Creativity, Clothes and Community
May 18, 2026
Ten years ago - I was part of a collective of artists and creatives, renting a studio in The Old Silk Mill, in the Quaker town of Frome, Somerset, England. I used the pseudonym of Moxi Lovegrove to sign my paintings. I was deliciously free to explore the artist in me, after decades of being a corporate career professional. The artistic adventurer archetype was blooming in my core. Like a fledgling chick.
One of the other creatives in the collective, was a clothes designer called Hayley. She cut up old clothes and refashioned them into new designs. I gave her a bag of my vintage wardrobe and she cast me anew. We took photographs, and I laughed at who I was becoming. I liked the new me. She felt joyful, liberated and eccentric.
However, the new me was not what my family could appreciate, and the more Moxi Lovegrove grew wings, the more my marriage collapsed and my family scoffed. Eventually I fled from the cage. The spirit had to fly.
I soared high and far, and found new places to sing my truth, write my truth and paint my truth. It’s involved shedding and re birthing. A painful process, but on the way more courage of conviction and more defiant determination to be the best version of me. And not someone else’s idea of me. The mum. The wife. The daughter. The sister. The neighbour. The friend.
This bird eventually flew to Porto, where she is deliciously discovering new clothes, new creative communities and a portfolio of paintings just waiting to be born.
My message is to always be true to your authentic soul longing, because this is the path to finding your bliss.
Julia.