Episode #039 How to Master the Art of Midlife with Guest Wendy Kriz Evans

Do you feel like you are stifling your creativity? That there is a budding artists inside you just waiting to break out… if you just had the time. Or could just focus. Or believe in yourself enough to just go for it.

Well, Midlife Unlimited® is all about inspiring and encouraging you to take that step… to leap out of your comfort zone and go for it.

So if this resonates with you as a Gen X woman, join your host Kate Porter The Midlife Metamorphosis Coach® and her guest Insurance Actuary and Artist Wendy Kriz Evans for Episode 039 as they talk about How to Master the Art of Midlife.

In this episode, Wendy explains to Kate how her metamorphosis journey to unleashing her inner artist in Midlife is encapsulated in the phrase “the joy of returning to myself”.

But Wendy’s transformation was not an overnight realisation. She shares with Kate how finally finding balance with her HRT led to a cascade of changes in her life… with the result that Wendy felt compelled to begin her second career as an artist.

From how she draws inspiration from nature, childhood memories and menopause, to what it feels like to be selling her art at exhibitions, Wendy gives a joyous insight into how she is thriving in her second chapter. 

And Wendy shares her top lessons learned and tips to help you unleash your inner artist too and go for it.

Connect with Wendy

https://www.instagram.com/wendykrizevans

https://www.facebook.com/wendykrizevans

https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-kriz-evans

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:01

Welcome to Midlife Unlimited, the podcast for women who want more. I'm your host, Kate Porter, the midlife metamorphosis coach, and I know what it's like to feel stuck navigating the midlife maze. I've looked in that mirror and thought, who is that woman? So Midlife Unlimited is here to let you know you are not alone. You don't have to put on a brave face and put up with it. You don't have to play it safe. Midlife Unlimited is all about ripping off that mask and telling midlife how it really is. Nothing is off limits because together there's no limit to what we can achieve. So, welcome to today's episode. Now, do you feel like you're stifling your creativity? That there's a budding artist inside just waiting to break out if you just had the time? or could focus or just believe in yourself enough to go for it. Well, Midlife Unlimited is all about inspiring and encouraging you to take that step, to leap out of your comfort zone and go for it. So I'm delighted to be joined by my guest today, Wendy Chris Evans, insurance actuary and artist, to talk about how to master the art of midlife. Welcome, Wendy. It's wonderful to have you here.

SPEAKER_00: 1:37

Hi, Kate. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02: 1:39

Oh, it's an absolute pleasure. Now, I think this is going to be quite a liberating episode and hopefully, as I said, inspiring and get some creative juices flowing from our listeners. Because I love how you have described your journey to unleashing your inner artist in midlife as the joy of returning to to yourself. So does that mean that you knew that this artist was in there, just you hadn't let her out?

SPEAKER_00: 2:15

I think I forgot about her. So at school I did art GCSE and I enjoyed it, but decided that probably science and maths would end up with a more lucrative career. So I chose to do that. And I was good at maths and I loved it. So that's the route I took. And I just sort of, life took over and forgot about the artist. There were opportunities along the way. So there was a little competition that we had at work once to draw somebody else. And I didn't have any art materials at the time. So I just did it with an eyeliner. Oh,

SPEAKER_02: 2:51

wow. See, that's creativity right there. Ingenuity almost.

SPEAKER_00: 2:57

And opportunities, things like when my son's first birthday, I sort of taught myself how to decorate a cake. Having never done it before, I just thought, right, okay, I'm going to learn to make, how to decorate cakes and did that for a bit. So there was sort of, points where I did creative things it wasn't like I never did anything creative it just wasn't my focus and I yeah I don't know I mean I sort of said to myself at the time when I was um before I started my career like oh you know if I live if I ever want to be an artist yeah I can teach myself and it's something that you you know you just learn by doing and never got around to it life took over

SPEAKER_02: 3:35

doesn't it just doesn't it just and I love the fact though that although life has a way of taking over you now and we'll delve a bit into your story in a minute if we may but you're going to be sharing your lessons learned along your journey later on with our listeners but let's backtrack a bit then your metamorphosis journey, your creativity, what was the spark? What was the moment when you thought, yes, I'm going to do this? Was there a moment? Was it a build up?

