great news!!

Yay! I've received notice that I've been selected to be showcased in the upcoming 'Young People Creating Queensland' publication, as part of Q150 celebrations. Myself and 149 other creatives will be profiled in the book. Sweet! It's nice to be appreciated & acknowledged for the work I do.

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In other news it's less than 4 weeks until 'Sustainability Day' at Hillbrook Anglican School, Hurdcotte St Enoggera. For all you Brisbanites, it's a jam packed day of market stalls, sustainability talks, art showcases and heaps of other environmentally minded activities. 22nd August 09 from 10am-4pm.

I'll be running a community art workshop similar to the Green the Globe project I recently facilitated at the Brisbane Powerhouse.

Find more info about Sustainability Day activities, click HERE.

Hope to see you there!!

blowing my own horn

Toot toot!

I've decided I've got a whole lot more creativity lying dormant in me than I am currently sharing with the world. I can feel the energy about to bust out of me and I'm ready to take on something huge!

That's why this week, I've decided to enter myself in a few amazing opportunities that are being offered to artists living in my corner of the globe.
All opportunities have required me to compile my background and experiences and to basically recreate myself as a juicy, dangly carrot! Here they are:

1. SOYA: Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards, which offers winners a leading mentorship and $10,000 of funding to further their creative career
2. Young People Creating Queensland: An upcoming publication which showcases 150 of Queenslands young creative entrepreneurs
3. Australia Council for the Arts and Queensland Conservation 'Environmental Mentorship': Involves artists in a mentorship which focuses on environmental issues, along with $15,000 in funding to cover travel and a commissioned art piece that brings together the environment, community and art.

Applications for all close somewhere within the next few weeks, so if you're interested in applying yourself, here's the links. Good luck!!

SOYA , Young People Creating Queensland , Australia Council for the Arts

personalised flag project

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These are pics from a community project I worked on during my time in Thailand earlier this year. I wrote this project specifically for the residents at Wildflower Home, which is a temporary home for unemployed single and pregnant mothers who have no other means of support or encouragement.

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The idea was to use pieces of fabric and fabric paints to each create a personalised flag which incorporates words, symbols and imagery of the young mothers hopes, dreams and love.

The children at Wildflower also got really involved in the project, while some relaxed in mothers arms while she painted her masterpiece.

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Wildflower is a magnificent organisation that offers so many wonderful opportunities for these women to develop confidence, value and self-sufficiency for their futures. More information and some of their amazing projects can be found here at the Wildflower Website.

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P.s. This is my 100th post! Yay!

altered pages project

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Hi and welcome back! My good friend Karin from our Avid Divas group has initiated a delicious altered book project.

Now re-named From My Hand To Yours, the original book used for the project began as a beautiful colour photography hard-cover called 'Photo Annual 1988' by Graphis.

Karin has re-worked and re-branded the title pages and some in between to illustrate the concept of the project ~ to alter as many pages as you like, in any theme, and then hand the book onto another artist by hand. As a side project, any artist involved will photograph their artworks and email them to Karin, to be posted onto the From My Hand To Yours blog page. Check out the other altered pages so far here

The pics above are my contribution ~ the photos in the book were so beautiful to begin so it was pretty easy to find a page that lured me to play with it!

I really enjoyed being involved in this project ... now I just need to think of another artist to hand it on to! Any takers?

rest for the manic

So at the moment I am what you could call 'between projects' until next week, when I start my regular kids art classes with Renaissance Kids.

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Anyone would think I'd be enjoying a wind-down after just finishing an insanely jam packed 2 weeks of facilitating community art projects with kids ~ yet I'm back into my old habit of 'space filling' instead of just enjoying the peace and quiet!

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This 'need to fill' has been with me for, well, my whole life (as far back as I can remember). I always seem to need to be busy to burn up some of the creative energy that flows through me, else I end up buzzing around like a bee on steroids.

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This discovery about myself was illustrated perfectly in a recent conversation with my beautiful, knowledgable friend, Maria:
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Chrissy says: 'I have real trouble trying to achieve a minimalist quality in my own works ~ if there's any 'space' available on my canvas I seem to have to fill it!'

Maria says: 'Are you like that with your life also?'

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So yes, it is true ~ art does imitate life!

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So I'm going to chill out this afternoon ~ put my feet up and let it be okay to rest!

I'll be back with my manic-ness before you know it.

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C x

our globe is greened!

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Working in curvy waves across the globe like currents, the environmental messages began sweeping the globe!

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Consulting each child about their environmental message and finding a perfect spot for their work was a great way to link with the kids and discover what is important to them.

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Our planet is safe in the hands of future generations ~ EVERY child, no matter how young, had something meaningful to say and contribute towards making their world a better place for everyone and the environment ~ a very humbling and beautiful experience for me to witness.

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I used a bucket of glue to adhere the kids' messages. Some highlights included:

Turn off taps & switches, Close down factories, Grow your own veggies, Plant more trees, Travel without emissions by walking/riding/roller blading/rowing/swimming, Don't throw plastic bags into the ocean, Recycle, Don't be a sitter ~ please don't litter, Save the whales/turtles/environment, Feed your chickens, Go Green, Water the plants, Houses with rain tanks, Don't chop down the trees, Save our beaches, Save water, Say NO to plastic, Love our planet!

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Fitting rectangular puzzle pieces onto a spherical object in a visually pleasing way amongst flurries of children = fun, contemplation and exhaustion!

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3 days on, the final artwork~ hoisted from the ceiling for the rest of the POWERKIDZ festival!

The sculpture itself is environmentally friendly: We used wood, chicken wire, newspaper, flour glue and washable markers; so after the festival it will be dismantled and some parts re-used, other parts recycled!

* A massive thanks to the Brisbane Powerhouse staff and volunteers for helping to make this creative dream a reality!