My natural sense of empathy for people in challenging situations motivates me to want to make a meaningful connection with them through my art.
Before connecting with Flourish Australia in mid 2023 I spent time in the local Community Care Unit where I met an Indigenous Worker named Gordon who was a lifesaver for me. I’d been living alone in a shed at the time he invited me to join his Indigenous Art Classes. I couldn’t even draw a stick but he encouraged me to give it a go and it blew me away! I got into ‘the flow’, a state of mind coined by Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi where you live fully in the moment and shut out unnecessary disturbances.
I think of nothing else while creating art which is so therapeutic I often devote up to eight hours a day to it. When I suffer insomnia, it brings me relief, and dot painting brought me through moments of suicidal ideation. Creating art made such a profound difference to my mental health recovery that I want to share the experience with others who are struggling.
Social interaction comes with the territory. I once heard a neighbour coughing and it turned out she had cancer, so I thought it would be nice to do a painting for her and when I gave it to her she cried and said ‘This is just the best thing!’. I could relate to what she was going through because I had a difficult time myself growing up and experienced a lot of trauma. For me, art is a way of processing some of that and expressing empathy to people.
To show my appreciation to a doctor who had been very nice to me, I gifted him one of my pictures and he told me his wife loved it! He often asks how the art is going, which I get a real kick out of.
As I’ve become comfortable connecting with people through art, I’ve set my sights on becoming a Peer Support Worker and perhaps progressing to a role as an Art Therapist.
I currently volunteer with NEAMI mental health services at Strathpine in Queensland, showing people how to make bookmarks with Indigenous designs, and I’ve enrolled in a Certificate III Community Services at the Ashley Institute of Training at North Lakes in Queensland.
These days I spend less time alone feeling isolated because I teach art in my garage on weekends. I enjoy posting my latest pictures on facebook and getting my name out there has led to a restaurant in Sandgate showing interest in my work. The positive feedback has helped me to restore a healthy connection with my Aboriginal identity.
I feel inspired to one day take this to the next level. Flourish Australia encouraged me by arranging trips to Redcliffe Hospital for a radio chat about my art, and to a disability expo up the coast where I could show my art.
It’s thanks to Flourish Australia and others who have come alongside me that I now have a place of my own and the passion for helping others on their recovery journey.
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