Infocus: with Artist Gemma Leslie
Image by David Chatfield
“ I feel like a wonderful chemical in a woman’s brain is realised when a baby is born.”
Gemma Leslie is a friend, mother and small business owner. We first met when she was only five months pregnant with her son Francis when she kindly agreed to grace her artwork on the Radiant Birth pages. Since then, she has designed two stunning posters for us, including Radiant Mother and Baby Yoga, which provide comfort on many new mothers’ walls. There is a youthful quality to her multi-disciplined approach to making art. Unformed brush strokes met with bright and bold colourways bring a playful naivety to this designer's technique. Gemma is also the brains behind Food for Everyone. This highly ambitious and noble enterprise champions artists while giving enormous donations to ensure people less fortunate are fed healthy meals. They have donated $100k to food banks across Australia in 18 months of trading. To top this all off, she is a mother to a very busy little 20-month-old, moved states twice in one year and has landed home with us in Melbourne. If you want to feel creatively fueled and read something that speaks truth, this is a beautiful read. A shy and quiet achiever, Gemma shows us a particular side of herself with the Radiant Birth community.
Three words that describe your entrance into motherhood?
Natural, Relieved, Exciting.
Like most of the Radiant Birth community, you mentioned you were a “mums group dropout”. Tell us about your experience at your local council group.
Initially, I thought attending my parent’s group would be a wonderful experience. A ‘good thing’ to do when you’re a new mum …You know, make new mum friends, talk about pooping, sleeping, birthing, all of the things you chat about with other mums. Naturally shy, I soon had a panic attack ten minutes into the session. As each new mother introduced themselves around the circle, they started adding their birth story - I asked my partner to talk for me, and then soon after, grabbed my baby and did a straight run down the narrow path to the nearest exit. The next day, the moderator emailed me to check in…. “I noticed I disappeared from the session yesterday. Are you okay?” I soon responded, “Yes, I decided to leave because I wasn’t comfortable listening to every one’s birth stories, let alone sharing mine in front of twenty strangers”. I decided never to go back to any of the meetings. I hated it. I just played it solo and felt that it worked for me.
Francis was born just before the Pandemic hit its peak. Can you explain how that shifted your family?
For context, Covid started Dec 2019, and my boy Francis was born March 2021.
Back in 2021 (in-between lockdowns), there was an opportunity to jump on a flight and head to Brisbane to visit my partner's family. We were greeted with sunshine, love and lots of help with our 12-week-old. A couple of days into landing, Brisbane went into lockdown. It didn’t feel heavy at the time; it was nice sitting on the back deck in the sun with our new baby boy, having naps in the afternoon while the grandparents looked after him. However, just before we flew home, Melbourne went into hard lockdown. We stayed six more weeks and then decided to invest in a rental for one year with the mentality that “we’d rather be in lockdown in the sun than in the rain”. During this time, my partner enjoyed three months of parental leave. It was a lovely time in our lives, although, towards the end, I was homesick and suffered from Postnatal Depression. I couldn’t wait to see family and familiar faces and rejoin the community.
What kind of rituals do you feel helped you come back to yourself?
Keeping busy creatively helped get me through this period. I cooked, cooked and cooked. If you had followed me on Instagram last year, you would have seen all my home cooking - I documented all my recipes and put them on my website. It was a delicious time! I also painted a lot and worked on growing my business. I also started to move my body. I joined pilates at a local gym and made sure I booked the early class, so it made me get out of bed.
Running a small business requires time, headspace and creative capacity to run. What hurdles did you find challenging in the beginning with juggling motherhood and what are some things you did to overcome these?
When Francis was born, I thought I would enjoy a year of bliss. It was the first time I had time off work ever, really. A few weeks into being a mother, I underestimated the intensity of caring for a baby. I enjoyed the newborn sleeping days. When he slept, I painted. It was the start of my journey as an artist. Newborn energy was good for me. I thank Francis for that.
Early on, I decided to make some decisions against the original plan. Like, breastfeeding. I couldn’t do it, and deep down, I believe I didn’t want to do it. I felt I was chained to a breast pump, which compromised time with my baby. One day, chatting via text message with Yahna, she gave me some guidance around this area, which helped me. Formula? I never thought of that!? As soon as I surrendered to having the perfect breastfeeding dream, everything fell into place. I was happier. I enjoyed time with my baby. It enabled my partner to care for Francis in the eve. It allowed me to regain control of myself, mentally and physically. Because we were dealing with a pandemic, daycare was not an option. I found a wonderful Nanny who looked after Francis 2-3 days a week and cooked meals for us while he napped - she was a lifesaver. We also had lots of help from the grandparents and an Aunty. Making these small changes in our early parenting journey gave me a lot of mental space to explore what I loved, my business and painting. It gives me great energy when I practise both things. I show up a better mother with my cup full.
In saying all that, I accepted early on that ‘plans’ sometimes never work out, so I have become flexible in managing this. Sometimes you need to stay home with bub, and that’s okay.
You then went on to exhibit your first-ever solo show hosted by the Design Files entitled “Time Up North”. Was living in QLD inspirational to you?
I was struck by the incredible warmth and sunshine, even in the depths of winter. That warm winter light in Brisbane is unique to this part of the world and I just started painting what I saw around me, like hibiscus and daisies in the winter. Then as seasons changed, so did the food. In spring, the family-run trawlers in Sandgate that travel up and down the Queensland coast arrive back to their moorings and open shop on Wednesday mornings. They sell what they have just caught, an incredible array of fish, prawns and crabs. A delight on the senses. In my paintings, I draw on the colours around me. The light in Queensland is different. It’s softer, the sky is bluer, the clouds are stormy and the native flowers are abundant and vibrant. Everything is brighter and happier.
Newborn or toddler?
Toddler - 100%
Do you feel like creativity and matrescence are inextricably linked?
I would say, yes. I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I feel like a wonderful chemical in a woman’s brain is realised when a baby is born.
Chaos makes you…
Baby chaos sends me insane. Work chaos makes me excited.
A tune you have on repeat.
Mothers Love - The Vernon Spring. It’s a beautiful song, I play it to Francis daily.
Family mealtime tastes like…
Osso Buco bianco with Parmigiano Polenta. Our family's Osso Bucco is a humble dish that is disproportionately impressive in terms of effort versus flavour. We usually put it on the stove in the morning, so the house is filled with that wonderful slow-cooking smell all day.
You can find the recipe,here.
Follow Gemma’s journey here.
https://foodforeveryone.com.au