Kaleidoscope Expressive Arts

30/11/2025

Recycling painty pages with my fiskers circle punch on a slow, tidy-the-studio type day. Sustainable making, recycling and ethical crafting is deeply embedded in my practice, so good to clip these circles to save for collages, tag art, gift tags and card making.

28/11/2025

Accidental dyeing. Fabric literally just scrunched up and thrown into the dye pot. 3/4 submerged in brown onion skin dye. Accidentally creating beautiful things. That’s why I chose kaleidoscope as my business name, the essence of the kaleidoscope is seeking beauty in the accidental, imperfect, the pieces, the process…

27/11/2025

Japan Joy 14
Your journal becomes a companion and listening ear, especially if you travel solo like I did. Recording my experiences in my travel journal was a delight, one of my favourite Japan joys. To sit at the end of the day and record a moment of interaction, a sight I might forget, the smells, tastes, sounds of the cities, wild places, streets and nightlife. Recording it for me. To lock it in and savour, organise a thought or ask a question I didn’t have to answer. Highly recommend an expressive art travel journal practice.

24/11/2025

Mark making. Letting curiosity lead, lifting the focus off “making art” and holding the intention of self care and therapeutic space is the difference between an art workshop and expressive arts as therapy. Self expression is so vital to our sense of self and tends to our mental health and the great news is that it is a learned skill. Using art processes is a gentle and nourishing way to self check in, self express and create moments of self awareness and mental health care. Booking link is in my bio.

20/11/2025

Indigo Masterclass 5 Japan
This is not a patched haori, this is the woven essence of humanity deeply anchored in sustainability, a celebration of imperfection, the beauty of repair, a cloth that reveals a story, the showcasing of ancient knowings that extending the lifespan of fabric has merit and matters. Boro: to mend, repair, patch, extend the lifespan of cloth that is not hidden, but is opportunity for beauty, wonder and story. Honoured to experience this fabric on my shoulders, and experience over 100 years of sashiko and stitching under my finger tips. Pure wonderment.
🤍 📷 🙏

20/11/2025

Japan Joy 13
Sumi ink brush calligraphy experience. I never knew that brush calligraphy was a whole body calling. The slightly tilt of the brush, changing pressures: lift, apply pressure… making the brush stroke with one’s whole body… so much admiration for my sensei. She told me I was a good student 😂 now she might say that to everyone but I did do enjoy her patient tutelage and we had lots of laughs despite our language barrier. I loved learning the history of Sumi ink and really felt that added to my experience of painting with it. An ancient and special ink.

19/11/2025

Indigo Masterclass 4 Japan
The unveiling of my first indigo dyed piece is mesmerising. The details, oh my! The cotton string has made pleats and creases that become the unintentional design. The blue is so alive. After washing the fabric the pure white and indigo blue contrast is so vivid, particularly while it is wet. I am entranced.

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17/11/2025

Let art take you to a quiet place. Space where you can go slow, breathe, observe your thoughts, allow your body to feel, be grounded, find safety, pleasure, a sense of aliveness. Bookings still open. See you at Annerley!

16/11/2025

Indigo Masterclass 3 Japan
Harnessing the power of nature and time the dried and harvested indigo leaves are fermented. The mound of fermenting indigo was hot under my touch and smelt earthy like healthy compost. This ancient Sukumo process produces the most mesmerising deep indigo blue. The vat I used for my first indigo dyeing experience was last year’s harvest. I’m already hooked on this slow and intentional method of dyeing and I can’t wait to share my first finished fabric piece.

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13/11/2025

12/11/2025

Japan Joy 11
Autumn leaves. The leaves are morphing into every shade of red, orange and yellow. It seems every street has a tree changing its summer coat, love, love, loving the autumn here. Being from Brisbane I don’t see much autism so this feels very precious and joyful.
🍁 🍂🍁

11/11/2025

Japan Joy 10
There. Are. No. Words.