art-able

I used to feel like the world was ugly until I started painting. Now it’s like I see everything as a potential artwork. I really want to share those stories one day. Trying to capture the world in my own style and how I see it. I just want to show how beautiful life can be, or not be. I mainly paint with acrylic paint, but I also enjoy jewellery making, digital art, paper figures or words when I feel poetic. I want the people that need to see my art be able to find it. I’m hoping I can put more emotion into my brush to inspire others.

I like weird art and weird things. I am a queer and creative young person and like to try out lots of different creative things like music, photography, and anything to do with art of any kind. I am inspired by emotions. Whenever I have a certain feeling like anger or depression – I paint it. Most of the paintings I have are red and blue because it related to feelings of anger and depression at the same time. I use grey-led pencil, acrylic paint and posca pens. I also sometimes digital art on my laptop.  

My goals for the future as an artist is to continue to build my skills and try and learn about as many different creative things and mediums as possible.

When I was about 1 years old, my Mum saw how much I enjoy drawing and as I got older my Mum encouraged me to draw and still to this day, I have found even more passion to continue to share my stories, ideas and opinions through my character designs. Ironically, my friends because they inspire me to do unique drawings. Songs I listen to are also what inspires me to create what I produce. I mainly work with digital and tradition art. I have been practicing animation.

My goals in the future as an artist is to be able to make commission pieces and design, produce and sell art that I create.

Known as “Shiro” to those close to her, this General Practitioner of over seventeen years from Shepparton, embarked on an unexpected artistic journey, unveiling the profound depths of human emotions, influenced by the six senses during the global pandemic

Dr Shiro is a beloved GP known for her empathy and ability to “see” her patients. Their journey is important to her and her mantra is, “All we can do in this life is to be our best and do the best we can.”

A mantra she not only believes in but brings to life through her art and her service to the community.

I have had MS since the early 80’s when I was newly married & in my 20’s. I was lucky enough to manage without a wheelchair until about 20 years ago. I picked up a paint brush during our epic covid lockdown. You may see me zooming around town in my powered wheelchair. Nothing’s stopping me now!

At the forefront of everything, I’m an animal lover. I’ve spent countless hours studying and training them, playing and sharing my life with them. Fantasy has also always been a very big escape and part of my life. I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil, and I started seriously studying digital art when I was 12.

Primarily, I draw digitally, but recently have been expanding into working on paper with pencils, ink and posca paint pens. Digitally, I use a tablet and an art program, most recently an iPad with the Apple pencil and the software “Procreate” to draw custom artwork for other people and myself.

However I enjoy all forms of creation, music, physical crafts, or visual art. I used to crochet, and the last year have been starting embroidery art and sewing. I find inspiration in most everything, the beauty of life is very motivating to participate in and capture – predominantly it is my closest friends that inspire my art the most. My favourite reason for creating is someone’s joy and reaction when I gift them art I have made.

I would love for this in future to lead into creating merchandise. Shirts, stickers, pins, patches, art prints, even my sewing, such as creating pet collars, bandanas, leashes, and potentially even functional and nice clothes for both humans and pets.

My name is Kody Bothwell, and I created KB’s Art and Design. I have lived in Shepparton all my life. I live with a genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis or NF1 for short.  This has impacted my life and my family’s life as many of my family members have it as well. NF1 makes tumors form on the nerve tissues either internal or external and in my case, it’s formed an optic nerve glioma tumor which is entwined with the optic nerves from my eyes and has made me legally blind.  NF has greatly impacted my life as I have a speech impediment, and my right side shakes all the time, and I also walk with a limp and have now got epilepsy.

I have been in and out of hospitals since I was 8 years old and have been through chemo and hormone injections and I have had many surgeries as well. I have had this ever since I was 6 months old and over the years this has made my life harder to do normal things that other people take for granted.

When I was at school, I had lot of bulling from all year levels which made me feel unwanted and depressed. The bullying effected my whole family, but I pushed through and continued to go to school daily when I didn’t have appointments. We had many troubling times, but we always managed to support each other through it.  I had many people telling me that I can’t achieve my goals and that I should focus on a different career path. This was not what I wanted so I set out to prove them all wrong. With the help of my family and many support services provided for me through the NDIS I worked hard to achieve my goal and produce my very own business.

Even though I live with a disability, my passion for art has helped me overcome all the negativity that I have had over the years, and I want to inspire others with what I am doing with my art and workshops, that if you face a barrier in life that there is always a way around it. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.

