I am so excited to share that the studio has joined forces with Popstrukt! This unique partnership has culminated in the creation of three limited edition furniture units that are not just pieces of art but are also for a good cause, with all proceeds from their auction going to support the Prince Albert Community Trust (PACT). Launched for Cape Town Furniture week 2024 and now available online for auction.
At the heart of this collaboration are three items from our range, each adorned with Amy Ayanda's distinctive artwork. These items will be available on auction from Wednesday 14 Feb to 21 Feb (noon).
Bidding takes place on The Popstrukt Website as a digital auction for each of the three pieces.
All proceeds go to Prins Albert Community Trust (PACT).
GOODLUCK! Amy xx
]]>But the simple truth of it is doing this full time is fucking hard. There is nothing easy about working around the clock; having to manage and think about every single aspect of your business. Not to mention raising a family while still trying to remain sane and heal from what was the hardest year of your life.
But still, through it all there has been an urge to create something beautiful. There has always been that burn inside of me even if the flame has become a teeeeeeny glint, it has remained. The thing that seems to keep my anxiety at arms length while I wade through the never ending tasks that adulthood has brought. Creating beautiful things.
I have returned to Poetry, Podcasts mainly, and honouring the slow process of layering my oil paint one stroke at a time. Through what has been an extremely tumultuous few months of business owning and creating, I somewhat feel as though I have come out the other side. Very much scathed, but I think I am out. And so, THIRTY, FLIRTY and THRIVING came out of me, somehow. Honestly I am not quite sure how but it is here. There were times when I really had to push through the urge to not create, it wasn't easy. After the uncomfortable I-don't-think-I-can-do-this-again roller coaster there was still such a strong part of my being that knew this space, that belonged and that continued to create something beautiful. A gift I will never take for granted.
“The human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it everywhere – in landscape, music, art, clothes, furniture, gardening, companionship, love, religion and in ourselves. No-one would desire not to be beautiful. When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming. Some of our most wonderful memories are of beautiful places where we felt immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul.”
]]>Lindsey Eyre and Seema Allie.
While we are also mothers, we are so much more than that. Here is a little about our first markers behind Kid The Label, we LOVE their clothing.
HEY MAMA!
What is currently bringing you joy?
Food, lols. But no for real, cooking and/or sharing an amazing meal with my family and friends, as well as the ceremony that goes along with that, is something really special for me. Food and celebrating around food has always been a major part of my life and I love it. - SEEMA
What was the last song you danced to? In your living room? In your shower? We want to know
Le Tigre - Deceptacon I heard a snippet of it in a movie Mira was watching and then had to play the full song and jam to it in our living room. It’s definitely a head banger and jumping off the couch with air guitars kinda song. - SEEMA
What is currently bringing you joy?
I have 2 answers for this. The first is being a mother, loving my son and feeling my heart grow bigger each day even when I think it’s reached full capacity. The 2nd, is totally surrendering to the day, climbing into bed and (definitely not reading the hundreds of amazing books waiting for me on my kindle) but melting into some mindless television. Anything reality, cooking or just plain trashy. -
LINDSEY
What was the last song you danced to? In your living room? In your shower? We want to know
Billy Paul Williams - Your song. It’s on my morning playlist that Rémy and I listen to each morning while he plays on the floor and I straighten the house before starting our day. I can’t help but dance to it, and he loves it too. -
LINDSEY
What makes a home, home?
Comfort and beauty. I love being surrounded by things that are beautiful and nostalgic and colors, texture and spaces that bring me comfort. But mostly what makes a home a home are my people my baby girl and my partner who I love immeasurably but who also annoys me to no end. I hate to admit that I love it though. - SEEMA
Home, for me, is total comfort and understanding. Home is eating a tub of icecream in your undies on the couch. And home is being in my partner Kent’s arms - LINDSEY
Which print did you choose from the store and why do you love it?
