In December 2022 I was selected for a Varuna Arts NT fellowship to work on a collection of poems written in response to the Black Summer fires. One of these poems - a burnt forest - received Highly Commended in the 2023 NT Literary Awards. Another one of these poems - afterwards - is published here at the FERAL Journal of Poetry and Art.

a burnt forest

akin to a cemetery

with marking posts

a tree stands at the centre

formidable

an outer layer of bark charred black

begins to strip back

peeling

revealing

a soft flush tender new skin

vulnerable

at the base new shoots blossom

like roses sprinkled

at the feet

an offering to the dead

and to

the living

With a Masters in Experiential & Creative Arts Practice, I am curious about how we can use different modes of art to enrich our lives by tapping into a deeper, embodied knowing. How can we move beyond the analytical mind of what we think we already know? In our busy lives, it’s easy to find ourselves feeling fragmented and separated from our inner worlds - whether that be our bodies, our mind, a higher consciousness, our spirituality, or a deeper knowing. We each have our own way of talking about connecting with that part of ourselves which helps us to feel less fragmented and more wholehearted.

When we make the time to look deeper into our embodied knowing through art exploration, we can often be surprised and sometimes stretched in new ways. We can land in moments of clarity as loose threads of insight weave together or, perhaps, when they unravel.

I am available for arts-based therapy, whether it be with individuals or groups. Email for more information or book individual sessions here.

If therapeutic art is a way to come to a deeper embodied knowing of the layers within us, then group singing is a way to reach out beyond self to join hands with the other.

Since 2014 I have been singing with a small group of women called the Splinter Sisters who meet weekly to sing songs from different parts of the world and sometimes indulge in tea and cake. Always there is joy and laughter and sometimes there are goosebumps and tears. I have sometimes led songs from the front, from within the circle, other times I have been a part of the chorus led by another. Always I leave bubbling over with joy and heartfelt connection with my fellow songbirds.

Now a graduate of the Littlebird Songleader Flight School for community songleading, I am more excited than ever to share songs that bring people together through a collective state of mindful breath, movement, melody, and harmony.

If you are in mparntwe and interested in singing with others, please sing out! Get in touch via email below.