I am very thankful for everyone that has helped and supported me and believed in me when I got out of school cause if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

My name is Kerrie Raglus. I was born in Colac, a large, semi-coastal town located in the Otway region of Australia in 1963.

Early on in my life, I was inspired to be creative by my Nanny Doyle; a keen gardener, who took up painting; attending night classes in her 70’s to learn the skill of oil painting. I remember sitting and talking with her whilst she would paint and these moments of watching her create are some of my favourite childhood memories. As my passion grew, my high school Art teacher Sheila O’Leary also played an important role in my fascination for art. Sheila nurtured my desire to be creative and encouraged me to experiment with different forms and elements. Artworks by both these remarkable women feature strongly in my home as a constant reminder of the profound impact they have had on my creative and artistic development. It was through these two women that I realized that art is a big part of who I am.

I finished my secondary schooling in the late 70’s at Rushworth High School. Art was my favourite subject, but sadly it was not offered as a Form 6 option, so I left school and headed to the city to study Visual Merchandising at the Melbourne College of Decoration, dreaming of becoming one of the team in charge of creating the Myer Christmas windows. It was here I learnt about colour theories, depth and space and how to balance these elements to create images and environments that spark interest and draw attention to the eye.

After several family moves around the state of Victoria, Rushworth became my future hometown, making me a “near local” of 45 years. I happened to fall in love with a local lad, Wayne and the rest, as they say, is history! We have raised four wonderful children, enjoy spending time with them and our nine grandkids whenever we can and making memories with them on our farm.

Whilst our kids were growing up, I ran a market-based business called Kerrie’s Crafty Bits. I travelled around Victoria near and far to attend community markets and stocked stores in Deniliquin, Geelong and Mansfield and even dabbled in party plan style events. I returned to work at Rushworth P-12 College, and it is a place I continue to love working at. Over the years some of my roles have enabled me to fulfil my passion of being creative and to be able to utilise my artistic abilities, especially through school events such as the Mini Markets.

In 2015, I was ‘cajoled’ to attend an Art journal workshop run by Liz O’Byrne from Echuca. It was a fantastic two days; I loved it and was eager for more. The sense to be free with expression and get in touch with feelings and moods were highlights for me. I found Art Journaling very cathartic after losing my dear Dad in January 2014. Initially grief and emotion filled my journal pages, but amongst those pages were ones filled with experiment, wonder, colours and movement.

When the word COVID became common place in 2020 and we spent a lot of time at home, journaling became one of my main coping mechanisms to work through the various lockdowns we have all endured. Journaling was a great tool to have in my mental health kit bag, as it was a great space to escape to, clear my mind, reflect on feelings and clarify thought processes.

With my passion for art having been rekindled, when I saw the “100-day project” gaining momentum on Instagram in January 2021, I felt I was ready to make a commitment to, and hopefully sustain a daily practice for my Art. The 100-day project is held world-wide and can use any creative pursuit, with the only proviso being to post what you created each day on your social media page. With encouragement and inspiration from another dear Art muse, Frankie O (who has completed two 365-day projects), around day forty-three, she encouraged me to “get out” of the journal and work on a range of surfaces, which I did. Towards the end of the project, I knew I didn’t want to stop or lose that daily connection creating with my Art and my now growing cheer squad.

The concept for my “Embrace Imperfection” exhibition was to celebrate my achieving my 100-day goal and to share my Art away from an electronic screen and to share it with people in real life. The title is a shout out to others that it’s ok to just create. Too many of us (including me) sometimes get caught up in creating a perfect image or piece and often what we need to do is just be free and explore movement.

I work primarily with water colour and acrylic paint and my Art is mostly drawn from feelings or emotions that are just under the surface. Not a lot of pre-planned thought goes into it. If anything, I pop some watercolours or acrylic paints on papers and then ‘see’ what or has evolved during the day in my mind or in my heart. I currently work from my study at home on our farm and get my inspiration from all sorts of places and things around me. I experiment with different mediums, applications and drawings from the nature around me with an abstract tone. I guess what is unique about my technique and what I continue to explore is a combination of fast, free moving style, creating some specific marks that are mine, and at the other end of the scale; slower more tedious designs that clear the mind and bring clarity to my thoughts.