SPEAKER_00: 4:12

So, yeah, there was a moment when suddenly I just had to start making art and take it seriously. And it was driven by getting my hormones balanced. I think for the first time in a very long time. So I was five years into perimenopause at this point, but I think my hormones had been off for decades previous to that. So, and I hadn't realized that there was such a link between hormones and creativity and getting my hormones right gave me this huge boost of creativity that I just had to do something with much more than, you know, decorating the odd cake here and there when it was someone's birthday. It was something that I felt I had to do and take seriously and make into a career.

SPEAKER_02: 5:01

Because I know as well, I mean, your journey, it wasn't an easy one to find that balance. I know one message as well that you'd like to be getting across is to all the women out there that are facing similar symptoms to actually push and to actually Although everyone's different, to be aware of your own symptoms, because I think that played an important part in your recovery, for want of a better word, didn't it? Or balance, at least.

SPEAKER_00: 5:36

Yeah, I had to take on responsibility for myself because I just wasn't getting the care that I needed. And actually, yesterday, I read something on a group with this poor lady. She thought she had long COVID for the last five years. Wow. It turns out it was perimenopause all along and no one in those five years had said, have you thought it might be perimenopause? Not a single person. And she started on hormones and she said she felt 80% better. It is crazy,

SPEAKER_02: 6:07

isn't it? It is crazy that these conversations are, are being had. The word menopause is now becoming a mainstream conversation, which is fantastic. But as you say, there still remains so many, I won't say murky corners, but just misinformation, grey areas. It is so much of a potential minefield. It really is. And I say, obviously, This isn't a medical podcast. We're not here to offer advice on HRT, etc. But I think one piece of advice that is a takeaway from your journey is to push and to be aware, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00: 6:53

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You can't just let somebody else look after your health. You have to take responsibility, educate yourself and yeah, make sure that you're getting what you need and make sure that you're getting appointments as well. Because that was something I found really hard when I felt terrible. I found it really hard to actually make an appointment because that's quite difficult when you have brain fog and you're feeling really depressed and you just don't feel comfortable. capable of making a phone call to make a doctor's appointment and it was it was people in my life that said to me this is not normal you have to make a doctor's appointment and they kept saying it to me kept saying it to me and eventually I'd get around to it after a few weeks um but yeah if I hadn't had other people in my life pushing me as well I think it would have been much harder

SPEAKER_02: 7:43

because it does you just think oh yeah I'd just I can't face it right now. I will do it tomorrow and tomorrow never comes, never comes. But I would love to loop back to your creative epiphany, I think is the word I will use. Because like many things, it happened with something quite simple, really. Redecorating your living room. Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 8:15

so this is part of the sort of doing art and creative things throughout my life so in the same way that I painted a um I drew a picture of my colleague for a competition at work um I had a big blank wall in my living room because we redecorated and so I thought oh I can do that I can I can make some hearts fine so I did that and then a few months later I thought that was quite fun if I do that again so I did it again and Maybe it was just that I happened to have been making some art on and off for a few months, about six months, when I had this epiphany, this hormone balance and this burst of creativity. I guess the art was front of mind. And that was the thing that I decided I had to put everything into. But I also started thinking about, you know, this is what I wanted to do when I was 18. This was something that was really important to me that I've kind of let go. off by the side and focus on other things and you know I could have I could have gone back to cake decorating but I thought you know I don't want to make a career out of cake decorating um you know I didn't really fancy going on the hygiene courses for

SPEAKER_02: 9:29

one

SPEAKER_00: 9:29

yeah

SPEAKER_02: 9:30

So when you actually start, I mean, I understand it's acrylics you paint with, isn't it? So the textures, I mean, listeners, Wendy's got some of her gorgeous work behind her now and the colours and the textures are absolutely fantastic. They just are lovely. I'm going to clear a wall on my lounge when I finished talking to you. But inspiration wise, as obviously you think, right, I'm going to paint. Now I get, I've, done it before I've bought the canvases I've bought the paints I've got the paper then it's like it's that next step and we're gonna we'll come to your top tips later on but for me I just sadly At the time, I mean, I might revisit it now. You are inspiring me. I didn't then have that urge or rush of inspiration of what I was actually going to put on these canvases. So I know you draw your inspiration now from so many different areas, from menopause to your childhood. But did this all just suddenly come to the fore? How does it work in terms of, right, this painting is going to be about this painting?

