I founded AJ Lawson to be able to support Australian artists and share their original talents, and now through my partnership with CATA, I am doing just that and more. During my journey, I have begun using art as an outlet for creativity and peace in my own pieces. It is a chance for me to take a step back from daily stresses and get lost in my own imagination. This is just the type of therapy CATA promotes to support many people suffering from mental illness.
CATA's mission is to use Creative Arts Therapy processes to shift thinking to positive and healthy mindsets. CATA works with children, adolescents, families and communities braving physical, psychological and emotional trauma with a huge focus on supporting those suffering from mental illness. I never imagined such an inspiring organisation may exist so close to home and as soon as I found them, I immediately knew that I had to be a part of it in any way.
My husband is my best friend and soul mate and has suffered from mental health in the past. He is extremely strong and resilient and has learnt to face his illness head on. He inspires me every single day and encourages me to be a better version of myself.
More and more people are suffering in these hard times, and it is having devastating effects. In this current COVID-19 climate where lockdowns are sadly almost becoming the normal way of life, I have also found myself trapped in an emotional and endless whirlwind bringing new struggles and demons to the surface.
The thought of helping others with mental illness is not only a way to help myself but a way of giving back and doing that through the healing of art is almost a dream come true. That is why I have partnered up with CATA to help raise awareness and funds for their mission and do that through my love of art.
Some of our artists' artwork is on exhibition and available for purchase at CATA's HQ in Fairfield, along with many other artworks by contemporary Australian artists to help fundraise for CATA's free-for-service programs.
I cannot wait to see where this partnership leads and look forward to working with such beautiful and inspiring people to bring some happiness in such difficult times.
Visit CATA at www.cata.org.au to read more about the incredible work that they do.
I hope you all stay safe and keep smiling.
]]>Creating commissions is a special experience that I find truly rewarding. It is extremely heartwarming to know that someone has entrusted you with their vision and displays your work in their own space.
I hope you enjoy this insight into the stories behind the commissions and the visions of the very special clients who requested them.
Enjoy!
Zoo Animals These adorable zoo creatures were my first ever commission and they were created for a very special little boy, my nephew, Benji. I created these animals for Benji’s nursery before he was born. I hope that he grows up learning about all the beautiful creatures in the world and finds inspiration in these paintings. A child’s imagination is a beautiful gift and if I can inspire creativity in Benji I will be a very happy aunty. |
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The lion is my favourite of all the three animals. He was an unexpected surprise. I began painting without intention and the more I worked on him the better he became. When I was adding the finishing touches, I realised how scary the lion was for a babies nursery so in an attempt to dial down the scary, I added the greenery. I am not sure the attempt was successful, but I still love the lion all the same. |
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Bisham Bisham is the name of my mother and father-in-law’s beautiful heritage listed home. I created this painting based on an image of the home when it was first purchased. Whilst keeping the original style, my in-laws have since renovated some of the façade of the home and improved the landscaping. I wanted to capture the originality of the house as a surprise gift, knowing how sentimental it was to my incredible in-laws. |
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Being a perfectionist, this painting took me a very long 10 weeks to complete. It was through the COVID lockdown last year that I worked away at it almost every day. The detail in the painting is the same as the image used, including the lamp in the window and the stained glass. It took me 45 minutes to complete each row of bricks on the chimney. I am very proud of this piece and was so heart warmed to be able to capture something very sentimental for two beautiful people. |
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Bigfoot Now this has to be one of the strangest commission requests ever! I was asked to paint a picture of Bigfoot walking through the woods. My love for all things dark and mysterious had me jumping at this opportunity. I used the famous image of Bigfoot for inspiration, and I hope I did it justice. |
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The painting reflects the tree structures that are commonly associated with Bigfoot. Bigfoot is known to build the trees in an X type structure. Whilst the purpose of these structures is unknown, they are prominent throughout the woods worldwide and are believed to be created by the infamous Bigfoot. |
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My favourite part about this piece is the supernatural character I have painted in the top right-hand corner. His name is Slenderman. Slenderman is a creepy, unnaturally tall humanoid with a featureless face who is known to wonder the woods, which is exactly where he is in this painting peering around a tree. Slenderman was a little surprise I included for the customer to add to the mystery of this piece. I love it! |
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Bright & Easy These two commissions were created specially for a very beautiful and much valued client of mine who has shown me a world of love and support. The composition of this painting was to be bright and fun, and to capture a sense of her Chinese descent. By the time I was asked to complete these two pieces, I was much more confident, and the inspiration felt natural. |
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This painting captures my client’s daughter’s love of Australian wildlife as it wasn’t too long before this commission that my client and her daughter visited an Australian Zoo and had the opportunity to hand feed kangaroos. I had a lot of fun painting this commission with a wash of trees, shrubs and the sunset atmosphere. My client displays these pieces in her newly renovated home and she is a very happy customer. |
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Safe Farewell This gorgeous commission was created to stand out amongst a Scandinavian style home and that is exactly what it will do. The impact of this commission is so incredible that I was extremely sad to see it go. This private collection was the biggest of all other commissions I had completed so far, measuring 1.5m long and 1m high. The use of structured acrylic paint gave this art extraordinary texture and shapes making it an artwork that you just want to touch. Keep an eye out on AJ Lawson’s instagram page for more photos of this piece in its home in the coming months. |
I hope that the commissions keep on coming as the experience is so rewarding from start to finish.
