Hello, I'm Bonny Snowdon, ex-corporate person, and mother turned successful artist entrepreneur. It wasn't that long ago though that I lacked the confidence, vision, and support network to focus on growing my dream business. Fast forward past many life curve balls, waves of self-doubt, and so many lessons learned. And you'll see Ignite my thriving online coloured pencil artist community,
a community that changes members' lives for the better, and gives me freedom to live abundantly whilst doing what I love and spending quality time with my beloved family and dogs, all whilst creating my best artwork with coloured pencils and mentoring others to do the same. But this life wasn't always how it was for me. It used to only exist in my imagination. I've created the,
It's A Bonny Old Life podcast to help increase people's confidence, share mine and my community's experience, and hope through fascinating personal stories, champion the other amazing humans in my personal, professional, and membership community, and create another channel through which I can support others to realize their dreams. If you're a passionate Coloured pencil artist or an aspiring one who's looking to create their best work and a joyful life you love,
you are in the right place. Grab a cuppa and a custard cream. Let's get cracking.
My next guest is a watercolour artist, originally from India, but now living in Scotland. Her work is just beautiful, but her messages around confidence and mindset really hit the spot from dentist to now owning her title of artist Richer, teaches others to be creative with loose watercolour florals, whilst also helping them build in their confidence and create a healthy mindset.
Hello? Oh gosh, I can't hear you. Is your, oh yeah, you've got your microphone off. Oh, yes. There we go. How are you? Oh, are you doing? I'm Really well, thank you. Okay. All good with you? Yes. Yes.
All good. All good. I've done been, have a, had a quite a busy day today. Already been. Well, I'm saying I've had quite a busy day. Actually, I got a new book at the weekend. Okay. I don't what to Put it down. So I have actually done some work and I've created two videos, and then I've been sitting reading my book,
which is very naughty on a Monday, but I just can't put it down. Oh, great, great. I think that's the beauty of having your own business, right? Yes. You can do anything you want to do, Do Yes, yes. I'm also taking it little slow. Yeah. Just back from a vacation and the house is a little messy.
Taking it slow. Oh, planning for the next months. Yeah. Where have You, where have you been? We went to Highlands. It was nice. It was nice. A lovely drive and all. Yeah. Very good, very good. So we've, we've spoken before, so I've spoken on your, for your, was it, is it your podcast or your YouTube?
YouTube, yeah, YouTube. YouTube. YouTube. Yeah. Yeah. Mostly do on this month. Yeah. Hmm. So, so I've spoken with you and now it's your turn to speak with me. Yes. Which is really exciting. Yes. So, yeah, so there's quite, there's quite a lot that I want to ask you. I think to begin with,
it would be really good if you introduced yourself and where you live, what you do. You're an entrepreneur as well, so you have your art business and all of this kind of stuff. So I'd love to know more about you, and then we can delve into sort of more, some more questions. Okay, great. So, so to start with,
I am watercolor artist, and basically I'm a loose floral watercolor artist. I'm passionate about floral and teaching. And basically in teaching through my membership, I teach not only art, but I also focus a lot on the right mindset, because that has bring a huge shift in my journey. Like, I was not that much joyful or like even my friends can see now that I'm dancing.
And so that, that all things has art has bring brought in my life and also the right mindset. So in my membership, I teach both the things, the right mindset so that you can own your art title proudly. Right? Like, and plus definitely I'm all about helping you to own your style. What is your style? I am all about it.
I don't teach very perfect tutorials. I don't teach that. Okay. You have to paint this like me. No, I'm all about teaching you how to paint in your style, because I totally believe that artist, true artist comes out when he or she paints in her own style. And that's a unique gift to the world. Right. So, Awesome.
And where, so where are you based? Okay, so right now I am in Scotland, but if I go a little back, so I am born and brought up in India. Then we stayed there for quite a long time, and then I moved to Singapore. Then I stayed in Singapore, and that's the place where I find out my passion and I choose to give up my dentist title.
Like I practiced for eight years dentistry in India. And then when we moved to Singapore, then I decided that, okay, I'm now ready to leave that title and own the artist title. And yeah, it was, it was a journey, you know? That's why I, and it was a journey for me to own the artist title, to be so proudly.
