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Transformation | International Youth Day 2026 🤍Last month, we celebrated International Youth Day 2026 through Transforma...
05/09/2026

Transformation | International Youth Day 2026 🤍

Last month, we celebrated International Youth Day 2026 through Transformation — a community exhibition honouring the creativity, courage and voices of young people.

As an art therapist and volunteer with Heal.ed Tribe , I felt incredibly privileged to support the young artists throughout the process — from sitting alongside them as they created, to helping curate and install their work.

There is something powerful about witnessing a thought, feeling or experience transform through art into something visible, tangible and shared. These artworks became more than individual expressions; together, they created a collective story of resilience, connection and hope.

Dust Temple provided the perfect space for this transformation to unfold, and we couldn’t have asked for a warmer or more caring community to welcome us for our VIP and opening nights.

I’m deeply grateful to be part of Heal.ed Tribe and this wonderful team of women, creating spaces where young people can feel seen, heard and empowered to transform their stories. 🤍

We Used to Put Two Balloons Down Our Tops as We Sang and Danced to DollyWe didn’t just listen to Dolly Parton. We became...
26/08/2026

We Used to Put Two Balloons Down Our Tops as We Sang and Danced to Dolly

We didn’t just listen to Dolly Parton. We became Dolly Parton.Two balloons down our tops. A hairbrush microphone. A high energy lounge-room performance.

At the time, Dolly was simply fun: larger than life, colourful, glamorous and completely unapologetic. But as we grow older, we sometimes look back at the artists who shaped us and discover there was more to them than we understood.

Dolly’s success didn’t stop at music. Through the Dollywood Foundation, her Imagination Library has given millions of children access to books, alongside her wider philanthropy supporting education, literacy, disaster relief and communities in need.

That makes me see her differently.

As a child, I admired the performance. As an adult, I’m more interested in what she did with the platform the performance gave her.
What did she do with her fame and fortune?
Where did she find meaning beyond the glitter, costumes and, frankly, very impressive hair? And who benefited from her success?

Perhaps outliving our childhood icons gives us an opportunity to see them differently. Not just for what they achieved, but for what they chose to do with it. The little girl with two balloons down her top didn’t care about any of this. She just knew Dolly was worth singing along to. The adult version of her understands something more:

The true measure of an artist isn’t merely their journey to fame and a good performance. It’s also about the platforms they create within their community to give others an opportunity to become their most creative and authentic expression of self.

What if personal growth isn’t about becoming better, but learning how to let the light through?This year Ive embarked on...
08/08/2026

What if personal growth isn’t about becoming better, but learning how to let the light through?

This year Ive embarked on learning to facet stones (see image of 4 I’ve created so far) and it’s challenged my perfectionism and patience more than I expected.

Faceting is precision. Every cut has a critical angle. Get it right and light enters, reflects and returns as brilliance. Get it wrong—even slightly—and the light is lost. It’s technical, skills are layered and it’s also been a valuable lesson in reflecting on being human.

I keep wanting to perfect every facet. To correct. Refine. Control. But a stone already has a structure. You can’t force it into perfection. You have to understand what’s there—and work with it.

Maybe personal growth is the same.

How much of our lives is spent trying to fix ourselves? We optimise. Reshape. Improve. Chase the “better” version.

But what if growth isn’t about cutting away our imperfections? What if it’s about discovering our own critical angles—the places where we bend, shift , experience or see differently—and learning how to let more light through?

Our brilliance may not be something we impose on the stone. Perhaps it’s something we uncover through collaboration with the stone, the geometry, the light, the machine and the maker. The goal isn’t to become flawless. It’s to learn how to work with the multifaceted material we already are.

08/08/2026

F O U R T H

Learning faceting has been one hell of a journey! This is my fourth and final stone to hand in and complete my apprenticeship…. Fingers crossed I pass.

When AI Images Arrive Before Imagination: What Do We Lose When We Stop Envisioning the World Ourselves?I’ve been thinkin...
07/08/2026

When AI Images Arrive Before Imagination: What Do We Lose When We Stop Envisioning the World Ourselves?

I’ve been thinking about imagination while painting.

Recently, through an emergent and spontaneous painting process, I created a figure. As I spent time with her, I began to wonder: Who was she? What had she experienced? What was she thinking?

The longer I dwelled with the painting, the more a quiet dialogue emerged. I wasn’t consciously creating a story. I was listening, noticing and allowing something to unfold.

This is what I love about being an artist.

The painting becomes a space where imagination meets curiosity.

Research into imagination and future thinking suggests that our ability to mentally simulate possibilities supports planning, emotional regulation, decision-making and our capacity to envision futures that don’t yet exist.

But imagination is more than creativity.

It is a gateway to possibility, empathy and critical thought.