SPEAKER_00: 10:41

So it does vary. So sometimes I have no idea what I want to do. I just start playing with paint, see where my thoughts take me and see what ends up. on the canvas. So there's one particular artwork. It's a big one. I think it was the first or second really big one I'd done. So it was 60 by 90 centimeters. So that's, it's big enough that I struggle to get around the house with it. It's a big one. And it's sold actually at a gallery in London, but it was an abstract. And I didn't really have a plan. I sort of had a plan. I sort of thought, well, you know, I want it to be a bit blue and a bit gold and I want it to be abstract. And so I just started painting. The great thing with acrylics is you can just paint over and over and over. If you don't like something, you just paint over it in a different way. And that works for my style because I love that texture. So even if I think, oh, I don't like it, it's not a mistake. It's just building texture. So I'll keep building that texture up and then see what happens next. But this particular painting that I was doing with the blues and the golds, I was sort of not really paying attention to what I was thinking about at the time. But after I finished a session of painting, so normally I paint for maybe between three and six hours, something like that. So I finished the session and sort of looked at it and realised what I'd been thinking about had actually come out. on the canvas and in an abstract way. So I realized I'd been thinking about a time when I was about seven or eight. And I remember it because it affected me, like it affected my emotions. I remember it so vividly. My dad was into windsurfing and we lived near the coast and he took me out on his windsurf. It was the first time he'd taken me out. And so, you know, I sat on the board at the front and he's windsurfing away and it was so exciting, like being out with my dad because you know he was always so busy working and windsurfing and so it's really exciting to sort of spend some quality time with him and being out on the waves because I was too small really to learn to windsurf myself but yeah I wanted to experience it so I remember it just being brilliant but then I realized we were going through a shoal of jellyfish and they were washing across the board and across my legs and I was screaming and screaming but my dad couldn't hear me because he's obviously you know five six feet above my head he couldn't hear me screaming he didn't have any idea what was going on he's just focused on you know not falling off because he's got this weight on the front of the board that he doesn't normally have so I was absolutely petrified and eventually he realised and took me back to the shore and yeah I just remember being so so scared and when I looked at the painting that I'd done it looked like a sea with a jellyfish there was sort of gold bits and then blue bits and then there was a yellow bit in one section which just looks like a jellyfish to me and I thought wow I've painted this thing that I've been thinking about. So yeah, for me, I just do whatever I feel like doing. I just play and have fun. And then I see, oh, okay, I think that represents something I was thinking about. So it's just paying attention to your thoughts. And I think that weirdly, that's something that I've been trained to do in my actuarial career. Oh,

SPEAKER_02: 14:06

so you can see a parallel then.

SPEAKER_00: 14:08

Yeah. So as an actuary, it's about, detail, a lot of it's about detail, and picking out the bits that aren't quite right. So, you know, somebody will write something and you'll think, oh, yeah, that makes logical sense. And then you think, oh, hang on, does it make sense? And it's listening to that little voice that goes, I'm not sure about that, and then writing it down. That's a key thing, writing it down. So all these little things, for example, if I'm reviewing a report and, yeah, something doesn't quite make sense, writing down the question, like, what exactly do you mean? So yeah, all of those sort of paying attention to my thoughts and getting it down, having been trained in that way for 25 years, it's helped me pay attention to what I've been thinking when I'm painting.

SPEAKER_02: 14:55

God, that's fascinating. Because I know you were saying about in your actual actuary work, you have a slightly different way of approaching painting problems as well that you've found I remember you said about colour coding and things like that that you like to use so you're obviously a very visual person anyway before you reawakened the artist

SPEAKER_00: 15:23

yeah exactly so I had a previous job and one of my titles was team PowerPoint expert. Because I was the one that would say, no, that doesn't look right. And you need to make it more visual. I used to say that all the time. And I'd forgotten that I wanted to be an artist, but I I've sort of honed in on that now. And I do use it in work and you're using colors, but you have to be a bit careful with colors because obviously some people are colorblind, they can't see

SPEAKER_01: 15:52

the

SPEAKER_00: 15:52

different colors. So you can't have just colors that are showing something. You have to use that as a sort of extra thing and try and do it so that everyone can appreciate it. But yeah, two of my step-sons are colorblind. So I'm quite aware of how that can affect you. Yeah, they get quite annoyed sometimes when we tell them that it's not green.

