Meet a Maker is a series the Mudgee Guardian have created in conjunction with Mudgee Fine Foods to tell the story of how your local businesses began. Is there a local business you would like to see featured as part of the Meet a Maker series? Send us an email. She's bright, she's bubbly and she's brilliant. Four years ago, Chantelle Buttigieg said goodbye to the nine to five working week and said hello to running her own business. After relocating from Queensland to Mudgee in 2017 with her partner, Ms Buttigieg pursued a career in the creative space. While she admits her childhood dream was to be a pop star, it's the lifestyle she lives and breathes now that gives her "purpose". "As a child, I was always creative. I actually secretly wanted to be a pop star but I ended up being a different kind of creator," Ms Buttigieg said. "I did your normal nine to five jobs then when we moved I decided I would run my own business. I was pregnant with my daughter at the time." The McDonald College graduate combined her love of the arts and cosmos to create her business name, By Jove Creative. "It's a way of expressing excitement," Ms Buttigieg said. "Shakespeare used By Jove, that's the art side of the name. Then there's the cosmic side, Jove is the name for Jupiter. It's like the planets and arts combined." Not only are her surroundings a source of inspiration for her artworks, but so are the images that come to Ms Buttigieg during mediation. "I get imagery when I meditate so I use those images as a source of inspiration. One of my recent paintings, 'Metamorphosis', was actually inspired by a mediation, an image came to me of a lady laying back with butterflies coming out of her chest," she explained. "I also have vivid dreams and get inspiration from those as well as nature. I also like to write poetry and often write poems inspired by my art. "It doesn't mean I can paint straight from that image, I still sometimes need to use a source like a picture to create from and the rest is from me." In the earlier stages of By Jove Creative, Ms Buttigieg would hold crystals while painting, but as time went one, she found another way to keep them by her side. "I've collected crystals since I was eight, and it wasn't until I moved here that I started feeling things from them spiritually," she said. "I was holding crystals when I was painting and then I thought 'how can I create something so I don't have to hold it' and that's when I started making the jewellery so I could wear it instead of hold it. "People who are like me are drawn to me. It's always been quite positive. People are always quite interested. Not everyone believes in the metaphysical qualities I express but they still find positivity in it." As an advocate for mental health, Ms Buttigieg is working towards offering art therapy to people of all walks of life. "Being through adversity in my life has helped me get to where I am today. I have a passion to help people...art creates a healing aspect," she said. "People often think it's just an artwork but they actually provoke feelings. It often reminds people of something and that's the beauty of it. "I've had people tell me what my artwork reminds them of, it's incredible. I love when people explain why it connects with them. "I had a lady who was grieving say to me that her past partner told her he would come back as a willy wag tail so she purchased my painting of one, it was beautiful. It gives me purpose." Ms Buttigieg has entered her latest artwork, "Unbecoming", in the Bathurst Art Fair which can be viewed online from November 1 to November 30. If you would like to find out more about By Jove Creative, head to her website or follow her social media accounts. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
