I grew up with an obsession of pink butterflies. My first email was “pinkbutterflies123@hotmail.com”, every birthday and Christmas gift was either pink, a butterfly, or both! I had sparkly butterfly hair clips and butterflies covering my bedroom walls. I drew butterflies all over my school books. I painted them in my journal. Then one day I got sick of it and thought it was dorky. I don’t remember why. It might have been a comment from someone or maybe it was just I overdosed on those fluttering wings. In order to cleanse myself and “grow up” I told everyone I hated pink and hated butterflies. Otherwise, the gift theme would continue.
When I was 25, for the first time since denying my love of pink, I painted with fluro pink and the work was selected for a public art lightbox exhibition. It was to bring safety and colour to a dark laneway. My newly rekindled love of pink, suddenly become my signature style. I found happiness in it. I found a childlike joy. A freedom where I didn’t care about others' opinions, I was simply drinking in the colour. Allowing it to wash over me.
Fast forward to 2022, I was asked to be part of a community project promoting respect, equality, and safety for women in our community. The first day of the painting would be November 25th, the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women. I was instantly interested in being involved. Women from Catherine House were invited to come and paint with me and students from Sturt Street Community School would also paint a bench.
Get this though… the symbol for the day is… drum roll… BUTTERFLIES.
The brief was to feature butterflies, as the foundational symbol of the campaign. We were to paint 5 benches across the city as a message of hope, resilience and healing. So here I am, at 33, finally allowing my inner child to love pink and love butterflies again.
I grew up in a safe home. A loving family. I had security and support. My heart is heavy for the women and children in SA who don’t have that and I know paint alone, can’t change that. But it is my hope that talking about this issue and raising awareness of violence against women and where we can access help can bring hope.
Thank you to the City of Adelaide for inviting me to be part of this project.
Thank you to Jane Laws, Emma Coyle, Carrie Johnson, Malia Wearn from the City of Adelaide for your organisation and great conversations and for having fun painting with me.
Thank you to the teachers at Sturt Street Community School and the Year 6 students for their talented painting contribution.
Thank you to the women who attended the workshops; it was a pleasure meeting you.
Thank you to Jack Turner for capturing this project so well in your photos.
If you are experiencing homelessness or someone you know needs help, please contact Catherine House. You can also support the work they do through donations and they currently have a Christmas Appeal.