Join us very a very relaxed end of year celebration. Hang out, enjoy the art, sip some tea, soak up the plant sounds...
A celebration of our creative community, and a chance to do some very chill Christmas shopping!
All of our contributors use their creative process as an active meditation, and that calm energy resonates through the event. The studio will be transformed into an art space and tea lounge with live plant sounds.
You'll see: Sumi-e paintings by Meah Velik-Lord, handmade beaded bracelets by Joelle Parrott, tea and handmade botanical products by Sisu Botanicals, a selection of Jo's art - Sumi-e, etchings, handmade decor and more!
Accessibility: Unfortunately our studio is not wheelchair accessible since access is down a narrow walkway and includes a few stairs. Please feel free to email Jo with any accessibility questions.
About Jo Stewart
Jo has long been fascinated with creating art as a way to work with the mind. She began Sumi-e painting at Mangala Studios at the age of 6 (with Meah!) and her teacher Richard Liddicut also introduced her to yoga and meditation as a creative practice.
She dived deeper into yoga practice while studying visual art and printmaking at RMIT and has explored symbols like mandalas as a way of combining art with meditation. She also loves combining found and recycled materials in her work.
Her work in Tea in Garden includes her recent Sumi-e paintings, relief prints that explore the tension between nature and technology, mandala stencils. Her latest creations are hanging decorations that combine recycled jewellery, sound and handmade ceramics - a collaboration with myra.ceramics.
About Meak Velik-Lord
Meah is the Artistic Director of Travel Art Dance Company, where she teaches classes for adults and children in dance and movement improvisation, Japanese ink painting (sumi-e), and labyrinth walking practices. Meah holds a Diploma in Teaching Creative Dance from Mangala Studios of Yoga and Creative Dance, a Diploma in Dance Movement Therapy from Dance Therapy NZ, and is a Veriditas-trained labyrinth facilitator.
Meah also works as an invertebrate keeper at Melbourne Zoo, and her appreciation for the natural world (particularly its smaller inhabitants!) informs much of her creative and meditative practice.
About Sisu Botanicals
Nellie the founder and creator, is a qualified Naturopath, Aroma Therapist and Medical Herbalist. Nellie draws on this knowledge, in collaboration with Mother Nature and intuition when creating products and sessions that not only aim at benefiting the skin and body but also the mind, heart and spirit.
Sisu Botancials is a handmade bespoke apothecary and botanical health spa dedicated to finding simple, caring ways to support physical health and holistic wellbeing. At sisu we source local organic botanicals to create small batch herbal teas, tinctures and other goods to support your journey. It is our underlaying belief that all aspects are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.
About Joelle Fidgets
Joelle (she/they) started making fidgets in 2023 to share with their autistic meetup group, and earlier this year returned to a childhood love of beading bracelets on a loom. They especially enjoy experimenting with many colours, and creating Pride flags and other solidarity bracelets.