I am very fortunate to be influenced by lots of artists here in Australia and overseas who create exhilarating images as part of their daily practice and are brave enough to share it with others in today’s challenging world. I hope that I can follow in their footsteps and inspire others to embrace their imperfections and give themselves permission to create.

After my initial Embrace Imperfection Exhibition, the world of workshops opened up for Kez R Art, and 2022-2024 has seen me deliver lots of workshops around the Goulburn Valley and beyond to a wide variety of audiences. Kez prides herself on creating a safe, inclusive and supportive space for people to create in.

Reinvention when you lose your sense of self 

In 2018, Marli Kelly was working in public relations when she noticed her health deteriorating. Soon after, she was diagnosed with progressive Multiple Sclerosis [MS], a disease that affects the body’s central nervous system. With MS, the body’s immune system attacks myelin, the protective layer around nerve fibres, causing inflammation and lesions and making it difficult for the brain to send signals to rest of the body.

It was very aggressive, and she deteriorated rapidly so had to medically retire. She says she was completely devastated and no longer knew who she was. Her work defined her and losing that led to a huge impact on her self-esteem.

Always creative she started playing with flowers making things, foraging and growing her own blooms (with very hit and miss results). Implementing her knowledge of event management, she combined her love of making things with bringing people together to share art activities with flowers.

The rest is history. Marli Kelly Designs now runs numerous workshops with wreaths, floral crowns and installation pieces. Reinvention came accidentally almost but Marli is now able to have things to look forward to even when she has bad days.

On this world MS day my theme is cancelling out what is not needed. I’ve entered a time where the teacher has become the student. The child I raised and taught how to dress herself and tie her shoes is now having to help do that for me. Surviving that journey is humbling. There’s a reason the Bible says be still and know that I am God. In the noise and frantic chaos, we can’t hear the wisdom – the quiet wisdom. Somehow, I’m more solid in my spirit than I was before. Anything that’s not for you needs to go. Here’s to all the MS warriors who fight this battle everyday you’re awesome.

When I just started high school, I met a friend who was into art as a hobby. I got more interested with how they expressed themselves through their art, and it quickly became a way to cope with difficulties that I was not used to dealing with. My interests was mostly anime because I was just starting to watch anime around that time and trying to find what makes me happy. I don’t really look up to anyone, not that I don’t like anything, I’m just simply content with doing what I love. I mostly do digital art, rarely actually drawing on paper. I have done one or two paintings; they are mostly around home. I honestly want to continue drawing as a hobby, a way to cope with the world around me.

Shepparton Access is a registered charity and not for profit organisation that provides services and supports to people with disability within the Goulburn Valley. The art-able project has provided are-able and Shepparton Access an opportunity to collaborate and celebrate their talented participants. Shepparton Access is an innovative and empowering organisation who support our community and their participant’s in building their capacities in all aspects of their lives. Shepparton Access operates successful social enterprises such as the Ecostore, EcoCafe and the Goulburn Valley EcoPark.

These social enterprises provide real opportunities for the enhancement of their participant’s skill sets in a supportive environment. Shepparton Access’ EcoCafe was selected as finalist in the 2024 Greater Shepparton SPC Business Excellence Awards and recognised in the Excellence in Customer Service: Retail/Hospitality Services category. Their mission has always been to create an inclusive space that fosters respect and understanding, offering opportunities for people with disabilities to work and connect. The art-able exhibition is honoured to display artworks from their awesome participants!

The Shepparton Flexible Learning Centre (SHFLC) is one of four campuses of the North East Flexible Learning Network, situated at 100 Wilmot Road, Shepparton. The focus is on re-engaging Shepparton’s vulnerable young people with education and to support them to participate positively with the Shepparton and wider communities.

Site Principal Michelle Sheehan and her team at SHFLC provide individualised learning opportunities for their students in a welcoming and safe environment. SHFLC is more than just a school. It is a space for their students to engage in wholesome programs collaborating with local community organisations. They strive to build connections for their students with the community and to also support their students in building meaningful and relevant life skills. The art-able exhibition will display various artworks from their incredibly talented students.

As a kid, I grew up watching Astro Boy, which lead me down the path of other Anime’s which inspired me to share my own stories by creating books and card game. So Welcome to the Jungle! What inspires me, is the knowledge behind different types of arts and media. My art form is written. All words, that make sense to me with a hint a music playing in the background. My goals for the future as an artist is to have my mental universe shared with as many people as I can.