Hi and welcome to the October Newsletter, hope it finds you well. It has been a very busy month or so at ann.russell.art and November looks like being almost as busy. As I am now working most weekends, I generally take Mondays as my day off, so if you could bear that in mind when you are trying to contact me, I'd really appreciate it.

Classes & Workshops

There are numerous workshops on offer, so make sure you drop in to the "learn" section of the website to see what's on offer. When you do, you will now see a "Class Schedule" option on the menu. This allows you to see the class timetable for any given week, but please note, you can only book individual sessions by this means. If you want to book an entire course, a one on one session or block of workshops, you will still need to do so via the main service list or you can contact me directly.

If you are a beginner or would like to go over the basics again, I highly recommend the Drawing 101 class to give you what you need to start or continue your creative journey. The next one starts on Saturday October 19th, 1 - 3pm.

If you have completed Drawing 101 or have some experience under your belt and would like to continue honing your visual voice, I would recommend either "Cultivating Creativity" or "Drawing Up" to do this. Cultivating creativity will allow people to pursue media and subjects that are of particular interest to them interspersed with more structured sessions around topics which may be helpful to class members e.g. colour theory. If you are interested, you can book via the button below. Cost and payment is as per all other term time classes.

Don't forget that you can do a no obligation one time trial lesson for $20. Drawing Up is similar but with a more specific 5 session program and the final sessions of Drawing 101 and Drawing Up for the year are currently underway. Don't worry, though, both will be back again next year!

I have also added times where you can book a one on one NDIS session (found on either the Art for Adults or Art Therapy and Creativity pages). These sessions are for one or two hour blocks and are charged at $67.50 an hour and are for NDIS participants and an accompanying support worker. The sessions you can book are 1-3 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 9 - 12 on Thursdays and Fridays. The way the booking system works means that you may not be able to book the exact start time within those hours that you are wanting, but, book the closest suitable time for you and then send me an email to adjust it for you. I will also need to collect all your NDIS info so I can invoice your care plan directly, and I am currently working on a form for this.

Full day retreats happen on the third Sunday of the month and are a chance to spend the whole day concentrating on creativity and relaxation. There will be no retreat in December this year, but we will kick off with the "Design your Life" retreat in January next year.

The October retreat was once again Gum Blossoms in watercolour and the following are some of the awesome results. This particular retreat will be repeated on November 17 and I believe there is a few spots left.

Due to a request I will also be repeating the Mixed Media mindfulness retreat on November 3rd, which also has some vacancies.

All prices include class materials. Term time classes are still be able to be booked per class or for blocks of 2, 5 or a full term of sessions. You can also request a one on one class or session, but please note there is an additional cost for these sessions.

I have moved the Tuesday kids art class to Fridays as of this coming week. Time will also be 3:30 to 5:00pm and I will be adjusting the website to reflect this change very soon.

The following is a list of classes currently available. Click on the title of the class to go to more information about it and to book.

Kids Art

Beyond Watercolour

Introduction to Watercolour

Cultivating Creativity

Drawing 101

Drawing Up

Retreat: Mixed Media Mindfulness

Retreat: Gum Blossoms in Watercolour

Open Studio

I am now a part of Tawny Trails, a local initiative that encourages creative living. As part of this, my studio will now be open the last Sunday of every month (unless specified otherwise) for you to drop by, see me working, look at some of my work or make a purchase. I will be conducting an extra Christmas-themed class on the date for November. Stay tuned for more details and click on the button below for more info about Tawny Trails.

Store

Shipping is now free for all orders over $50, $5 for delivery in the local area; and $10 flat rate for standard shipping anywhere else in Australia.

Featured Product: Storybook Forest. $75 framed as pictured.

Blog

This month's blog is a bit of a chat about Art and the Environment as manifest in some of my art works such as "Evanescence" as above and below.