Yeah. And that's, and I have felt it like in myself that it is not easy to be an artist from a dentist. Right. So because, and owning your title, like the day I own my title now, I'm equally proud to be an artist as I was to be a dentist. So I think it makes a lot of difference. So now I'm in Scotland and I,
I feel so proud and so happy that when you have a business like this, which is like so joyful, and you can move it anywhere, anywhere of the world. So it is not like you're bounded by that. Right. So your dentistry, was that something that you kind of always wanted to do, or was it just something that you kind of fell into because you needed a,
a career? You know, how come the art came later? Okay, so art came, I, I always say that I didn't choose art. Art chooses me because when I moved to Singapore, literally all the doors were closed. I was, it was not easy for me to practice dentistry with the kids and the family, given the timers and the commitment it was required,
all the studies and everything. So I just joined art workshop because I always want to learn art like that. That was my kind of a childhood dream to learn art and to learn painting and to pick painting for my home. So I just joined a art workshop and me, I noticed my family, my husband noticed that whenever I was in the workshop or whenever I came back from the workshop,
I was like in a different mode. Like, I was so happy. I always look forward to go to that workshop. It made my day. When I moved to Singapore, I was like quite tense, you can say in a kind of depressed, confused, lost it. But that art workshop was filling it up and I was getting a lot of joy.
And then I, when I start painting, I feel that I was in a kind of a flow state. It was very easy for me to learn the things. I was very curious. I was quite dedicated to put my efforts in it. So I somehow, I keep learning, I keep learning. And I learned it very fast. It's like,
okay, I said that I was looking for some business because business is something like that is in my gene, and I always want to do a business. So I thought, why not choose this as a business if I cannot do the dental thing? The door is when, like when one door closes, the second door opens. So it's that kind of a thing.
And then I was like, right, okay, this is a good one. I am just doing the same thing, serving people, creating beautiful things, but in a different way. So that's how it all started. Brilliant. And bringing, I guess, your experience and, and what you found and you found out, and you've found that it's completely changed how you as a person are on a day-to-day basis.
It's, it's kind of made you joyful and happy. Yes. So it, it was very different now because, you know, like that's what I tell all my students that when you are painting, don't focus on how you are doing, focus on how you are feeling. And that's the shift which art brings in me. Like whenever the dentist, it was just a rat race.
I have to get up in the morning, go to my clinic, do one patient, another patient, then wait for the patient and like kind of a thing in, in which I was just running, running, running, and running. But when I started painting, I realized, no, it is not just painting. It is like connecting with yourself more,
focusing on your inner self, on your, like how you are feeling and then painting from that place of joy. Hmm. Sometimes our painting doesn't turn good. Like even now, I, all them, all of my paintings are not like amazing or I would say that I love them, but if I make them from a place of joy, if I enjoy the process and I keep doing it,
right. So that's the thing that we have to keep doing it. That's the thing I tell to all my students, like, keep doing it. Don't get motivated. Yeah. When you, your intention, you shift your intention from how I'm doing to how I am feeling, it totally changes your game. So I'm sure you must have felt that too,
that art shifted it. I love that. I absolutely love that. And, and the more I do and the more I teach and the more I speak to other artists, the more it's very clear that it's not, we as artists don't do it for the end product. I, I mean, obviously it's really lovely to see the end products. I know it's gorgeous and we can share it.
That's not the reason we create. The reason we create is because of how we feel when we are creating. So like you were saying, really if it, if it all boils down to it, the end product doesn't matter for an artist. It's the the bit from when we start to, to how we're doing and how we feel when we do it.
Obviously when it comes to commercials, then the end product kind of does make a difference because you want to sell it and all of that kind of stuff. And it, it's almost like that end product, I wanna say it ruins the creativity. I don't really mean that because, you know, if you are, if you are always concentrating on, oh,
I've gotta get it this, and because it's gotta be the you, you kind of miss out on all of that fabulous feels you get when you're actually doing the creating. So I love that you are teaching. It's not, you know, the, the end point is how you feel when you are doing it. That's where all the joy comes from.
And you're absolutely right. Yes. Because enjoying the journey is more important thing, right? Like that, like I just went on a five day trip and I feel that it was a totally amazing five days because the journey was so beautiful and most of the part, we were in the car, right? Like most of the part, it was journey.
When we reached the destination, it was a small part, but the journey was most, most big chunk. And the same goes for the paintings. Like the process, the time you are painting that consumes most of your time. When it is done, it is just done. Yeah. I dunno whether you get this. And it is, it doesn't happen very often to me now,
but I often start a piece, love it, really, really sort of put my whole self into it. Then when I finish it, sometimes there's a small part of me that's a little bit disappointed with the finished product. And I wonder if that is because all of the joy has happened in the creating it. And I'm almost disappointed because I finished it.
And it's almost like that kind of little journey has come to an end now, and it's a, and it's a little bit sad. I think that's a really interesting concept, actually. So this is something that you talk to your students about and you try and help your students. Do you find that, that you have some students who are like really,
really open to this, and then others who are a little bit more skeptical? Yes, totally. It, it comes like, like, and I can see the difference in the progress. Like those who are really open to it, like they, they make a fabulous progress. Like recently, one of my student, I was looking at his journey and it's,
I was looking at his three month journey, and I can see that, like now he has developed an eye. I challenge him to paint from a reference pic, like slowly and slowly I was helping him. When he came to me, his hands was shaking. He was not even able to draw a simple sunflower. And after three months, he was like doing it from a reference pic.
