Why I Chose Paper as My Medium

When I first picked up a watercolour brush, it wasn’t with a plan to build a business — I was simply chasing a moment of calm. There’s something grounding about the way watercolour moves across paper. It’s gentle, unpredictable, and meditative. Each brushstroke became a pause in my day, and before long, I had created a growing collection of paintings that filled my home with quiet colour.

But as the paintings stacked up, I began to ask myself — what now?

With a background in sustainability, I’ve always been mindful of waste and impact. After visiting Transmutation (https://www.transmutation.com.au/)  in Robe — a creative hub that turns discarded plastics into something new — I felt inspired to do the same in my own way. I began transforming my watercolour paintings into something wearable: lightweight, hand-painted earrings made from paper.

Soon, even the offcuts from my jewellery designs started to pile up. Rather than throw them away, I looked for a way to reuse them. That’s when I discovered paper clay — a method of pulping waste paper into a versatile, sculptural material. From those scraps, I started crafting bowls, trays and homewares, creating a loop where nothing was wasted.

Now, paper is more than just a surface I paint on — it's the foundation of my business. It’s flexible, humble, and endlessly transformable. By working with it, I’ve created a closed-loop practice where every piece has a story, and even the scraps are given a second life.

Choosing paper was never just about the material. It was about slowing down, treading lightly, and creating with intention.