The second cARTwheel Collaborative exhibition has wrapped up. The walls at Percolator Gallery are once again bare and wait quietly and expectantly for the next group of hopeful artists to mark their presence on Brisbane’s art scene.

Being part of this creative community is wonderful! I think every artist can benefit from surrounding yourself with like-minded artsy peeps. My little group began quite by chance after a callout on Facebook. From there we held our first show in 2013 and EIGHT of us exhibited at Percolator for 2 weeks. This 2015 show we had 4 artists and we had the space for 5 days. Boy, it seemed to fly by. I felt that just as we finished hanging….it was all over!

Every time we’ve exhibited I’ve learned so much about what is required to manage your own exhibition. Choosing the date, flyers, photographs, pricing, entertaining on Opening Nights, rostering, selling, schmoozing, payment facilities and so much more.

This time I felt like I really “owned” it – what I produced came from years of experimenting and learning and moving into my own style and headspace.

I’m incredibly proud of my current work. For some, being proud of what you’ve achieved and saying it out loud, it is unnatural. It was for me for a long time, but I love this series and I have more canvases ready to go in different sizes and slightly different compositions. I can’t wait to begin.

Thank you again to those that came out in support. Thank you to my fellow collaborators Carol Lee Beckx, Janine Whitling and Vicki Donaldson. It’s been a wonderful experience.