By way of introduction

Hello, and welcome.

This year, I will be participating for the first time in the Mundaring Hills Open Studios event, from Saturday 23 - Sunday 31. My husband, Craig, a visual artist, is also taking part. We will be guest artists, hosted by Gayle Mason, in her Bellevue Artspace studio and gallery. This is the MHOS debut for all three of us, and we are all very excited, and just a wee bit nervous.

This is something of a creative rebirth for me, after one of many long pauses while I negotiated other paths life insisted I follow, but always, there is a yearning to get back to making, to creating something new, by hand, out of raw materials and imagination.

For quite some time, I’ve thought a web page or blog to share my creative work would be a useful idea, in terms of promotion and personal motivation. The approach of the Open Studios event seems the opportune time to launch my web presence as I relaunch my creative career. To this end, I have set up both Facebook and Instagram pages for my creative efforts, where I will share photos of new work and snippets about what’s going on creatively and socially.

On Facebook, it’s Betty McKeough Creative and on Instagram betty_mckeough_creative

Here in this blog is where I will share occasional more detailed insights into what I’m doing creatively, my inspirations, and how I’m thinking and feeling about it all. Of course, there will be photos here too, including a little looking back at past work to show where I’ve come from, as well as what’s currently in progress.

My focus for the Open Studios event this year is my jewellery, which will feature alongside paintings and drawings by Craig and Gayle. They are both interesting and accomplished artists, and I’m honoured to be invited to share their creative space.

I’ve been involved in making jewellery for over 25 years now, but more seriously in the decade since completing my three year full time course in jewellery and object design at what was then Central TAFE, now North Metropolitan TAFE, in the studios at the Northbridge Campus. I graduated in 2010.

As you may have seen in my profile, I dabble in all manner of creative pursuits. There’s just so many things I still want to try, and I might even share some of them here. Perhaps we’ll leave it with a quick peek at some of my past jewellery work for now though, and let the rest unfold as I get into the habit of posting here.

Here’s a little teaser glimpse of a few things that might well be on show during the event. For more info, and a look at work by the other artists involved - and if my count is correct, there’s 62 of us at venues all across the Mundaring and Hills area - please check out the web page: Mundaring Hills Open Studios