And more than that, he was curious. He was curious that, okay, like I told him to do it in his own way, don't see my paintings or don't think that you have to make it perfect. Just do listen to your inner voice and do it in your own way and just try to have fun. And he was curious, okay,
let me see if I want to do this. If I want to take this bird to that side, and what can I do? So I, I was enjoying it. And if I see that this is all, because he was always very open, he was always very open to learn. He was always very open to experiment. And the only aim of him coming to the classes was to enjoy and learn something new.
And on the contrary, I have seen that few of my stu like students who was like very much focused how I'm creating, always criticizing like one leaf or one flower they have drawn. And they were like, oh my God, it is not nice. After every two minutes they were giving those kind of expressions. It happens usually that they leave the class after three classes or four trial classes.
They mostly leave it. They, they couldn't continue longer. Like, that's what happens with me. So, and now I don't feel sad for those students who leave because I know that this might be not be the right time for them, or they're not the right one for art, because art is not for everyone. It, it, it's, it's a joyful thing,
right? So you have to make it. Yeah. And I think you are, you are right. You know, being open is really key for, for developing any kind of skill. And sometimes there are factors around us that I think we feel we can't control, obviously things around us, people around us, we can't control them anyway. The only thing that we control is what we think,
what comes out of our mouths, what goes on in our heads. And learning that, or understanding that that is something that we can control, I think opens up a huge amount of expectation. A huge amount of almost like, oh my goodness, look at what the world's like, now that I've realized that I can control how I feel and you know,
how, how my inner voice works. It's a very long journey. I, I mean, it is it, well, I'm saying it's a very long journey. We talk about this journey thing and it's very cliched and everything, but it's almost like an ongoing thing that's just a, a lifetime of working on your inner self. Yeah. You know,
I hear so many people, creatives who say that they've lost their mojo. Oh, I haven't picked up a pencil or a paintbrush in, in months. You know, I can't do this. And you, you'll find that people kind of come back, oh, have you tried doing this? Oh, try, you know, try just doing something loosely.
And my suggestion is always look at what's going on around you, what's affecting your energy around you, because that's what's stopping you. You haven't lost your mojo. There's something external that's stopping you. And it's really interesting then people coming back and going, oh yeah, actually, you know, I've had a really tough time at work, or I'm going through a divorce,
or we've had a, you know, bereavement in the family. All of those things then become all encompassing and stop us from being creative. And the crazy thing is that if we were creative, it would really help us cope with all of the rubbish that's going on in our lives. But our brains are bonkers. My brain's bonkers. And if we allow our our brains to sort of control,
you know, what's going on, and tell us, oh, you can't possibly do that, or you can't possibly do that, we listen to it. It's weird. It's weird. Yes. And you stop creating. And that's the most, and that's the time. Like, I always tell all of my students that, okay, you are going to a tough pace.
Faith, I can understand, but don't stop creating. If you are a feel creative, then because this is what is going to help you in that other area of life. It is not that. When you will have all the time in the world, then only you will create. No, and that's why I talk a lot in my membership about creating a ritual,
right? Like, I want everyone to have a ritual. And that ritual is not, it's, it's like to make it a ritual in a way, like we do brushing and I help them to find a consistent pace. Like it, it might be your consistency rhythm can be one day in a week, depending on your schedule or your consistency. Consistency can be like two days in a week or daily.
But it depends on your schedule. You have to start small, but find your consistent rhythm. And that's where you own your artist title when you feel like that. Okay, yeah, I paint once a week. That's okay. It's not necessary that you have to paint daily two hours, three hours, no. Find your consistent rhythm and don't leave it even when you're in hard times.
It's like exercises, right? So like how the exercise gym person says that this, if you sweat, you'll able to go through that heart phase more swiftly in the same way if you sweat your creative muscles, if you activate, keep that activity. And I, for me, it's like a meditation I put, I totally get lost. I lose all my titles that when,
and now I'm a mother, I'm a homemaker, I'm a business person, I'm a teacher. Everything when I go, that is kind of a meditation for me. So that's why like, maybe I am not able to show many of my paintings on Instagram, and that's okay. I paint them for myself. So find your consistent rhythm and own your artist title.
It's like very important things to do, Right? Yeah. I, I really, I really like, I find that very refreshing actually. You know, because social media is amazing. We live in a really fabulous time for artists. We really, really do. We have platforms where we can showcase our work. However, it can be devastating on mental health and how we feel as an artist,
particularly because there is so much out there. And because of how our brains work, we're always comparing, we're always thinking we're not good enough. And actually doing something for just you and being proud of it, not necessarily putting it up onto social media, but just loving what you do, I think is such an important message, Right? So, and just do it for yourself.
