Poatina Arts Village

I had never been to Tasmania when my beautiful friend Gabby asked me to fill in for her as a tutor in Painting & Drawing for the Faith & The Arts workshops held in the small village of Poatina 45 mins south-west of Launceston. The entire village is owned by Fusion International, a Christian social justice organisation with a strong focus on community action through arts engagement. Though I’m not much of a religious person I found the social justice and community engagement through arts practice philosophy completely in line with my approach to arts as a means of community connection. During several days of rain my students participated in drawing and painting exercises focused on still-life before proceeding to their own interpretations for the remainder of the workshop period. The women were wholeheartedly committed arriving in our classroom each day and working with quiet enthusiasm to achieve a small body of work by the conclusion of the workshop. The village was peaceful, the people were great, my students were wonderful and the scenery is amazing! It was an excellent experience. July sees an 4 dayArtists Retreat and future Faith & the Arts workshops will feature glass and ceramics electives when the new warehouse studio is built. I have not used glass before and I am excited at the possibilities of combining ceramics and glass in single sculputural objects. The association with Fusion at Poatina is still new but I hope it is a connection that will develop rich collaborations in the future.