnect', however it surprises me just how many people live continuously connected, and struggle with such a concept! 

I suppose it perplexes me more so in these warmer months, because for me and my little family, we trundle off to the beach, ready for a day of sun and sand castles and on those days i rarely even touch my phone! Yet as i look around me at the beach - there they are, people, engaged in an online world, not even embracing the glorious world right there in front of them. What happened just 10-15 years ago when a family took to the beach? Why you left your life on pause at home and embraced the immediacy of the life you present in. Maybe a *10# when you got home, sure maybe a mobile brought along just in case, but none of this online contentedness we see with social media today.

So i am setting the challenge! Disconnect to re-connect. Turn off the phone and just be. Look around you! Think about nothing and everything. Breathe deep and replenish. Be empowered by your ability to be present in a moment. Enjoy it for what it is worth, take note of its scent, its sounds and its feel. Commit it to memory and make it yours! I promise you will realise that the world does not stop, life goes on and their is more to life than being plugged in, all the time ;)

Aymie xx

2/52 | Free Range Kids

Part of my world involves parenting. Hands down one of the most challenging yet fulfilling task one can ever undertake. I know that sounds cliche and i'm ok with that. I sit here at my computer and i listen. I here their little voices, i hear their squeals of delight and dismay as their day carry's on in ebs and flo.

Parenting can be hard. It can also be easy. Essentially the struggles you face as a parent are always your own. For me parenting has been grounded by one concept. I decided to try and raise free range kids. For me this means allowing my children a level of autonomy and freedom.

I let my kids enjoy grapes on jatz biccies or dress themselves in their own outfits. Someday's we venture into the world as a ninja, someday's not. It also means that on someday's, especially as the sun beats down on us in these warmer months, i let my children swim naked at the beach.

As a parent i at times face friends who worry over the 'exposure' of my children to potential harms of unwanted eyes, disturbing minds that revel in such little people. For me i feel that it is more important for my child to enjoy their own body freely and organically with nature, before their minds are contaminated with lustful, sexualised inhibitions. 

I have educated my children, they know the potential risks (at a level they can comprehend). However i also encourage them to be children, to be free, to embrace and delight in the innocence of their limited youth. to feel the waves crash and the sand scrub between their tiny toes, the water caress and mould around their little bodies. 

I want them to know that nakedness does not always and solely equate to a sexual self. Rather it can be used to embrace and empower oneself. to free oneself from the social limits applied. For it won't last long. Nothing ever does.

1/52 | New Beginnings

lollipops and a late afternoon movie to end a busy day at the beach...

clothes are always optional for Jettah, and my washing pile is thankful for it.

hello world, this is me.... and i suppose life can be fun for everyone too :)

A new year, a fresh start. Is that not what we all say? 2013 was good to us, we struggled, we fought hard and we are now, only now, seeing the fruits of our labors appear before us. We look forward to having enough this year. Enough sadness to appreciate the joy, enough pain to enjoy love, enough hardship to enjoy our prosperity... simply enough. 

With the new year i have finally decided to strip myself of my photography label, instead wrapping myself wholly in my downy blanket that is all that is creative. I hope to use this space to celebrate my musings as they unfold through out the year and commit myself to the 52 project. 

As a family we will struggle this year, as our household shifts itself into a new way of life. A mum who will work full time will leave way for mishaps, cheap dinners, and an exhaustion fueled messy house. With this, however, will be the excitement of a new journey, new questions, new answers, pages for our book of hopes and dreams, as well as fails, though hopefully only just enough.

And so it begins, the 52 project. A series of weekly posts where i'll bring you the happenings and realities of our humble little world as we navigate life, love, triumphs and fails.