Enjoy the process. Find your consistent rhythm, and who cares for social media. If you feel like posting on it, go show it. Like, you might paint 10 pieces and two, you feel, okay, this, I'm comfortable to share it with the world. Go ahead and share those two pieces. That's okay. Or if you're more brave,
then share your bad pieces and tell people that these are my bad pieces. I don't like how they come out, but I like doing them. I enjoyed the process. Right. So there are different perspectives. You can choose any. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Yes, absolutely. Because so many people, particularly in my world, in the world of realism,
you know, if something goes a little bit wrong, it's like, oh my goodness, whip it off the drawing board, put it in the bin. That's never something I've, I've never thrown a piece away, ever, ever. All of the pieces, if I've had to restart, they're still in a drawer. And I've restarted from a place of making a decision to restart,
never in a place of anger or frustration. And I do think that, that so many people worry about it not being perfect. And that kind of destroys that joy that we have in the process. So if you are constantly trying to make something perfect, you kind of shut out all of that. Joyousness, if that's a word, you just shut it out.
You, you kind of put a block on it. So as soon as you lift that perfectionism, all of that lovely joy and the wonderfulness that you get when you are creating can then flow in. So it's almost like the perfection blocks. Oh, that, that's how I feel. You know, if I'm, so, I, I mean, I draw tend to,
or I like to draw almost every day. For me, it's a, it is definitely a hobby is obviously how I make a living, but it's a hobby for me. I absolutely love it. I just can't get enough of it. And I never try and make my pieces perfect. And if something isn't going the way I want it to go,
I'll look at it with a, a critical view, but not a view where I'm, I'm telling myself I'm useless or I'm rubbish, or I can't do it. I'll look at it in a way that, right, okay, this is how I have been doing it and that hasn't worked. So what can I change in that process to make it do what I want it to do?
I don't need it to be perfect, but I have a vision in my head as to how I kind of want it to look. Like, do I need to change a colouur? Do I need to work on my values? Usually it's values, I would say 99.9% of the time, if something's going wrong, it's all down to values. It's all down to,
I need to darken that light, or I need to darken that dark. Normally it's a around darkening. And that then I'm like, yeah, I'm starting to get the form now I'm starting to get the structure right. But that will be a, a conversation that I have in my head. And it's always based on that, you know, coming up with a plan,
plan of action, you know. And I think if we can just wipe out perfectionism, it would bring an awful lot more joy into the Yeah, I think I love that. I love that that how you talk about raising the curtains of perfectionism and looking your piece with, with a gentle heart, right? Yeah. 'cause all of your pieces, you might not show it teach or you might not show it on the Instagram or to sell Right.
Some pieces you might be painting for yourself, but just the joy, right? As you tell that I paint daily. So Yeah. Totally the case. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I love the, you know, this morning I've done a video on the values on the skin, and I'm kind of doing a little bit of a series. So we started with sort of fair skin,
because I think that's one of the hardest to draw because our brain looks at it and goes, oh, it's like pink and pink and white, basically. And there are so many more colors in there. And the, the, the, the richness of the colour is so much more than we think. And it's very much dictated on us to the background,
what, what's surrounding the subject, what's the lighting, all of that kind of thing. And I've taken the, the latest drawing that I've done, and I've sort of done a bit of a critique on it. And I've said, you know, this is something that I really struggle with. I'm, I'm working on my human portraits. I'm really enjoying it.
But this is a part where I really struggle. And you can see I'm getting better, but it's still not quite there. And if you can, so sharing that it, I, you know, I guess it's quite vulnerable to share it, but it's, it gives people a really good idea then as to Oh, right, okay. You know,
you have an artist who's making a living from their work, and they're still working on, they're still learning. And I think it's really, really good that people understand that there's never a time we get to sort of like the, the top of the triangle and we go, right, that's it now. Yeah. No more learning for me. I've done it.
It just doesn't, it just doesn't happen. Does it Doesn't, yeah. It doesn't happen. So it is always like that. And I think that since you also have a membership, I also have a membership. And that that's the place that's like a sacred place where we can get vulnerable. We, where we can raise the curtains of a stu studio because we know that all the people inside are same with the same mindset.
We are like a closed, very good community. It's like, I always feel that, like those are the people living with me as my friends in my house, and we are going together on a journey, right? Nobody's up, nobody's down. Everybody's on their own pace in the, on a journey, enjoying the journey, supporting each other. So that's the beauty of membership.
I feel that like, you can take the people on a journey with you and everybody can support each other. Yeah, no, definitely. Definitely. Which is really nice. So your, your membership, talk to me about your membership. So my membership is basically though, for those who want to learn watercolors, like, and I teach them watercolors through florals.
