St Luke’s festival boasts free art workshops, family fun day

“I love doing art, but it’s also my therapy” ... Billie Baxter is this year’s featured artist.

Bold, swirling mandalas mark Billie Baxter’s artwork as one not to miss during this year’s annual Graceville Art Festival.

Bold, swirling mandalas mark Billie Baxter’s artwork as one not to miss during this year’s annual Graceville Art Festival.

Held at St Luke’s Lutheran Church in Nambour between June 23-25, the festival is a celebration of diversity and inclusion with art displayed in St Luke’s church. Ms Baxter is this year’s featured artist.

Local artists as well as people with a disability and/or mental health concern will be selling and displaying their works at the festival, as well as being a weekend packed with workshops and family activities.

Graceville Centre in Nambour is part of Lutheran Services and offers mental health and disability support, as well as onsite Supported Independent Living.

Ms Baxter loves to paint on recycled items such as surfboards and old records and CDs. 

Two major health incidents have dictated the way she paints. A brain haemorrhage in her 20s and spinal cord damage more recently mean she had to re-learn how to draw twice.

“I moved to painting dot mandalas, the small movements and precision is actually really well suited to my limited range of movement,” she said.

Mandalas – symbolic shapes used in meditation practice – are a recurring motif.

She uses a compass, a protractor and lots of maths to map out the location of the shapes.

“Mandala painting really gives you peace of mind because it is repetitive you get into a meditative state. It’s good for your mind. The world is such a busy, stressful place that it’s really calming for your mind,” she said. “I love doing art, but it’s also my therapy.”

Graceville Art Festival, 23-25 June will be held at St Luke’s Lutheran Church, 10 Sydney St, Nambour. Ms Baxter will hold a rock painting/mini mandala workshop on Friday June 23, 9-10.30am. To find out more or to book a workshop, visit www.gracevilleartfestival.org.au.