Encouragement Changes Lives.....

“Everybody has the ability to offer encouragement to others and everybody can benefit from receiving encouragement.” - John Shadforth, my Mother's cousin and Founder of The Encouragement Foundation 2007.

The Encouragement Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that relies on corporate and philanthropic sponsorship to promote and raise awareness of the value of encouragement in our society.

Encouragement projects are guided by the belief that to achieve the most good for the greatest number, the philosophy of encouragement through education and supportive funding avenues is required.

A simple pat on the back, a smile or an encouraging word is sometimes all that is needed.

The Foundation provides support to both local and overseas projects like Encouragement House in Timor which will provide 7 villages in Timor with educational support to assist families break the poverty cycle.
At a local level, the Encouragement Foundation focuses on those projects that promote encouragement through support and education. It specifically recognises projects that help individuals break the poverty cycle and supports individuals who support others through Grants, Scholarships, Bursaries and social support.

Please take the time to browse the Encouragement Foundation's website and you'll find something that will encourage you. Check out the Blog and read inspirational stories of encouragement too by clicking HERE.

I hope you'll take the time to have a look and sign up for the regular news updates to stay informed on what the Foundation is up to.

Workshop Wonders

This weekend I attended a Workshop run by Sophie Munns at the Perculator Gallery in Paddington, Brisbane. Sophie is an amazing, inspirational artist who helped us get our "Klee on" and explore Colours in Nature: the Nature of Colour. We all bought along found objects from nature to include in the various exercises which we pursued in various mediums, pastels, inks, acrylics, pencil, etc.It was so refreshing and a much needed reminder to revisit colour making and just do exercises that explored this rather than working on my current projects.

Sophie reminded me of how wonderful it is to come together with other artists and allow ourselves to just enjoy the spontanious creativity that inevitably happens and interact and converse with like minded people about creative pursuits.

If this sounds like something you would enjoy doing, Sophie is offering many more workshops so book in now so you don't miss out!

Amongst the creative people I had the pleasure in meeting yesterday, was Joannah Underhill and her work is exceptional, I totally recommend checking out her website by clicking HERE and keeping an eye out for her upcoming exhibition at the Woolloongabba Art Gallery.

Finally just a quick peak of what I've been up to this week.
Still painting and stitching on my corrosion stained pieces of fabric. This one happens to be a some fabric from the wedding dress I wore once upon a time in another life, beautiful silk tafetta. I would appreciate any suggestions you have for a title.........Also progressing the bowl series I've been pursuing over the last couple of years, this one will be in an exhibition at the Albany Creek Library in July with other members of the Dayboro Art Gallery. More on that soon.

In the Studio

Ikebana

Lily Kamatz (pictured above with one of her many creations) kindly showed some of us members of the Brisbane Artist Development (BAD) Co-op how to do Ikebana - blissful!!!
Lily's Ikebana are included in many publications including the very prestigious "Ikebana Through All Seasons" by Stichting Kunstboek.

This is my creation trying to take into consideration the 3 main elements of Ikebana that symbolize heaven, earth, and humankind. It is steeped in the philosophy of developing a closeness with nature. Nature has its own rhythm and order and the awareness of this is the first step in involving oneself in ikebana.

We worked in silence, each one of us becoming quiet as we were "in the moment" and the practice made us appreciate things in nature that we previously might not have paid that much attention to. It is said that by practicing this art, one becomes more patient and tolerant of differences, not only in nature, but more generally in other people. I like that.

Thank you again Lily for being so generous with your time and opening your home to us, it was a truly magical and inspiring afternoon.

Art Workshop with Sophie Munns - "Colours of Nature"

Want a truly inspiring experience, come along! For more about Sophie, check out her blogs HERE and HERE.

Progress in the Studio

I'm still here

Painting firm favourites

and exploring new ideas

its all good but it takes time!