So the main focus is to master the subject in a way that they can paint in their own style. They can paint independently. But I teach them through florals because floral is the thing which I love most, and a little bit about landscapes, but mostly it is florals. Sometimes I like, if I want to teach them wet and wet and I'm not able to teach them wet and wet through floral,
then I might go to landscape a little bit. But yeah, it is mostly through florals. But the main aim is to tell them how to master watercolours, how to paint in their own style florals and with the right mindset, like, so that they can be a flourishing artist. So, and just give the word a beautiful gift that is the unique artist they have.
Oh, amazing. So what sort of, if, if you've got a new artist who's starting with you, and they're, they're really keen to get going, but they have a mindset of, oh, you know, I, I can't do this. And there are so many more people out there who are better than me and I really want to do it,
but I'm, I'm not sure I can, what sort of advice would you give that person? Okay, so see, I, I feel that the main thing is that the confidence that you, when you, when you're starting, so you, you have to keep faith in yourself. That, first of all, art is totally a learned skill. Like we learn swimming,
like we learn music, everything can be learned, right? Just, just believe, just believe on this thing that everything can be learned. There is nothing which cannot be learned. So if you first of all make sure it very much that you can learn art, then just wait. Just wait for the time that you reach from point A to point B.
Move in the right direction, believe in yourself, believe in the process, and keep moving. Keep taking steps like, you know, in our business, in our life. And we see with our babies all the time that when they're trying to climb the stairs, they fall As a business owner, we also fall a lot of time as an artist,
we also fall a lot of time. But that doesn't mean that we stop. We have to get up, we have to get up and keep moving. So don't just take care of your mind. That's where I say the right mindset comes in. That's where the community comes in. That's where the coaching comes in that keep your mindset right. Don't ever,
ever think that you are not good from anyone. Like I always say to my student that don't think that your favourite artist has come from the Mars. It, it's from the same planet Earth. So believe in yourself and just keep going. Just keep going. Take baby step. And if you're not able to paint big, then do plays. Like in my membership,
we have creative plays. We have 30 days creative plays. And I say to them, just throw watercolours on paper and get comfortable with the medium. Like you have a pastel medium. So it is very necessary that you get very comfortable with your paper, with your brush. You develop a relationship with them and then keep moving on. Don't be disheartened.
Yeah. Yes. 'cause I find it, I find using a, a brush quite difficult and I, and I do wonder if it goes back to school. 'cause when, so I used to love art, but I much preferred using a hard medium like my pencils. But most of the stuff that we had to do, we had to use paint.
Right? And, and I, and we were never taught how to use paint properly ever. It was just, oh, just paint that. I wonder if that's why now I have like a bit bit of an aversion to using a brush, you know, because I was, I was quite put off at, at, you know, at school.
And then after school it was all around sort of like looseness around, you know, big sort of splotchy paintings and everything, which is a real shame thing. It's a real shame, you know, that you, when you are doing art at school, particularly when I was at school in the eighties, they didn't teach you how to mix watercolours or you just had that horrible powder stuff that you put some water in and then you just,
and brushes that, that were like a hard as anything that you just sort of had to, you know, you might as well been brushing with a loo brush, you know, not a, not an actual paint. And it's, it's, yeah, it's quite, it's quite hard. It's Quite, yeah. That's what, like most of the people when they come to me,
they, they were painting watercolours, like acrylics because they, that's what they have been doing it. Like they, they have been painting it like crayons. They have been painting it like pastels or acrylics, but watercolours, they're totally different. Medium. They have to be painted in a flow. Your hand is like, your brush is just an extension of your hand.
You have to use it in a certain way. So actually you have to unlearn a lot of things and then learn how to No, that's why it's so important to get comfortable with your brush, with your in school as you say it, it's, it's, it's a shame. Or you can say it. I don't know why the process is like this,
that they teach watercolours, like acrylics. It's better to give kids acrylics, which, and taught them properly. But yeah. So that's a thing that you have to unlearn and learn it in a way how it goes and Yeah. But it, it's doable with the right coaching, I would say, and the right techniques. You can totally do it.
You just have to learn the techniques. Yeah. What and how it'll come forward. You just have to learn the techniques. Amazing. So you have a, you have a family. Do, how many children do you have? I have two kids. One seven year old and one, one and a half year old. Oh gosh. So, so you,
you know, trying to fit your business around your children and your family life. How does that work? I think I am enjoying it because I, I, I don't push myself for too much. I have created a little boundaries and everything, like fixing my work hours to four to five hours when it is a normal school days. And when the kids have their own routine and when it is holiday,
then I reduce my working hours. Or obviously I take support of my husband that we shift roles to take care of kids when I have classes. So that's how, like I can, I, I would say that it is totally doable if you to talk to right people, talk to your family member that see this is important for me and I want to do it.
This is something which gives me joy. Joy and keep your boundaries. Mm. Right. I like, I, I tell, I tell my daughter all the time that this is my working time and after that I will play with you. After that I will take you to the park. And this is my, this is a playtime with you. So I make my kids also very clear that I am a working person.
