Intro to Kaz Henry artist

Howdy all!

Thought I’d give this blog gig thing a go. Totally new to it but hey I think it’s reasonably important to know the person behind the brush. 
So I’m Karen, married for 19 years, two boys 17 & 13, I’m full of wisdom already with these stats. ha ha 

I grew up on a dairy farm milking cows and feeding calves when I was 12, ventured to Denmark at 18 on the IAEA Ausi program and became all worldly. Travelled Europe on one of those contiki tours, wasn’t that a wild ride. Bizarrely I met many Ausis I knew, who knew people from home. Wowzas crazy times. Travelled a little more through Scandinavia and Ireland, wales and thought I better get home to reality. 
Taking a year off after school was something I knew I needed as I was too inquisitive for continuing to uni. Anyway another accidental year off an then following that was Ag college, Marcus Oldham. Almost as wild a ride as being overseas one might say.

Fast forward a few years, living and moving to various locations, big time favourite was Hyden WA. If you’ve not been GO, best year of my life I think to date. I’ve made life long friends and family and still visit to this day. Worked on a broad acre cropping property and beef cattle feedlot, learning lots about meat production and feed requirements. Experienced a beautiful sporting community, with lots of social events to blow your skirt up. You ever heard of marren, not sure of spelling. But they’re literally a huge crayfish almost lobster size. Anyway tried a few out of my bosses dam, an experience to say the least. 

So I had a stint in agribusiness banking and business banking for 12 years, had two boys, built a house and begun an earthmoving business with my husband in 2012. Brought a small farm in 2016 and brought 8 ptic cows, life was about to become grand. 
I have always loved farming, animals, tractor driving and just being Independent and more capable as a girl then most think possible. I’m also 158cm so not very big, so I even shock myself at times with what I can do.

Owning land seemed an impossible achievement but starting small seemed where it was at. Opportunities show up and it did by way of land to lease. Hey instant farmers, cropping in the middle of the 2018 drought. 60t of grain never felt so amazing to harvest, we were living our dream. Is 60t good I asked my hubby, oh yer it’s alright. Humble and encouraging is and always is his approach. 

I’ve since learnt how to sow crops, understand why we spray 5 plus times a year and why there are so many intricate processors in farming. Best part of it all has been growing our 8 head of cows to over 200 head of breeders. The four of us do most of the cattle work all together. We’ve built patience and respect for each others skill sets and extended grace to yard profanities. Still putting up with the unfortunate evidence of poor fences and limited time to attend to. 
But… this land life stuff you’ll see me hash tagging the crackers out of “best life” flat out. I didn’t realise how much as a family unit we’ve all needed elements of the land to nurture us, build us up, provide us with wisdom and make us more appreciative. 

I think this creative flair of mine has come from farming and the life we have built amongst it. The peace and fruitfulness that comes with it is unwavering. Sure it’s tough and challenging, it’s certainly a lot of those things. God has provided us with this dirt to do something with, to nurture it, give back to it and to trust in. Faith is a huge component of farming, we do everything we can manly possible and god takes care of the rest. 

My artwork just oozes bright, bold colours. It’s impossible to direct my brain and soul to choose more gentle light hues, nope my energy flows from the depths of excitement, probs adhd, but from a richness of living the good life. 

Gee whizz my first blog went overboard, but there you have it. Bit about me and what drives my art process. Thanks for the follows and likes and supporting another women in farming and small business.