I have a beautiful interview with writer, artisan, stylist and designer Sophie Isobel Asher to share with you today. Sophie is a woman of many talents and careful reflection. She has always lived a creative, passionate life, but pursuing her interests and living an intentional life became her centre after a life-changing event. Sophie’s story is like others and yet is uniquely her own. I’m so pleased that today she is living passionately and creatively, and has translated these into a business that supports her family and her spirit.

I know that many of my readers will know her from her beautiful blog and her creative projects she shares on Instagram, but I thought you might like to hear more about her and her story.

Sophie, please tell me a little bit about yourself. What is your background?

For as long as I can remember I’ve lived creatively. Since I was a child, I’ve always been making, writing or dreaming up wild ideas.  These days, I’m a writer and an artisan, some days I write, some days I make and on wonderful, inspired days I do both.  I work as a stylist and writer for a lovely regional lifestyle magazine and I run a bespoke sacred jewellery & decor label, Wilde Asher with my mum and my sister.

I studied Creative Arts at University focusing on fashion and cultural theory and later completed postgraduate study in secondary school teaching.  I’ve always been passionate about sharing knowledge and ideas, so I think I came about teaching as a natural progression.  After five years of teaching and giving that career path everything I had, I was starting to feel burnt out and at the same point, I experienced a major life change which led me to find my true passion, start our family business and work creatively everyday, on my own terms, doing whatever nourishes my soul.

What part of the world do you live in?

My husband, my daughter and I live in a little white cottage close to the Murray River in rural Victoria, Australia.

How many children do you have and how would you describe them?

I’m mama to our little girl, Tallow Frankie Bluebelle (Tali for short), who is the most wonderful, kind and passionate two year old. I’m also mama to our angel baby Cohen Littlewing who was stillborn at 20 weeks in 2012.

How do you spend most of your days?

I really enjoy slow days and taking things gently wherever possible.  I mainly work from home and usually while Tali is having an afternoon nap, so I really try embrace those few hours of time alone, to nourish my soul with whatever I’m working on.  During the day if we’re not playing at home, crafting or in playing in the garden, we visit friends, play at the park and go exploring by the river.  Our little town has a beautiful slow pace, so we like to meander along with it. My creative work often comes along with me and I often add a few rows of crochet, write ideas or gather leaves for natural dyeing while we enjoy the sunshine.

What is your favourite thing to do as a family?

My husband and I are both avid gardeners and we spend most of our free time outside, in the garden or down by the river.  We love to go on picnics and bushwalks and explore some of the ancient landscapes near where we live. Along the way we gather local fruit and veggies from the farmers markets and farm gate stalls and dream about our own someday off-grid farm.

What inspires you?

Foremost I’m inspired by the natural world, particularly my local surroundings, wherever that may be. I am truly nourished when I’m outdoors, noticing the details, revelling in the sunshine or the moonlight. At the moment I’m particularly inspired by the plants around me, especially the vast eucalyptus trees that grow in abundance in the region. They share such beautiful stories and every time I gather their leaves or bark for natural dyeing, I feel I’m capturing a little part of this beautiful land. I’m also totally enchanted by the moon at the moment, connecting with it’s cycle and understanding it’s incredible affect on the natural world.

I’m also inspired by change and the wonderful revolution I’m seeing unfold every day through social media. People are standing up, changing their lives, their habits, realising that life is not all about buying and consuming.  This revolution makes my heart sing and makes me work a little harder everyday to make changes to my life and my families lives, to lighten our footprint, to slow down, live simply and consciously.

You have been blogging for a long time now. How did you get started? And how has your blog evolved?

I began blogging in 2008, before blogging was really even a thing to do.  I began as a way to keep in touch with my family when my husband and I moved interstate.  I never expected my blog to be read by others, I was just really documenting my days.  Over the past eight years I’ve always documented my life and my creative world. In 2011 I was blogging once or twice each day, before Instagram really started and I look back now and wonder how on earth I kept up. I think I started to feel overstretched at the thought of ‘keeping up’ and in 2012 when we lost Cohen, I stepped away from my blog and really reassessed every aspect of my life. I came back to blogging a different person, passionate about sharing only what I loved, rather than what was on trend, passionate about the changes I’d made to live a more conscious and heartfelt life.  I’m so grateful for this evolution and today my blog is more like it was back when I first started, it’s a journal of our lives and the seasons, a documentation of my creative journey and how we live and love.

What are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about life and living every aspect of it with my whole heart. I am truly passionate about simple, conscious living and shifting the current paradigm we live in.  In every area of my life, I am working towards treading more lightly, living more harmoniously and finding that balance each day.  When our lives were forever changed by Cohen, something ignited within me.  I realised I never wanted to take another moment for granted.  I used to have this world around me that I was filling with stuff and all of a sudden our world shifted and I just wanted to let it all go, strip back to the bare essentials and really search for who I was and what made me truly happy. I’m forever grateful to my journaling, yoga and meditation practice, which enables me daily to explore and delve into what this happiness is for me.

Can you tell me a bit about your business, Wilde Asher?

Wilde Asher is the heartbeat of our family.  It brings together myself, my mum and my sister, to create, beautiful and ethical, sacred jewellery and decor made especially to adorn your soul and sacred space.

We first began Wilde Asher back in 2012 and since then it has evolved with us to become not only a business but a very special manifestation of our collective dreams.  We all collaborate together on the jewellery in our collections, sourcing ethically from around the world. We find stones and charms that resonate on a high frequency and contain beautiful energy, especially for personal growth, manifestation and balance. My mum Annie, is our incredible jeweller and works from her studio by the beach in Queensland to create each of our pieces. My sister also creates beautiful, hand written art prints and I make a range of one off fibre artworks, including wall hangings and coiled baskets. We are really excited to be working on new pieces this year that truly reflect our philosophy for beautiful, unique, ethical creations, made from the heart… Soul nourishing pieces to enjoy for a lifetime.

Did your life goals and career aspirations change once you had a child?

In my previous career I was a high school English and Literature teacher.  I loved my job and it really inspired me to see my students go on and achieve their dreams, but I also realised in the process I was not achieving my own dreams. Becoming a mama actually allowed me to step away from teaching and reassess what I really wanted to do with my life.  It was the breathing space I needed to find myself.

Being a mama has given me the opportunity to truly connect with each day.  I love being able to work from home, to play in the garden, to wander the neighbourhood and collect treasures with my girl.  I feel truly blessed and constantly inspired by the journey of motherhood.

What are your dreams for your life?

We would love to one day move back closer to our families who live interstate. We’d love to purchase a small property and live off the grid, raise animals, grow vegetables and truly live in tune with the seasons. I’d love to unify my ideas and dreams, write them down, turn them into books, share them with others, run workshops, collaborate and spend time with like minded people. Of course ultimately I’d love to ensure that as a family we are able to spend as much time together as we can, doing what we love to do and exploring the beautiful moments of our everyday, with love and gratitude.

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Thank you so much Sophie! Readers you can find Sophie in a few places: on Instagram @sophieisobelasher, her shop Wilde Asher, and her inspiring blog www.sophieisobelasher.com

• This interview is part of my Creative Mother series, find the rest here

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