If I'm working from home, it doesn't mean that I'm available to you all the time. So you have to really clear your boundaries. When you respect yourself, when you respect your boundary, then the other people, they also respect you. Right? Yeah. So that's how it happens, that you, but you cannot like, expect it or force yourself to work 10 hours a day,
which is definitely not possible for me in this season. Mm. And because I want to enjoy my time with the kids, with my family. So see how, what is your season, and tell people, create boundaries. I think that helps to me. Definitely. Definitely. So how long have you been in Scotland? In Scotland, we just six months.
Oh gosh. So six months ago you were in Singapore. Singapore, yeah. Oh, okay. So what, what was it that that drew you to Scotland? Okay, so it's my like better opportunity for my husband. And obviously we have some friends here and we always want to move this side of world, explore this side of world and see what's in there for us.
So that's why we move here. And I think it's kind of for my dream, my husband's dream city to move to Scotland. He always having that attachment through that. And I'm also loving it, like I'm loving the seasons here. So you can say that we shifted hair to break the monotomy of the life, which was coming out there. So we choose to shift to this part.
Gosh. I mean Nature, I would say. Yeah. Very different. Singapore. Yes, Totally like it. Like 180 degree, the weather, the people, the culture, everything. Yeah. So how's your, how is it, is your oldest child your daughter? Yes. My daughter is seven. Yeah. So, so how is she sort of coping with,
with that, you know, with schools and everything? I think she's, she is doing well now. She has a little, initially little challenges, but she took them well and everybody was supportive. And thankfully she has her one of best friends here, so she was never like, okay, I don't have anyone here. And, but yeah, in school she has some little challenges,
you know, that like how older kid goes to school and she has to make all the new friends understand the language, understand the accent, because there's a lot of accent difference. Oh gosh. I would say. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, she's a brave girl. I would say that now, even now, like sometimes she feel like, okay,
maybe like, you know, the kids, they, they feel some, sometimes they feel the racial differences because of the skin colour. And so she, she has saw some racial difference with one of her friend who is really black. And now she started caution cautioning this sometimes that I'm also brown skin, I'm also not white skin, so will people like me or are they not talking to me because of the skin difference?
But I think in school also, they're doing a great job. Like they tell that each one of you are unique. I also keep telling her that, don't think like this. They're always good people around. And people don't think like this. They don't, colours don't matter. No. So, yeah, but I, no, but you know,
and it, and it is, I mean I, I, I saw a huge difference. So I'm from Yorkshire Okay. Which Is just down the A1 from Scotland. Yes. And from a very, well, quite a small city really. And when I went to London, I mean London, I suppose you can't really, you can't really compare.
'cause it, I mean it's so multicultural there, but going to London, oh my goodness, it was, it was amazing because there were people from everywhere, all walks of life, all different cultures and all equally, It Did amazing and fascinating and beautiful and you know, and that's for me that I think that's fantastic to have like a multicultural, you know,
place to live. So, yeah. But, but I can imagine it, it is quite tricky, especially if she's been in a, in a country where I guess everyone was in, in exactly the same boat as she was. They spoke the same language, they, they kind of look the same. And then, you know, wherever you've moved to in Scotland,
I, she's gonna be having the, these conversations. But you know, this, they're always gonna crop up, aren't they? Conversations like that. But it's, you know, I think it's, I think it's fabulous that we can just all live on the earth and just be, Yes. I think it's teaching her equality more compassionate and looking beyond the thing which we see from our eye.
You know, the colors language, they're going beyond that. So I'm liking it, like yeah. So it's, Yeah. But how fabulous for her to be. I mean, is she going to be bilingual? She'll be speaking two different languages, I guess. Yeah. So like Hindi our mother tongue, because we are from India, so she is learning Hindi.
Yeah. And she like, because we, we, we were in Singapore, so she was brought up and in a way that she speaks English as her first language. But yes, we are teaching her Hindi that the mother tongue. And she is like quite now used to of it. I would not say fully, but yeah, 80% she's there.
So it'll be bilingual for her. Yeah. And, And then she'll pick up a Scottish accent Maybe. Amazing. Maybe. Yeah. Soon I think because yeah, all the teachers and everyone they Yeah, yeah. Have that accent, so, yeah. Oh, brilliant. And is she artistic? Does she love painting? Yeah, she does. So she,
she owns her artist title very proudly. Like she, she is like, I'm an artist and I want to be a chef and I want to be both. And she was very clear about it that yes. And she never say that I want to be an artist. That's the difference I see in her that she says I'm an artist. Mm. So,
you know. Yeah. Hopefully all of our, I mean, I, I look at my, my children are, are, are older. My youngest is 19 and my eldest is 23. And, and I look at, at them and how, how more confident they are at, at literally owning their own lives. I mean, my son and my daughter never afraid to go and,
you know, ask for a pay rise or, you know, ask for a promotion or something like that. Something I would never have done when I worked in corporate. It was just like, I'll wait until I've been given it. He was like, no, I know I'm doing a good job and I deserve more. Which I think is a really,
I think our, our children are growing up with a different attitude. I mean, they're growing up in a different world anyway, aren't they? But, you know, I love that, that she's, she's an artist. She doesn't want to be an artist. She already is one. That's fabulous. Yeah. And I love that. Like, they're going confidently and asking for a pay.
