When the team at Empire reached out and asked, 'hey would you be insterested in create a Spring design for our windows?' I was of course going to say yes! I love any opportunity to leave a splash of colour and being spring themed with a prompt, critters, insects was the obvious choice for me. 
The ever present and sometimes overlooked classic spring partner. I instantly thought about the joy that comes from bending down to inspect the colourful blooms only to discover a bee buzzing through the same patch. I've watched countless times someone bent over trying to capture the perfect photo of the quickly moving critter. 

I have such a love of drawing and painting insects, they lend so naturally to to colour blocking, patterns and compartmentising. All the things that make my brain tickle with joy when I am in the thick of the creative process. 

Painting pubically is also one of my favourite ways to connect with community, with many people stopping by to ask questions, cracks a joke or two (you missed a spot is always a classic) and to just stop for a moment and watch. 

I had many questions this time about my mark up process. I experienced a far amount of anxiety this time around, not because of my ability to actually draw or scale the objects but more so working with my body and not against it. With the weather warming up, the scale of the pieces and the need to hold my arm vertical for so long I was really mindful about my ability  to even finish the pieces with my chronic health condititions. Blood pooling and draining is a major consideration in my life so I needed a way to get the designs up quickly and accurately. A projector or doodle grid really wasn't going to work thanks to the surface being glass. And then thank you lightbulb moment, it's glass! I took my digital drawings I created on my tablet and turned them into budget posters, and thanks to the wonder that is an at home printer, tape and bluetac what would have taken twice the time was done in no time. Thanks technology. 

The windows will be on display till the first week of October, so please swing by grab a selfie and enjoy the colour! And why not pop into a show at the theatre!

As spring comes into bloom so does all our local cultural activations, which means I need to limber up my painting arm and start getting ready for the marathon that is the next few months. Creatively and career wise I spend a lot of time trying to keep my mind, body and life in balance as best a possible knowing what the next 8 weeks will look like for me each year. 

Getting ready or keeping creatively fit involves a lot of doing, a lot of play and almost thoughtless mostly response making. It helps ground my ideas and practice moving onward without the stress of outcome. Outcomes happen regardless sometimes they are great, sometimes they won't ever see the light of day and that's ok too. 

Journalling helps me acheive that, plus there is something utterly delicious about thumbing through an art book, it shifts from functional project to art object in itself.  Collage has been my place of happiness lately, I mean it has been for a while but the act of making, dissambling and remaking really does tickly my brain. Plus the oh so delightful physicality of it all, the feel of the paper surfaces as you layer, weave, cut and tear them......*happy shudders* want to see my real weirdo come out ask me about paper! 

Hats off to Sam from The Field Guide for creating such a fun excuse to play with my food.  If I am toastally being honest I was resolved but not 100% happy with my work, not enough to exclude it obviously but sometimes this is also the process and I am so cool with that.
The breadwinner of this experience was the experience itself. I found it challenging with some similarities in medium qualities to what I feel more experienced with and others so far out of the bag. 
I would 10/10 do it again, and I really hope this fun exhibition will create more opportunities to spread joy, one slice at a time. This was a jampacked exhibition, with a jam-packed opening, and that makes it a toast-worthy idea.

As artists we are often invited to create for a cause, to donate a piece for auction. If I am being honest I am pretty selective about when I agree to this. It's not that I don't want to support, I love that I have that ability when I do. But it has to be acknowledged that it costs artists not only time but actual money in resources.  I say this to be transparent, I am asked to donate on average once a week across a years calendar I am not quiet there yet with that kind of disposable income. (one day hopefully). 
But this one intrigued me I mean glass turntables. The playfulness of the spinning art, the ability to really play with layers, peep holes and texture. And of course the challenge of working on glass, I would be lying if I said it was a walk in the park. 
Each piece was a collection of a moment, images of birds in colours representative of their environment, a deconstruction of reality. Exploring the idea of the fragments of experience that we have in a moment and what we take away. Was it a sound, smell or colour that permiated senses and ultimately what we take with us when we leave. 

Thank you Momentum Mental Health for inviting me to participate the project was fun and I hope that it has helped in some small way to support your much needed supports.

Honestly one of the most exciting moments for an artist is when some says, 'I trust you, just go for it.' 
It was a brief conversation, a remark about a wall being in desperate need for some love and a throw away comment of 'would you like a mural?' 
The next thing I was collecting my basket of ready to go mural supplies, a bit of a snack and my headphones...music is essential. 
I then got to it, I walked around the space with fresh eyes. Music plugged into my ears while students buzzed around doing their own thing. I wanted to get a sense of the space, the shapes, movements, objects and people. There was a beautiful mix of energy, learning, nature and community. A lot going on yet a lot also being acheived. Under the canopy of tall and proud trees with their Autumn leaves hitting the ground I felt myself sink into that creative space. As if all my body had taken a big breath in and my shoulders relaxed. 