Thank you to all those special clients who have given me the opportunity to create something truly meaningful to them.
If there is an image or design that you would like brought to life, I will be so honored to make it happen.
I hope you all have a beautiful day and stay safe!
]]>I founded AJ Lawson long before I knew what it was or could be. When I say ‘I’, I mean me, Brittany, the founder of AJ Lawson. ‘I’ am a lawyer by profession and have been practicing for over three years. Although I love helping people as a lawyer, I was fed up with many of the negative perceptions that people have of lawyers as I am definitely not an image of those perceptions.
I am a lawyer with a passion for creativity and love to get my hands dirty in anything creative. I have had many ideas over the years for how to potentially get out of the corporate world, including creating a business for grazing platters to manufacturing a protein ice-cream brand. Unfortunately, none of these ideas ever seemed to stick. They remained dreams that were just out of reach.
In the midst of COVID-19, a beautiful friend and colleague of mine (“My Beautiful Friend and Colleague”) was in need of artwork for her newly renovated home and was looking at a piece that she loved by a well-known artist but couldn’t afford it. And so we decided to try and create a painting to be displayed in her home. We chose a weekend and went out to buy some art supplies in the morning. We had no idea what to use to paint this artwork but took a guess with the types of brushes and surface we needed. We spent the afternoon painting in the sun unsure of how this was going to work out, not having picked up a paintbrush since we were kids. I was even scared to pick up the paintbrush for fear of ruining the piece. Although the artwork didn’t work out too well, the experience was something I was searching for for some time.
Months later, this time huddled in a small garage with a portable heater, I let loose with the paintbrush and created my own individual piece. This was the day that I created the artwork ‘Boardwalk’ which is now available for sale on www.ajlawson.com.au. I spent the whole time constantly asking my husband (who was spectating) questions like ‘should I put this here’, ‘should I add something here?’ etc. The more and more I painted, the more I enjoyed it.
I kept painting since then by trying to recreate other artworks I found on Pinterest to develop my drawing skills. I would do this on the couch whilst watching Netflix every night. These were extremely raw paintings and nothing I would ever like to reveal but found that practice definitely does make perfect…well kind of.
I am completely self-taught. I have attempted to watch ‘how to’ videos but would lose interest very quickly.
One day, I wondered how many others out there had a passion for art. As I searched artists on Instagram and target advertising began showing me more and more of the art world, I realised that there were many more artists trying to share their talents than I ever imagined. There was a whole new world out there that I had yet to explore. It was then that I wanted to create a platform to support these artists, including myself. I proposed the idea of creating an online art agency to and with My Beautiful Friend and Colleague in order to do just that, to which My Beautiful Friend and Colleague said yes and expressed so much excitement towards. I then started setting up the business and online platforms. This is where it actually began.
In the initial stages of setting up AJ Lawson, I was hesitant to publicise my identity but as any successful businessperson would attest, that is almost impossible and unnecessary. During the development stages of AJ Lawson, I was in the midst of applying to become a councillor in my local council and ran a brief but very tiring campaign. This experience taught me a lot and most importantly it helped me become accustom to public exposure. Never in my dreams would I have thought that I would write about myself or my beliefs and values to the world leaving myself open to criticism, but the experience was surprisingly rejuvenating and refreshing.
Now that I have given you a little insight into myself, my brand and the experiences that have gotten me to where I am today, I think it is a good time to explain the illusive meaning behind the name ‘AJ Lawson’. A little secret of mine is that I do a lot of thinking whilst taking long showers and like many other ideas I have, the name AJ Lawson was assembled there. The ‘A’ is the first letter of My Beautiful Friend and Colleague’s middle name, Angele, and the ‘J’ is the first letter of my middle name, Jo. After deciding on these two letters, I wanted to incorporate the word 'law' somehow being the profession that we both chose to specialise in. Immediately, the word 'Lawson' came to mind to complete the name that was intended to conceal who was behind the business.
Now you are probably wondering what happened to My Beautiful Friend and Colleague. Although she is not involved in AJ Lawson, she is still supporting me in everything I do and still inspires me to be the person I want to be.
If you have not gathered as much already, I love what AJ Lawson represents and the journey it has taken me on. My mission for AJ Lawson is to support Australian artists who have a driving passion to create and convey their visions in unique ways. The reward is in the knowledge that with AJ Lawson, my love of art and that of the Australian artists that I come across is realised. I have had opportunities through AJ Lawson to speak with many artists, some who were just starting out trying to make their mark and some who have been lucky enough to find their niche, all of whom have left a mark on me. I am very honoured to note that some of these amazing artists are featured on my website where you can check out their stories and their artworks.
The challenge for me at the moment is choosing between the corporate world and the world of art. Don’t get me wrong, juggling my 9 to 5 job with a start-up business has been challenging but I wouldn’t trade it in for the world and hope to continue this until I am ready to let go. The Law, the one that governs our every move and subconscious decision making, is truly an artform but not one that offers nearly as much comfort, beauty or freedom than that of creative arts. The arts are my passion and the hope is that I can bring that passion to life through my creative journey.
I still don’t know where AJ Lawson will end up but I do know that if I continue to follow my own journey, it will become more than I ever expected.
Stay tuned for more insights into AJ Lawson
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