SPEAKER_02: 16:16

No, I have to be careful because my brand green, obviously, anything red that I put with that is like, no, you can't do that. Someone may not be able to. Heaven forbid, the thousands of people that look at my posts and look at my branding, millions of them won't be able to read it. But one thing you mentioned just now as well that made me think, oh, I need to know more about that. You mentioned... in passing obviously the sale of of your jelly was it the jelly thing how does it feel the first piece that you sold how does that feel because it must be amazing that something you've created obviously something that you love to know that someone else has actually not just bought it but is going to put it on their wall and sit and look at it

SPEAKER_00: 17:03

Yeah, it's a lovely feeling. It's a great feeling to know that somebody actually wants your work enough that they'll pay money for it. So it's validating. But at the same time, it sounds a bit immodest, but I sort of expected it. I didn't think that I wouldn't sell work somehow. I just, yeah, I just thought, right, okay, this is my career now. I'm going to make it a success. I'm going to sell work.

SPEAKER_02: 17:35

But I love that. I don't think it is being a modest. I think it is you told yourself, it's like me saying with Midlife Unlimited, I announced that I was going to be launching a podcast. You announced to yourself, if no one else, that you were going to be an artist. And as you say, a logical byproduct of that is that people want your art. You don't do it to keep... Well, some people might keep it in the attic, but what a waste. What a waste. It's all about sharing it. Now, another one, obviously, listeners, you can't see this, but there's a beautiful painting behind Wendy's head that looks like patches. Am I correct in thinking that it was... inspired by a certain type of patch.

SPEAKER_00: 18:22

Yes, so it's inspired by my HIT patch. So I did a whole series of these. It's called Alignment. And it's basically lots of little squares all layered on top of each other in different colours. And the shape represents my HIT patch. And each square represents a different part of my life. So a different facet, a different thing, a different person, a different feeling, anything at all. All layered up, but all in alignment. But if you look further away... all look sort of square but if you look more closely you can you can see like um there's texture in there then I do them all freehand so there's no they look almost 3d raised they are yeah because I use really thick paint to do it and I use this um my favorite palette knife which is a sort of oval squarey squarey oval squoval and that's a new word on me I like that yeah That's how I get the edges to be slightly round. That's the shape of my palette knife is that little round shape there. And I love using that one. I use it all the time. But I don't know why I love it so much, but I do.

SPEAKER_02: 19:32

They're just gorgeous. And I say, obviously, later on in the episode, we're going to be sharing all your links, which are on the website, the Midlife Unlimited podcast website and on the show notes. But I do, listeners, highly recommend you go and check out all Wendy's socials and her website because, well, count up your pennies and go and buy. I won't ask what the price range is, but I will bet... You can buy prints, which are really not expensive at all. I know a good friend of mine, she's an artist as well, and a Caroline friend, I'll give her a plug. And she does cards as well, greetings cards and things like that, which are a beautiful way. And postcards, again, and it's a great way of spreading the word about your work as well, isn't it? Now, one thing we haven't mentioned, and again, going back to your latent artist, perhaps that's a good word. You did use this really powerful description of a room that you weren't aware or you'd forgotten existed. Can you just show that again? Because there are going to be people listening and say women and maybe even men that are thinking, you know, this resonates with me. I used to be It's not a matter of being good. I used to enjoy, I used to love creating things. And they might well have forgotten that they used to do it. And it is, as you, in your room, it was almost, you said, when you opened, well, I'll let you tell the story, when you opened it.