Out came the chalk, brushes and paint and up went the marks. The room was surrounded with glass and almost immediately I found students reconfiguring their activities so they could do them within view, they were curious about what was going on. Some of the middle years popped in and asked directly, 'what are you doing?' and when I said painting a mural oh their excited faces was a joy for my eyes. I asked, 'do you want to be a part of the design?' 4 little bodies jumped with excitement and they each made a shape with their individual bodies, some contorted into the oddest oh shapes and we traced around their forms. They picked their base colour and were satisfied to go back to their learning and come back to see the progress. 

The work unfolded really quickly, automatic painting is great for that. The marks are an extension of my hand and also the moment. The colours where choosen to compliment the exisiting space and before I knew it by the end of the day 2 hours later I was as done as I could be. Day two would be ladder day. 

This mural was truly a delight to create, and looking over my shoulder to see small faces squished up against the glass to see it all unfold in real time was an added bonus.  Some of my favourite conversations.

Q - "What will it be?"
A - "When I know you will know, I am just seeing what happens naturally'

Q - "Are you allowed to do that, paint on walls?'
A - 'Yes, I have been given permission to do this, it is great fun. But always ask an adult before you paint on any walls ok."

Thank you Maridahdi Kindergarten and Primary School for the opportunity to create art in your space. I hope it brings joys to your staff and students for a long time.

2024 has kicked off with a bang, with 2 big weeks in the rural town of Goombungee about 45minutes of Toowoomba. I know the town well, I've down community activations and held an exhibtion. It's all a frequent stop of our family drives around the region. The town just has such beauitful personality and energy. The Goombungee Public Hall has been lucky enough to secure funding through Flying Arts Alliance and with local Scott Aldadice dutifully overseeing the logistics it has been a dream for me as an artist. 

Working with communities is so high up on my list, I always sink back into my own childhood living in Outback QLD understanding the duality of lack of arts opportunities and how much of an impact it had on individuals and communities as a whole when they were available. 

Having a community of all ages coming together in a stress-free environment to learn, create and connect is electrifying, seriously there is a real buzz you get from the atmosphere. 

It is also a truly beautiful thing to witness people just jumping in and having a go. Creativity can be such an uncomfortable activity for so many. We all seem to carry an amount of self imposed pressure to be perfect, or a hidden shame of failure, or even a memory where someone made you feel like your art isn't good enough.  And then for whatever reason so many of us stop, and we tell ourselves 'I'm not very artistic', or we hold ourselves to someone else 'my sister is the creative one'. 
As an artist I know that's not true, what we really should be saying is 'I'd love to practice more' because like learning to read or understanding math we all know that we didn't just wake up knowing that information, we learnt it through persistance, dedication, help and error.  Also known as the process of learning. 
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Now I am not saying that everyone wants to be an artist, just like I understand the basics of something that I am about to turn it into my career but I know enough. I also know that if I really wanted to I could learn more and advance my skills. The arts is the same! 
Attending community arts events like this is watching people feel 'not artistic' start to have a go, because it's not as scary and then the joy of accomplishment that they did that. Boy, that really is something beautiful to be a part of. 
I am such an advocate for community arts, I honestly believe every single community should have one free to the public event for me to gather, create and connect. It is an essential step in building stronger communities and connections. 
I still have two more sessions to go at Goombungee and I am honestly lookign forward to them. 
Art for everyone I say.

​ 2023
If you had asked me what this year has been like, I probably would have said slow, easy, a rest period.
But it's funny when you look back on it, so much was actually achieved. The biggest thing in my books was setting out structure and strategies for balance. It would be in implementing these strategies that I would have to say is why I look back on the year and think what a year of low-key rest.
The truth is the studio grew, with more employees and collaborators coming on board.
The studio in itself is a whole other thing. With a growing cohort of regular kids, our adult classes, holiday workshops, private parties, and more.
We attended 4 major festivals, hosted an exhibition, and collaborated with numerous councils and shopping malls. And next year is looking even bigger!
As an artist, I managed to have a solo exhibition, one that I felt was over due. It was beautiful to be able to share a piece of my soul with so many.
A big shout out to Flying Arts Alliance that enabled me to share my business knowledge with hundreds of people this year. I seriously love all things start up and if you'd love to chat about workshops and guest speaker opportunities for next year send me a message.
Public art came in the way of community projects and temporal murals this year. I love painting on things and I think 2024 I'm ready to get back into this a little more.
As a family we travelled over 8000km this year with a mix of for fun and for work. This country is beautiful and I must say I'm a huge fan of the road trip method. Watching the landscape morph and adapt is captivating and truly an essential part of my practice and my cup filling capacity.
Through these adventures, I have witnessed many of Australia's beautiful native species up and close and personal with my family all too patience as I sit and soak up the presence of wildlife in their environment.
I've take so many photos this year I've create a space just for them @stallingphotography on instagram so I don't clog up this page.
Thank you 2023

