Artisan Muse - Meg May

By Once Upon an ArtisanNovember 20, 2025

Welcome to the very first edition of Artisan Muse — a space created to honour the storytellers, makers, mothers, and quiet revolutionaries whose artistry and presence shape the world around them.

Each month, we’ll sit down with a woman whose creativity feels alive — someone who threads beauty through the everyday, uplifts her community, nurtures culture, and lives with a kind of intentionality that inspires us to slow down and look closer. Our muses may be artists, mothers, designers, healers, writers, entrepreneurs, or simply women who embody that rare blend of strength, softness, and creative fire.

But Artisan Muse was always meant to be a conversation — not a spotlight.Over the past week, we asked you:

Who inspires you?
Who in your world is quietly creating change?
Who is championing sustainability, crafting art that moves you, or raising the next generation with tenderness and grounded wisdom?

Your answers reminded us that inspiration often lives right beside us — in friendships, in mothers, in sisters, in the women we pass every day who carry worlds within them.

And today, with so much excitement, we introduce the first woman to step into this space with us.

Our Inaugural Muse: Meg May

Like all stories, this one starts with place. It begins in the lands of the Palawa people. It begins in Lutruwita, in the sandy earth of Turrakana/Tasman Peninsula – lands that were never ceded. It comes of age above the flat tidal beaches of a deeply special place called Koonya, in an historical home built with local timber and touched by many artists. To begin Meg’s story with anything other than this acknowledgement would misrepresent her and the values she holds closest to her heart. Special words, art, and social fabrics are birthed in special places. Turrakana is one of those places.

It’s easy to recognise Meg May as a deeply curious person. Her work as a birth doula, body worker, and belief mentor are a testament to her desire to know the world. The learning associated with this work has taken Meg to various locations around Australia and the world, including four years living and learning abroad, and a six-month journey through South America studying traditional birth and women’s work. Writing, too, has been ever-present in her life as a portal to deeper understanding. It was in the deep quiet of her Koonya home, after years away, that her book, Word Bone Woman, was born.

“As far back as I can remember I had a pen in my hand, learning to understand and explain the world through ink and paper… [writing] has woven in and out of my life. There has been long pauses and other times of deep devotion.”

The social tapestry that Meg has woven might not be seen as ‘typical’ as she spent many of her formative years travelling, sharing and collecting wisdom from passionate men and women of many walks of life. However, the threads of this tapestry are clear: Meg has surrounded herself with people with purpose.

“I feel blessed to be absolutely surrounded by men and women, of all ages, who are deeply dedicated to their work, purpose and passions. Many of whom have followed ‘the road less travelled’ and done so fiercely and fearlessly in the name of what they care about.”

Since landing back at home, deep social connection has blossomed as Meg wrote and published Word Bone Woman. Writing has the tendency to be a lonely endeavour, and the need to ‘waste’ time on purpose often grates against the fast-paced capitalist buzz of the modern world. However, born from this quiet can be connections to yourself and others that may not otherwise exist, and this certainly rings true for Meg.

“Word Bone Woman was never part of a ‘plan’. I had been writing poetry and sharing snippets on my social media, for my friends, for years. Many had told me I should write a book, but I didn't see it coming or feel the call until a series of circumstances led me to return home and live on the Tasman Peninsula in a 1906 house that had housed many amazing artists over the years. It was a time of deep integration and hibernation for me. I didn’t read for 10 months. I could only listen to piano music. It was in this space and stillness that the book really poured itself, through me. There are many ways to feel at the hands, literally, of something greater than us, and art is certainly one.”

It took months of religiously stepping to her creative portal in solitude for the real fruits of Word Bone Woman to begin to form. At first it was small synchronicities, like chance meetings at local coffee shops or unexpected heartfelt contact via social media. However, before long the true social magnetism of her work becomes evident. People began reaching out from all corners of the world to tell Meg how her book has touched them. New friendships in creative spaces locally and abroad, requests for collaboration, and even romantic connections have begun to flow into Meg’s life, as evidence of the magic associated with putting something heartfelt out into the world. These connections now form a fabric that, without Word Bone Woman, simply wouldn’t exist.

“One of the most surprising connections came when I realised ‘Loe’, the singer whose music I had written much of the book (to was making my cacao at a local café. Heidi and I instantly became friends and co-created a beautiful ‘Word Bone Woman’ event together.

I was also contacted by Fiona Vail, who I hadn’t met, to model for OUA. I asked if we could do an exchange: photos OUA in return for photos of my book. These stunning photos really helped bring my book into the world and a deep, mutual support and love blossomed.”

So, with such a grand achievement on bookshelves around the world, and a rich social fabric draped over her shoulders, we can be confident that we will hear more of Meg’s voice in this world in the months and years to come. As well as wishing to offer more birth, belief and bodywork services to her local community, Meg also has a deep passion for supporting creative projects and advocating for the arts, the environment, birth and our bodies. And when asked where the inspiration comes from for these pursuits, Meg’s answer is clear.