SPEAKER_00: 21:08

Yeah, so the way I see it, it's like a big, old-fashioned brown suitcase that's like a room that lives in the back of my head that suddenly I managed to open and in within that room in the suitcase whatever um it stored everything that I ever heard saw thought about art it's all in there and it's all um waiting for me to access it it's not that I forgot it was there I had no idea that it existed um And I just sort of realized, hang on a minute, how did I just have a style? Because that wasn't something I ever did previously. I did a bit of oil painting, but it was sort of representational rather than abstract. And it wasn't layered or textured or anything. And yeah, it's kind of weird that, I had this style there ready and waiting for me. I've developed it a bit, but I still use the techniques that I started with. Just over a year ago now was the first one I did. So it's really strange to have that there, but I'm still exploring it. I haven't in any way-

SPEAKER_02: 22:30

I mean, when I say influences, I don't mean, oh, you aspire to be like, because I think it's all about finding, as you say, your own style. But do you have favourites? Do you have a favourite period or artists that when you weren't painting yourself yet, you were going to, exhibitions and obviously now you've got exhibitions of your own.

SPEAKER_00: 22:51

Yeah, so I love Tracey Emin. I think she's got a lot of interesting things to say. She's had such a fascinating life. She was not the sort of typical person that would be involved in the art world and she really changed things. I remember when she had her bed installation, I was about, I think I was at university, I was about 20 at the time. And I remember going, that's just the same as my bed. Like, it's not interesting. I didn't realise at the time that it was, so it was the 90s, which was a bit like the 60s in that it was a cultural thing that was happening. When you're in it, you don't realise that it's a thing. Yeah. But yeah, it was a great time to be at university. It was a great time to go to art things. And I lived in Notting Hill and I remember going to Damien Hirst's bar. I think it was called-

SPEAKER_01: 23:48

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00: 23:49

Yeah, and you could go there and have, I think you could go there and have drinks. And there was all the sort of formaldehyde things all around the room and-

SPEAKER_02: 23:57

Yeah, we went to the Tate Modern and saw them there. And we walked through the butterfly enclosure. And as we were walking back out, they had these like plastic drapes that were down because obviously it was all temperature controlled. And there's this security guard, our son, he was quite young then. Yeah. The security guard tapped me on the shoulder as I was about to walk through. And one of the butterflies was sitting on my jacket because the whole room, obviously, you know, butterflies are one of Hearst's big things, aren't they? And yeah, the cow, the shark. On a Hearst level then, your next exhibition, where can we come and see you in the flesh with your work on show?

SPEAKER_00: 24:47

So I've had loads of exhibitions this year so far. That's fantastic. Yeah, the one I'm most excited about is happening in August. It's the whole of August and it's my first solo show. Oh,

SPEAKER_02: 25:02

wow.

SPEAKER_00: 25:02

Yeah, and it's near Manchester, just outside Manchester in a little place called Holmfirth. Actually, I don't think it's that little. Yeah, so I'm exhibiting there on my own. So yeah, so that's really exciting.

UNKNOWN: 25:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 25:17

Well, one thing I know I've forgotten to ask you, because there's going to be people listening, people. I keep saying people because I think, you know, I've been hearing that men are tuning in as well. Let's clarify. You are still working as an actuary at the time of recording, because obviously a lot of people that well, that could be another thing, can't it? And I know you said that's keeping you grounded as well, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00: 25:41

I need structure in my day. I need something to make me get out of bed and get started. And I need to have goals. I've had time off in between jobs previously, and I just end up doing nothing. I've got all these plans of things I want to do, but I just do nothing. And you sit around and then you think, oh, the whole day's gone on. That's really, really rubbish. So I need my job to keep me, you know, getting up at the right time every day and having goals as well. And I think if I had all the time in the world to make art, I probably wouldn't. I'd just think about it and I should probably go and do smart. I'd do it tomorrow. There's no rush. But when you've only got three hours here, five hours there, that's all you have. You have to go and make art because there's no other time. That's it. You've got to get out there and do it. But one thing I do do is I take a lot of unpaid leave. um so I'm lucky in my role that as a consultant um the work that we take on as a consultancy is is directly related to the amount of time available from the from the staff so um if I'm taking a week out I can't be put on a certain project so um yeah you know give them months of notice obviously so this can all be planned but yeah I've had 50 days um leave in this year so although yes I am working in theory full time as an actuary I do take out time to do the things I want to do so I want to spend time with my family I want to go on holiday but also I want time to you know if I get invited to do an exhibition and paint like do a demo I've done live demos before in galleries so you know you turn up with your art and just do some painting in the middle of the gallery and that you know that was in the middle of the day so yeah I just took a day off work and did that instead for a day.