Right. And I know that's, that's a brave thing to do, right? Yeah. I know. I'd never do it. Yeah. That's Quite brave. I Just wait and never Yeah. Never get one. But until Alice, you choose, you, you ask, like we say to our students, right? You have to take that action,
come inside the coaching program and take action. Exactly. Do it because it's the taking action. It is the doing that actually makes the progress. Yeah. You know, putting the, the paintbrush on the, on the paper, putting the, the pencil on the paper, that's what's going to make the progress. Yeah. And it's so important. And I think you were saying before,
you know, people drop out and people do drop out. And I think, I think a lot of it is lack of confidence, a little bit scared of, of new stuff. And I also think people feel that they don't have time for creativity. Right. How, how do you deal with that? Like when new students, I just tell them to find a consistent rhythm,
but how do you deal with that? Like when people say that we don't have time. Yeah. I, Creating that's the biggest block I feel. I know. It really is. It really is the biggest block for being creative. I don't have time. And I think I wrote a podcast, I did do a, do a podcast on this actually.
We all have exactly the same amount of time. Every single person has 24 hours and you choose what you do in that 24 hours. For me, I stopped doing the ironing. Okay. Yeah. Because my creativity was more important than a, a, you know, a, a perfectly ironed shirt. And has it, has stopping the ironing made any,
has, has it made my life worse by stopping the ironing? No, it's made my life so much better. 'cause I've been able to be creative. You choose what you do with your 24 hours and you prioritize what's important. And if you tell me that you don't have time for creativity, I then know that you, your creativity isn't, IM,
I'm not saying it's not important to you, but you don't find it a priority. Right. And you will never find it a priority until you actually carve out some time and you get rid of some of the stuff that you are doing in the day. Like sitting on social media for however long. All of those, there's loads of things. If you counted up all of the stuff that you do in your day,
there's loads and loads of things that you could actually stop doing. So true. Like if I see my four years back journey, I have totally stopped watching Netflix or like I don't have now TV in my home. And that was like one of the biggest time chunk, which I now use in my creating things. So yeah, I totally agree with that point.
That you have 24 hours and you just have to find that what work we can delete. Yeah. And so that we can add in. Yeah. More You have, you know, some people say, oh my goodness, Bonny, how do you fit everything into your day? When I'm busy, I'm, when I'm doing something, I'm really productive.
And I put my, so I've made two videos this morning, one that was, I think the, I think one was 15 minutes and one was 10 minutes. So I've, and I've recorded those. I'd visualized it beforehand, having my breakfast visualized what I was gonna put in these videos. So I knew exactly what I was gonna do when I sat down at my desk,
right. We're gonna do this, this, this, this, and this. And I'm very productive in that. However long it takes me to make, you know, a 25 minute video, probably about an hour and a half, two hours to make that video very productive. I might then have an hour and a half where I'm not very productive,
where I'm just sort, sort of messing around maybe, you know, on social media or reading my book. Which actually that's really productive for me. And it's a really good use of my time because I'm not in front of a screen. I'm my own person. I'm completely absorbed again, like with my art, with my reading totally absorbed in the book that I'm reading.
So that's a really good use of my time if I choose to. So I've, I've go on my bike every morning and I watch, I don't go on for very long 'cause I'm very unfit, so I'm just kind of working up. But I'll watch a, a program, I'll choose a program that I'm gonna watch for a series. That's when I watch that program.
So I'm doing two things at once. So I'm doing my exercise as well as watching a bit of tv. So I'm very particular in what I do. So that, and, and now, gosh, seven, eight years ago, I would come home from my nine to five job, I'd make the tea, I'd then crash in front of the tv Right.
