My Story

I am Lee

Australian and Filipino by heritage. Artist by choice. Engineer by trade and explorer for life.

A brief tale…

Hello my dear people. I am Lee. An Australian by choice. A Filipino by birth. A world traveller and explorer forever. The first of three daughters, I had a typical childhood spent in Manila (my birthplace), when my parents made the decision to pluck us out of the tropical sun and dropped us into the wet, grey and four seasons of England. As a child, I thought of this as an adventure to a foreign land, but culture shock hit me in the face. Everything was different, the weather was cold and wet, the food was strange and the people spoke in an accent that I never heard of before, never mind the fact that they were speaking too fast for my foreign mind to understand anything.

But I did have a saving grace, in the form of another Filipino girl. Who gave me Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. My first book. My gateway to the English language. It was through books that I gained more confidence in understanding, speaking and learning English. Also in a way, it also gave me confidence in myself (albeit I was still a shy little thing). Throughout the years, I was able to try my hands at anything that took my fancy or to new things that my new found friends had introduced me to, like ice skating.

Alas! After five years of adjusting to the English culture, weather and after having gained many close friends. My parents have had enough. Enough of the dreary, weary weather, that is. They miss the sun. The vitamin D. The tropical climate. So we packed our again and set off to the closest English speaking country to the Philippines. AUSTRALIA. The land down under.

Like our move to England. The move to Australia went about the same way, except my proficiency in the English language is much more improved. So life went on as per usual. And on and on up to 2020 when world shifted. Like everybody else in the entire world, I too was stuck at home. Eventually, my tiny apartment unit (which I was sharing with my little sister) seemed too small and having just graduate from university mid-year without all the pomp and circumstance, we decided to move back in with our parents. Who live in a bigger place. With a big yard. And space to breathe and run around in. Who also has a cat (hello emotional support animal).

Soon, boredom sets in and there’s only so much Netflix and chill that one can take. So in between applying for graduate jobs, I turn to crafts. Mum had a sewing machine (which she mainly used to fix her clothes), I had some old clothes and access to YouTube videos and hence my passion for sewing and dressmaking was born. From there, crochet and knitting soon follows; and after a while, wanting to try out something new, so did my passion for ceramics and polymer clay. SMJ was born out of the need to document this journey(s). To see how far my skills have progressed. To share my passions and interests to other creatives. To hopefully, be someone’s source of inspiration.

Now I’m balancing life with my passions and day job. Three years and counting. In truth, there’s no intention for my passions to become my day job. There’s a need for that balance, a little wary of burnout or getting into a creative slump. Plus, I actually like my day job. It takes me places. Travel. More sources of inspiration and creativity.

This is the condensed tale of my life. My journey so far. To my creative outlets. Let this be a small source of inspiration. A spark of creativity.