SPEAKER_02: 27:42

Well I love that but I say these are all things that they're practical things that we have to think about because I always say one of the main reasons that the women I coach will say, I can't do that. The first thing I do is say, well, let's add a yet. And then once we've added the yet, which immediately makes us start to think of reasons how we can make it possible. And it is the logistics. It is the nuts and bolts that are often the reasons our subconscious, our inner critic is saying no. We can't do that. So that's why I wanted to ask about the boring bits that, you know, the actual how it all comes together, how the vision is constructed. Now, you also obviously have got this event coming up, the exhibition, sorry, in August. And obviously all details of that then will be on your website, I'm guessing. listeners will be able to go and have a look via the links in the show notes and on the website. But bubble wrap. There's going to be a lot of bubble wrap needed then, isn't there? Now, I know you are, when it comes to presenting, protecting, sorry, your work, whether it's directly going to customers or obviously you're going to have to be wrapping a lot. You like to do it so it looks beautiful, but in a sustainable way.

SPEAKER_00: 29:12

Yeah, exactly. Because I think making art, you can generate a lot of Rubbish, basically. Not making rubbish up, I mean, but, you know, packaging, things come in, and paint tubes. So what I try and do is minimise the amount of impact. So I'll buy paint in huge tubs, like a litre of paint, so that I don't use so many small tubes. And bubble wrap I'll buy. It's green. the bubble wrap that I buy and I think that's to show that it's more environmentally friendly so it's not plastic as such I don't know exactly how they make it but it's I think it's recycled and it's um um also biodegradable so it's yeah you need you need bubble wrap to protect your work or something like that um So, yeah, I try and use the one that's going to have the least impact. You can buy this kind of, you might have seen it in packaging from buying things online, for example. It's sort of like honeycomb. Oh, like the concertina stretchy paper and cardboard.

SPEAKER_02: 30:22

Yes, yeah, we've got a conservatory full of that. Don't ask.

SPEAKER_00: 30:28

Yeah, you can use that to protect your work as well. So when I've run out of the bubble wrap I've got now, I'll look into potentially... getting some of

SPEAKER_02: 30:39

that. But I love the fact you're thinking about these things as well, because it's all the practicalities, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01: 30:46

Which

SPEAKER_02: 30:47

I think leads us nicely into your top three lessons learned, because I'm not hoping, I'm knowing that our conversation will be sparking moments of, I'm going to do that. I'm going to have a go. So what would be your top or your first piece of advice or lesson learnt, for someone, it doesn't have to be painting, does it? It could be any creative thing. For

SPEAKER_00: 31:18

someone

SPEAKER_02: 31:19

looking to create.

SPEAKER_00: 31:21

I'd say it's never too late. Never too late. It doesn't matter how old you are or any issues that you've got. If you even feel that you've got a disability that's going to stop you, there's always ways around it. There's things you can do. So I'd say, yeah, it's never too late to start. Some of the best artists weren't discovered until they were 70 or 80. And actually, a lot of the best artists were no longer with us when they were discovered. So you never know. My children sometimes tease me that, what are we going to do, mummy, when you're gone and all of your work's here and we're going to have to spend all our time managing it? We're not going to have time for a job. Do you have painting sessions together? Do they join in? Yeah, the youngest one, he likes to help. So going back to logistics, briefly one thing I do do is I will do it in the dining room so when I'm packaging something or I'm doing something or even just painting or varnishing I'll do it in the dining room while they're working in the kitchen so I'm sort of in the room so yeah they might be making dinner while I'm Doing that. So I try and combine things together, involve them in what I'm doing as well, because it is really hard when you have children to find any time at all. So you kind of have to take them on the journey with you and get them involved.

SPEAKER_02: 32:42

I love that, though, because they're learning as well and they're seeing, I think they're getting inspired by seeing

SPEAKER_00: 32:49

mummy doing it. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, they're really supportive. I always show the younger one and he'll say, oh, that bit's a bit dark. I think you need to go a bit lighter over there. I say, is it finished? He goes, no, it's not finished.