For a couple of hours. Now I don't crash in front of the TV ever, every evening unless I'm going out is on my drawing board completely immersed in being creative and, you know, if I want to watch some tv, but that's fine. I can, if I want to do or I can just be creative. And so I've, I've really carved out the time that I use for creativity and I make sure that that's very important and it's a priority because it is really important and it's very much a part of what makes me,
me, and also what keeps my mind healthy. Right, right. Totally. Yeah. So you can totally carve your mind, carve your time as per you. Yeah. So yeah, that's what I do. Whenever the dentist that come home watch tv, cook food and just the day's gone. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You know, but I I,
and you can fit so much more into your day. The other thing as well is I do think I, particularly women who are mothers, we put everything before everybody else's needs before our own, you know, and, and at times we have to. 'cause it's really important. Right. But there comes a time where actually, like you were saying before,
setting your boundaries, no, this is my time for working because it's really important to me and this is what I'm doing. But having those set times for when you are working person and when you are, you know, a mum. And I think that's really important as well. Yes. That is. Because in the long run, like having the balance of me time and we time,
It's what fuels you up. You know, like if you don't have that me time, which really fuels you, fill your cup. Yep. And then only you can give to others. Right. If your cup gets, like, we read a story when we were small that there was a light man who always give life to others and always give oil,
give all his oil to the other person who was coming to his lighthouse. And in the end, the oil was not left for his lighthouse. And then he, he, he cannot navigate the ships anymore. Right. So it's like that, that you really have to see what fills your cup. Like that can be art, that can be music,
that can be reading a book. There can be multiple things. So yeah. That, that's, that's what like, I think I totally do now, that I also love reading, exercising, doing art and walks, walk in the park. So I literally cover time for everything and Definitely. And being present as well. You know, and I,
I, I joke that my memory's not very good and I think it's because I live in the present quite a long time. I don't really, I don't really worry about what's happened in the past. I don't, I don't really worry about stuff particularly, anyway, you know, I'm sort of not one of those people that's, that that's, that's much of a worrier anyway.
But I was thinking, I go swimming quite a lot and where I swim, it's an outdoor pool and it's in the most beautiful walled garden. It's absolutely beautiful. And you've got one way, you've got this gorgeous wall, and then you've got all of these flowers, rose bushes. And it is absolutely gorgeous. And the other way is normally where,
'cause I swim in the morning, the sun comes through and you've got all of this sunlight on the pool and it's all sort of like rippling. And, and it's the most wonderful thing when you're swimming and you're just filled with all of this amazingness. And again, the swimming, it's like a meditation, you know? Right. And I don't allow my mind to drift into,
you know, making stories up about stuff that could happen or, you know, oh gosh, I'm really worried about this or I'm really worried about that and make sure that my time, my creative time, my, my swimming time is just filled with being in the moment. And it's the most one, the feeling on your skin of the water, the sound of the water,
the, you know, the, the sun shining down, the, the, and it, even when it's raining, is just the most wonderful thing being out in nature. It's incredible. Yes. So I think art teaches us that, right. Like to be really present. Definitely Everything. So yeah, the, I I think it has a power to take change your whole life,
to change your whole perspectives. It's a beautiful thing. It really is. Oh my goodness. I could sit and chat to you all day. We've, we've nearly been an hour. Oh yeah. You, the, the, the, the, the battery on your computer I think ran out, plug it in. That's Good. Oh, that's been,
yeah. Oh, it's been such a, so, so lovely. Yeah. Talking to you. Been really lovely talking to you. We'll have to get together again. So, because you've got some, you've got some really lovely messages. Yeah. I think, yeah, we should talk more often. I feel like, yeah. I should come down to your place sometimes.
Oh, yes, Yes. You should come and visit. Definitely. Or I love to go, I would see a studio because like, yeah, it's been new for me, so I always kind of find inspiration, try to find inspiration in how I can make better videos for my students. How can I do better with the lights, you know?
Yeah. I'm still learning Always, always up for, for sharing any of that, you know, if you, if you want to have, I'm not saying my videos are the best, but I've certainly bought a lot of equipment and a lot of it hasn't worked and a lot of it is working. Okay. So I know, I know. We all have to learn experiments.
Yeah. De oh gosh, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for your time this afternoon. It has been a real pleasure getting to know you a little bit more and yeah, hopefully we'll, we'll catch up again soon. It'd be really nice to have another chat offline and just sort of, you know, just chat. It'd be be really,
really nice. Really nice. So thank you ever so ever so much. And we'll speak again very soon. Yes, sure. Okay, bye Bye.
I really hope you enjoyed listening to this episode of my, It's A Bonny Old Life podcast. If you did, I'd be so grateful to you for emailing me or texting a link to the show or sharing it on social media with those you know,
who might like it too. My mission with this podcast is all about sharing mine and my community's experience and hope by telling your fascinating personal stories, championing the other amazing humans in my personal, professional, and membership community. And to create another channel through which I can support you to realize your coloured pencil and life dreams. If you haven't done so yet,
please help me on my mission to spread positivity and joy throughout the Coloured pencil world by following me on my socials at Bonny Snowdon Academy or by getting on my list at bonnysnowdonacademy.com. And remember, I truly believe if I can live the life of my dreams doing what I love, then you can too. We just need to keep championing and supporting each other along the way in order to make it happen.
Till next time.
