In 2018, while I lived in Sydney, in partnership with Art Spark Studio, I led an ink painting workshop titled “Protect Our Mangrove” with the City of Canada Bay. Before the art workshop, an expert showed the participants and me around the mangrove in Kokoda Park. With a root sample and a bit of water, she demonstrated how the mangrove’s root works like a snorkel. The ingenuity of nature struck me. 

The Design Divas are a group within the Embroiderers’ Guild NSW who are challenging the boundaries of contemporary stitch and design, while promoting and developing the use of embroidery as an art form.

Design Divas was formed in March 2021 by a group of twelve Contemporary Stitch and Design students (CS&D) from the 2019-2021 program who wanted to continue the friendships and supportive networks formed during the course, which had taught them to think ‘outside the box’ while using needle and thread.