SPEAKER_02: 33:05

Well, that leads me nicely into your second top tip, because... We talk, well, I don't talk about mistakes. I talk about missteps rather than mistakes. But I know you say, no, don't look at something and think, oh, no, that bit's wrong. Look on your favourite bits. Focus on your favourite bits.

SPEAKER_00: 33:25

yeah exactly so there's always bits that I think oh I could have done better on that bit but why don't why focus on that why keep looking at that because like it would just drive me crazy so what I tend to do instead is find something that I really love like a particular part so in this painting I've got next to me there's a tiny little bit right in the middle that for some reason I really love the way the paint was applied there so that's always the first place I look for I've got some really close up photos of that area as well which I've used for logos and various bits

SPEAKER_02: 33:57

oh I love that I love that because it is all about telling the story isn't it and I know that that is your overall takeaway really and I think my overall takeaway as well letting your creative street your creative muscle we've called it that on previous episodes tell your story yeah

SPEAKER_00: 34:20

Yeah, exactly. So I don't like to use techniques, for example, with tape. So some artists will use tape to get a straight line. But from my perspective, I'd get the same line every day if I did that. And I don't want the same line every day. I want the line that I draw, the line that I paint to represent me on that day, how I was feeling and what I was doing and, you know, what time of year it was and all of those things are represented in the paint because you know the humidity affects the thickness of the paint and the time that you spend between taking it out of the pot and applying it to the canvas all affects the viscosity of the paint so you get a different line depending on how long you wait and what the weather is like and how bright it is all these things have an impact so for me that tells the story of how you were feeling that day which to me is the important thing about

SPEAKER_02: 35:19

painting and you say it's never going to be the same twice then whereas you said if you use the tape it is just like rinse repeat isn't it I love this. I love that. You know what I'm going to be doing? As soon as I'll be finished chatting, I'm going to be like, right, where's the acrylic? Where's the paint on? Paint the dog. Literally, I'm not going to paint the dog. Don't worry. Don't worry, Dexter. I'm not coming for you. He's going to give me such a filthy look. He's going to be like, what now? Well, little segue. What now? You know what's coming now. It's your three questions that I ask each of my fabulous female guests. So, Wendy, you're not going to escape. Even if you gifted me a work of art, you'd still have to answer the same three questions. So... Oh, I forgot to ask as well if you actually play music while you're painting. But you can tell me that while you're answering, what is your midlife anthem? The piece of music that fires you up.

SPEAKER_00: 36:28

So it's a song by Self Esteem and Mean Child Sonnelli and it's called Big Man. And basically, if I explain the video, I think it might explain the song. So in the video, they're both wearing these ridiculous oversized suits and prancing around like a businessman, basically. And like sitting on desks and like just being big and like spreading themselves out. And the whole song, I think they say the word big man about a hundred times in this song. And it's just, it's so funny. So self-esteem. So her name is Rebecca Taylor and she used to be in a nineties band. So she, she was one of the bands I listened to back in the nineties. She's very, very cool, but she also, she's similar to me. She's a bit younger than me, but she's got all these stories of back in the day, how she felt like not part of it because it was very male dominated, this sort of nineties

SPEAKER_01: 37:34

music

SPEAKER_00: 37:34

scene. And that's how I felt at the time as well. Like most of, other people that were into the music I was into and going to gigs and were mostly men. I did have a few female friends, but yeah, it was really male dominated. All the people in the bands were men. But yeah, she, she sort of- Which band was she in? Oh God, now you're asking. I can't remember what it was. We'll

SPEAKER_02: 37:54

Google it and we'll add it somewhere. Or perhaps she's listening. Perhaps she'll drop us a note.

SPEAKER_00: 38:01

Oh, she is incredible. She's done some musicals as well because that was one of her goals. One of her dreams was to be in musicals. And yeah, she's actually done a run of musicals in the West End as well. I'm going to have to check this

SPEAKER_02: 38:14

out.

SPEAKER_00: 38:14

I'm going

SPEAKER_02: 38:14

to have to check. Well, I now want to know your midlife mantra. because you've got me thinking as far as your music, what is the phrase that inspires you that you live your midlife by? Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 38:30

So do you know the, I'm talking about music again. Yeah. I think it's a Spice Girls song that's called Stop Right Now. Oh

SPEAKER_02: 38:38

yeah. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00: 38:40

Yeah. I

SPEAKER_02: 38:41

need somebody with a human touch.