When the wonderful team at Empire Theatre said, 'hey, would you like to be a part of Thrive this year?' I said yes before even hearing the terms of aggreement. A children's festival celebrating the arts and connection I was already sold before the pitch. A total stop digging you've struck oil situation, and I think they knew they were speaking my love language. 

So it was a to part connection one for Tinker to be able to offer low cost art and craft activities with a STEAM theme for parents and kids to do togther. AND the perfect launch pad for a community arts project. 

With STEAM in mind my brain went instantly to petri dishes, I love the idea of looking at things under a microscope and planning with ideas of micro v macro. There is something unintimidating about working within the confines of the little clear dishes with materials that are designed more for play than drawing. At the beginning the lonely few examples I had made looked pretty sad on our makeshift wall but one by one the piece grew. Sprawling out from an empty space into a larger piece made up of many. 

It was fun to watch families sit and cut and colour, some intricately making one piece and others smashing together bundles. Everyone connects differently with creativity and it is important for me to offer an opportunity for that connection to happen naturally. 

By the end children were proudly dragging their parents back to the wall to point out their miniature masterpiece which would become a fun game of 'have you seen this one'

If I am being honest this activity was a fun one, I'd definitely do it again. The unassuming petri dish was a great dip your toes in for everyone no matter how comfortable they felt in their own creative shoes. 

Thanks for having me Thrive, same time next year!

Work/life balance. This years goal was to build my home studio, and although it hasn't happened yet it is so very exciting because it is the next thing on the to do list. I've marked out the plot, found the company we are going to purchase from and already started a mood board of all the things that are possible. 
A home studio is something I have always dreamed of. We tend to gravitate towards tiny homes, not the super tiny trailer ones (I would though if it were an option) but more then little Queenslanders that's exactly perfect for us and full of character...but lacking in a studio. At home my working space is often a bench, tray table or my lap. AND yes I do 100% have access to the Tinker studio's, that is what I have been using for years so I am not going to pretend my practice doesn't have things available. 
But a dream of mine has always been a tiny building in my yard just for me. There is something magical about that setting and so I've moved it from a one day dream to a priority dream. 
We need to do those things for ourselves, when the timing and availability is right we should be doing that. 
So hopefully soon I will be able to update ya'll on the building progress and give you a tour of the digs. It's public now, it's in writing, it's going to happen!

It is always an honour to be asked by our Regional Art Gallery, lovingly known as TRAG to pop in and host a workshop. The prompt for this session was 'fragments', based on the current exhibition on display.  I immediately knew why they picked me for this, my whole practice explores fragmentation. For me fragmentation goes hand in hand with the habit of collecting.  In a nutshell the process of building a collection is a desire to build a complete and indepth picture through the gathering of smaller pieces: fragments.

Exploring this methology and with children is an interesting and philosophical one. It often feels backwards at the beginning, somewhat odd.  When we are starting a new work we often feel the pressure to 'know' the outcome.  'What's the plan?' is something that I often hear in a classroom setting. In truth, for some that makes sense that is the natural order, to plan out the whole process in your mind before marks even hit the page. For others knowing the ending before the beginning feels like trying to squeeze orange juice from an apple. Sometimes the story comes together as the journey unfolds. Using this methology we start collecting the pieces either physically or visually, waiting for the pieces to allign in a way that feels organic, it is the process informing the product.

Working with the kids in the workshop I wanted to break the workshop in half, two separate pieces that would come together. This felt the most organic way to trigger the process of fragmentation and collection. Through this there were lots of discussion and questions always moving back and fourth bewteen what has been, what is happening and where they are going. Some students playing with representational pieces and others emotional abstraction. It was such a priviledge to watch students play with these really complex concepts and seeing how through the same initial prompt, available resources and set tasks how quickly each of their individual narratives evolved. 
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It was a fun experience and the kids really created some interesting marks along the way. It was a day of creative play and honestly they could have sat there for another hour or two in that deep space of creative discovery.