In keeping with this month’s theme of connection, it came up in conversation that it would be lovely to stay connected beyond the group too. Share your Instagram handle or other social links below so we can find, support each other and stay in touch.

Hi @everyone - it's easy to lose track of putting ourselves front and centre so I thought I'd pop in and pose a question to help you stay centred: 'What is rising to the surface as important to or for you as you think about the wheels and what you want to achieve?' Share your answers here in the community chat and remember we'll be meeting next Thursday for our mid-month Zoom catch up call (Thursday 23 July, 7-8:30pm).

Hi everyone – I am late to the intro party and all the parties here! Just been catching up today. My name is Liz Christiansen and I am a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Brisbane. I currently work across mixed media - collage & acrylic mostly at the moment but I am also building work in the surface pattern design space. For my day job, I am a graphic designer working within branding, packaging, print and digital design in my own business but after over 26 years as a graphic designer, I am ready to shake things up. I hope one day I can do less brief driven client work and more of the artwork I want to do – and someone will pay me for it! ha! The dream right 😃 At the start of last year I exhibited my first original artwork since high school at Studio on Brunswick in the summer showcase and won the emerging artist award on the night which connected me with an incredible coach and mentor Lyne! Over the last year I have really loved the community that has grown for me within this space – meeting some wonderful like-minded creatives and becoming an artist affiliate for Studio on Brunswick has been a highlight. Currently I am building a body of work – working towards my first solo in October at Emergent Gallery. I have enjoyed reading everyone’s intro posts and look forward to getting to know you all more over the program.

Hi everyone! Module 2: Connection is now live and available in the Classroom. There’s plenty to explore, including practical activities, templates and five new resources, so take a look around and work through it gradually over the month. I hope you find it valuable!

Hey all :) My name is Tash and I have finally caught up with the start of this program. I thought I should join in on the introductions. I am living in Brisbane, originally from Perth. I moved over here about a year ago to chase the dream of bringing accessible creative experiences to the community AND myself! It is a dream that is unfolding slowly every passing day. I've focused a lot on the community and am now ready to point the spotlight of intention on my own practice as an artist. Generally, I like to make art with all sorts of things, but my comfort zone/specialty is coloured pencil drawings. Specifically portrait drawings. I have been exploring portraiture more intentionally in recent weeks and am finding myself falling in love with drawing people in person during my meetup events. I'm hoping to get from this community some sense that I'm not alone in this dream of taking my art seriously, but also just a LOT of accountability. The sheer amount of structure here is making it impossible for me to back away from. I've got no excuses now! Also, extra reading if anyone is interested: I answered the questions from the Clarity module slides (I've just finished watching the catch-up zoom that I missed from last night) and thought I'd share... What do I value? Above all, I value connection. Art is the bridge that allows me to connect with others - not just through the finished piece, but through the act of creating it together. I also value authentic freedom: the freedom to be fully myself in both my creativity and my relationships, without compromising who I am. What’s important right now? Right now, it's important that my creative practice brings me closer to people rather than separating me from them. I don't want to create in isolation and present the finished result later—I want connection to be part of the process itself. When I draw people live, the artwork becomes something we create together. The lines on the page belong not only to me, but to the energy we shared in that moment.