The Art Studio/Workshop Dream

It all started about a year ago when I decided to go back to Vancouver for a longer then usual visit. I wanted to test the waters and see If I could see myself living there. Nine months of rain made that decision pretty easy! Despite the rain though I'm so glad I went back and i'll always cherish those nine months in a happy/sad kind of way as the last time I'll ever live in the place that I grew up.

One of the bonuses was not paying rent (thanks Mum & Dad!), so I was able to really buckle down and explore my art practice and try to figure out how I was going to turn it into a full time gig...you know, so I could pay my own rent ;). I also decided I wanted to take a painting class because I felt like I kind of sucked at painting and wanted to get better! 

Little did I know how this painting class was going to change my life! Long story short I LOVED it and found a new freedom of expression I hadn't discovered in my other art. 

I continued working on my illustration work while in Vancouver but slowly but surely these abstract paintings started to infiltrate my days and I found a happiness I had not known before and a new way to express myself. 

I was then asked to teach a school holiday art class at the studio I was taking my painting classes at. This was a bit of a coincidence because for a couple months I had been loosely toying with the idea of going back to uni to become an art teacher. 

I taught the art workshop and it was full on, awesome, exhausting, enlightening…The kids left at the end of the week saying things like, 'I can draw SO much better now!!!' and the parents were asking me when my next class was as their kids had gotten so much out of it! Such awesome feedback to hear after a hard weeks work. The downside was that I was only paid $14 an hour which meant I made $210 for the week and the owner of the studio made about $2,500!! This felt a LITTLE unfair seeing as I had spent many hours planning the lessons and endured the actual work of teaching 10 kids aged 5-12. 

So, I got to thinking that I should teach my OWN workshops when I got back to Sydney. Only problem was I had no where to teach them. I kept the idea alive despite this. As it happened, one of my best friends needed to move and needed a house mate and I would need a place when I returned to Australia. So she spent a couple weeks searching for places, she really wanted a garden, I really wanted a space to do my art workshops, it also had to be pet friendly. 

Well what do you know, literally the PERFECT place presented itself at the perfect time. A bright ground floor flat with a huge sunny garage/studio and an entire front and backyard nestled between Freshwater Beach and Queenscliff Beach. We call it our Little Flat by the Sea. And I call my studio Sea Changes Art Studio. 

I am so looking forward to kicking off the first of many workshops with an Abstract Painting Party for adults, complete with boozey beverages + tea and coffee, delicious snacks and happy vibes! Hoping to run about two weekend art workshops a month and will also be holding a school holidays workshop for kids in September and then Tues, Wed, Thurs afterschool art classes from then on! 

I can't wait to share my art studio space and spread the LOVE and JOY of art with as many people as I can <3