In a world where AI can generate almost any image or idea in seconds, I wonder what happens when we stop sitting in the uncertainty of not knowing.

When we no longer dwell.

When the image arrives before the imagination.

*writing continued in comments …

J O Y … isn’t just a feeling, it’s a practice 🌻
14/07/2026

J O Y … isn’t just a feeling, it’s a practice 🌻

Compartmentalising isn’t about avoiding emotions—it’s about creating enough space to manage them.In art therapy, we ofte...
08/07/2026

Compartmentalising isn’t about avoiding emotions—it’s about creating enough space to manage them.

In art therapy, we often explore the difference between parking emotions and burying them. Healthy compartmentalising allows us to stay present with what needs our attention now, while trusting we’ll return to process what we’ve set aside.

Creative expression offers that return point. Through image-making, colour, and reflection, art therapy provides a safe space to unpack what has been compartmentalised before it becomes emotional overload.

The goal isn’t to suppress emotions—it’s to hold them with intention, allowing us to move through life’s many roles with greater clarity, resilience, and self-awareness.

When nature becomes the boardroom.Recently, I had the privilege of facilitating a Land workshop for Social Agility as pa...
03/07/2026

When nature becomes the boardroom.

Recently, I had the privilege of facilitating a Land workshop for Social Agility as part of their Legacy Leadership program at Elements of Byron.

We began by slowing down.

Through grounding and presence-based art therapy practices, participants shifted from the pace of leadership into a space of reflection, curiosity and awareness. Because how we lead others begins with how we lead ourselves.

Inspired by the local Indigenous totems—the brush turkey, pied oystercatcher and sea eagle—we explored resilience, perspective, groundedness and our place within something greater than ourselves.

Then we stepped onto the beach.

Together, we created a spiral in the sand—an ancient symbol of the inward and outward journey—and reflected:

• What am I ready to leave behind?
• What am I choosing to carry forward?

Surrounded by the ocean, the lighthouse and an ever-changing sky, nature became both teacher and metaphor.

This is the power of combining art therapy, creativity and the natural environment. Insight becomes embodied, creating space to reconnect with our values and return with greater clarity, presence and intention.

Thank you to Social Agility for inviting me to be part of your Legacy Leadership journey.

Sometimes the most meaningful leadership conversations begin where there is space to pause, reflect and remember what matters most.

30/06/2026

My third attempt at faceting.

I love learning new skills, especially the ones that stretch me… usually by testing my patience.

There’s something extraordinary about taking a rough stone through each careful stage of shaping and polishing until it reaches clarity. Then, almost suddenly, the light catches it and it sparkles from every angle.

A reminder that beauty isn’t rushed—it’s revealed over time 💎

Marks on paper are never just marks.Reflecting on my first Release & Realign workshop in Burringbar, I was reminded that...
28/06/2026

Marks on paper are never just marks.

Reflecting on my first Release & Realign workshop in Burringbar, I was reminded that a single line, shape or colour can hold what words cannot.

As art therapists, we know that some experiences are held beyond language. Before we can tell our stories, our bodies, emotions and sensory memories have already encoded them. Through simple mark-making, people can begin to externalise their internal world creating a bridge to curiosity, reflection and meaning in pursuit of knowing ourselves more deeply.

With nothing more than paper, gentle guidance, a selection of art materials and permission to create, participants expressed parts of themselves that had long remained unspoken. Research is increasingly supporting what art therapists have witnessed for decades. A 2024 systematic review found that visual arts therapies can improve wellbeing and quality of life following trauma, particularly within group settings where safety, connection and shared meaning-making are central.

In addition to the creative and transformative process of bilateral drawing, a powerful moment presented during this workshop that involved my Labrador, Felix. His quiet presence evoked memories of a participant’s childhood dog we will name - King. This complimented the creative process, opening the door to long term memories, stories of love, grief and a lifelong journey of repair that followed.

It was a beautiful reminder that our experience is often sensory before it is cognitive. Whether through colour, texture, movement or the presence of a trusted fury companion, change begins with an experience that helps us feel safe enough to go between a grounding anchor and reconnecting with the ‘lost parts’ of ourselves. Welcoming them back home.

Art therapy is rarely about creating beautiful artwork, although it can be a wonderful byproduct at times.

It’s more about creating the conditions where insight can emerge, feelings can be felt, stories can be witnessed and people can begin making sense of their inner experience.

As I sit with my morning cup of tea, I’m in awe of the beautiful alchemy this modality can bring to our human experience.

Have a wonderful week.
Anna
References:
Haeyen, S., et al. (2024). Visual arts therapies for trauma: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology; and contemporary trauma-informed literature exploring creative expression, sensory processing and emotional regulation.

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Gold Coast, QLD

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