Domestic Goddess Limited Edition Print
Initially I was drawn to the color pallet; the water looks like the night sky, and then I saw the caption and it felt really fitting in terms of my own thought process when answering these questions in terms of what it means to be a mother, a business women, a creator and a partner and all the pressures we place on ourselves to do it all and be it all. I would like to think of myself as a “Domestic Goddess” at times even though that may not be the case most of the time.- SEEMA
Which print did you choose from the store and why do you love it?
McGregor Limited Edition Print
I chose McGregor because it reminded me of brunch on an icy winter morning. I love the shades of indigo, oval shapes and hidden birds. It goes beautifully on top of my chest of drawers, the last place I’ll look to at night and the first thing I’ll see the next day. - LINDSEY
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“I don’t know how you do it!”
Is one of the main things I get on the daily. Before I share my daily rhythm, I want to put a disclaimer here and say...hands, many hands. A lot of practical; hands on support from family, friends and my partner; that is how. Without them I would not be able to run the studio business and show up as a new mother of three. It would be an impossible task!
I’ll have to start from when I go to bed because really that’s when the day begins, everything feels so backwards.
Bedtime is around 9pm. Dean stays up and does the last night feed around 11pm and I get to sleep until the boys wake up for their early morning feed between 1:30am and 2:30am. I feed the boys; put them down (lucky for us they are good at going back down no problem) pump if I need to, clean bottles and get back into bed by 3/330am. I’m then up again by 5:30am for their next feed. It is then just a repeat of the last debacle. I usually get back to sleep but Atlas usually always is fussing by then so he will come to our bed and we will manage to get an extra hour to sleep thanx to boobs. If I don’t get back to sleep, I put the oats and coffee on and start a fire for the boys to stare at (they love it).
We are all up by 7; Dean gets Frances ready for school. Dean does the morning drop off. I do another feed as they head off around 7:45 Then do some play time with them for a bit. Then they go down for their first nap of the day...they are better night sleepers than day sleepers but I get them down. Somehow. Or don’t. I’ve been making a more conscious effort during this early morning quiet to take it slow, very slow. If I have to answer some mails I will: but a lot of the time I spend these small gaps relaxing or at least trying to: they are awake soon after. Or take turns to be awake. So really it leaves little to no time for much else. They boys feed 3 hourly and it can sometimes just feel like a never ending day of feeding. But some days feel more spacious than others. They take around three naps a day, one of those a naps usually a nice long one but it’s always a little touch and go.
There is always work to be done when you own a business; but there really isn’t much else I’m able to do when I’m with the boys; so I don’t. I just am with them; and it’s the best! I mean I always have some oil paints set up on the stoep so if I feel like it I play a bit, but almost always I have other things to do or the babies aren’t very settled. Sometimes I get 20 minutes in which is huge.
530 rolls in fast and it’s bath bottle bed! Always a bit chaotic but we get through it. The house is generally quiet by 6pm and Dean, Frances and I are able to decompress a little and have dinner together.
Two-three nights a week once they boys are down at 6pm and the house is quiet I take myself downstairs to paint. I get at least 1-2 hours of solid painting done. When you have that sort of time to yourself as a parent. It’s truly incredible what can get done.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are full work days for me; our nanny arrives at 9am and I head down to the studio to paint and do some marketing planning. I’ll usually have around four hours of uninterrupted work time, which is always more than enough for me.
I’m trying to be gentle on my postpartum body and soak in all the little baby things that I know I will miss a year from now. Things are always a lot more chaotic than they seem. Trust me. I do not have it all together. I work hard, so I’ll take that. But truly, It’s chaos here. A lot of the time I wish I could just stop completely. Because sometimes (everyday) it’s just like “woah”…I’m grieving a lot still. I am grieving just the three of us. I am grieving a pregnancy I did not get to finish. I’m processing a life changing birth. But I’m pushing through because thats just what needs to be done. We’ve just got to keep going, but we all know how that goes.
So, there is our rhythm, to an extent. It feels manageable and chaotic all at once. There is joy here. It is weaved into the blur and baby screams, but there is joy <3
All images by Sophie Smith
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