When creative souls unwind …

Marie Claire: Kuala Lumpur — May 2003

Jurema Baker, 50, Artist – Her speciality is antique restoration, though recently she has been spending a lot of her time working on a new process and technique of restoration, which is lacquering leaves! What she does is spend time outdoors, all over town, picking up large pieces of leaves, and then takes them to her studio to transform them into elaborate table centrepieces and home décor.

Recently, she has been experimenting with trying to do sculpting techniques with leaves and is quite pleased with some of the results. For Jurema, doing what she does at her age is not only terribly rewarding but also gives her the contentment she finds nowhere else. “There really isn’t much stress in my job because I don’t really look at it as a job. It’s my passion and who I am,” she says. Nevertheless, there are times when she feels the need to get away from her daily routine.

The Stress: Really, no stress?  Well, not all the time. Jurema encounters two types of stress: physical and mental. Her work involves a lot of physical activity – be it when she is driving around looking for leaves or when she is working on her lacquering process. Mental stress stems only from one thing – her lack of marketing skills! “I’m not good at pitching my work so sometimes this makes it rather hard to sell what I do. This, I admit, can bring on the stress.”

Wine, Cigars and Music: As soon as daylight disappears, Jurema stops work and, if her day was long and hard, she turns to a very simple but effective way to unwind. Open up a bottle of Bordeaux, turn on some classical or samba music and light up a Cohiba, her favourite Cuban cigar. “There’s nothing quite like being by yourself and just not thinking about anything. When I do this, almost instantly I’m transported to a relaxing and serene place in my mind!”