SPEAKER_00: 38:43

So it goes, stop right now. So my mantra is to that tune, but it's fuck right off. Yes. And anything I don't want to do, anything that is optional, I just go fuck right off.

SPEAKER_02: 39:02

Do you wear a Union Jack dress while you're doing it though?

SPEAKER_00: 39:05

That is a good idea. Maybe I should get some Union Jack underwear. Yeah, I think that is a thing. Because that's how you get to do the things you want to do, is by telling everyone else, I'm not doing that thing that's optional. I'm not doing it. I'm not going to your, you know, I get invited to all these things at the school where they spend an hour discussing something. They could just send me an email.

SPEAKER_01: 39:30

I

SPEAKER_00: 39:30

don't have time. And also, I'm not even here. I'm in London. There's no way I can get to school for 5.30 to go and listen to somebody tell me something that is written down anyway. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 39:41

I think now is the time when we are actually thinking, like you just said, I don't have, it's not that you don't have the time, you don't have the time to do that because you've got better things to be doing. And by saying it politely, we're not here to be rude, just thank you, but I haven't got the time to do it right now. It's such a freeing. I think I might start using your Spice Girls tune though. Yeah, what other ones? Wannabe. I

SPEAKER_00: 40:27

do it as I delete emails. Fuck right off. Each one. It's very fun.

SPEAKER_02: 40:36

Now then, I want to know what the title of your autobiography is going to be. Now, obviously it's going to be beautifully presented. It's going to have gorgeous full colour images, but what's the title going to be?

SPEAKER_00: 40:48

It's actually, it's quite simple. It's I can do that. Because that's how I live my life. You know, all of these creative things I did along the way, like, oh, cake decorating. I can do that. Make some art for my wall. I can do that. And I don't know. I just... I just do it until I do it right. So I feel like most people can have a go at anything. And if you try hard enough and keep going for long enough, you can do it. I

SPEAKER_02: 41:20

love that. That's a wonderful, uplifting note to A, end our conversation and B, encourage people who might want to get in touch with you. What's the best way to find out more about you? Obviously, I say all your details would be in the show notes or are in the show notes for our episode and on the Midlife Unlimited podcast website. But if you could verbally talk us through your website, etc.,

SPEAKER_00: 41:51

Yes, so I do have a website which has got loads of information about my work. It's got all the stories behind every piece. And it's very simply just wendycrizevans.com. Chris with a K and a Z. And so yeah, there's loads of stuff on there. If you're interested to have a look and there's all of my paintings, you can buy them through the website. Or if you want to know more, you can just email me. So my email is wendychrisevans at gmail.com. And if you want to look and see some behind the scenes and see some of my packaging, which is beautifully colourful as well, that will be on Instagram. So it's just at wendychrisevans.com. Oh, that's fantastic. Well, I

SPEAKER_02: 42:36

think people be your website might be about to crash. I'm just warning you now. And I'd love to hear anyone out there your feedback on today's episode. Has it inspired you? Are you feeling creative? Are you going to be flexing your creative muscle? So leave a review. As I say, that would be wonderful. Or you can email me or text me via the link in the show notes or come and join the Midlife Unlimited podcast Facebook group. Again, link in the show notes where you'll also find the website link for the Midlife Unlimited podcast website. And on there, there are details of my exclusive VIP midlife metamorphosis coaching deals. So thank you again for joining me today, Wendy. It's been an absolute pleasure. I love your work. It is very me. And I look forward to you having more conversations as people, even more people discover you. And I wish you a fabulous, fabulous. Do you say good luck for exhibitions? What's the right phrase? Break a canvas, break an easel. Yeah, so thank you for joining me. It's been an absolute joy. And I say it's been a very visual episode. I've enjoyed looking at your images and I highly recommend everyone to actually go straight to your website or to your Instagram and check them out. And thank you for listening. I look forward to you tuning in next week. Don't forget Midlife Unlimited has a new episode every Thursday available wherever you listen to your podcasts. So here's to being fabulous and flourishing together. and to Living Midlife Unlimited. Thanks ever so much, Wendy. Take care. Bye.