Writing Education

Born and raised in the Blue Mountains, Chandu started her career as a nurse but spent her mornings and evenings on cliff tops painting impressionist landscapes in oil. In her mid twenties Chandu set off on a 7 month trip overseas - she didn’t move home for 12 years. Chandu spent much of that time in a remote village in Tanzania. It was here she saw the great need and opportunities for women in arts and business. In 2001 she created an international business based on fair trade principles between East Africa and Australia. She supported the micro economy and the health and wellbeing of families in the remote region and also promoted the sustainability of local customs, arts and traditions among indigenous villagers and tribe’s people. Chandu's years in a mud hut without electricity, running water or transport, found her swapping her sable brushes for simple living. Her new art form became writing poetry and prose on dodgy notebooks by lantern light. For the last 20 years Chandu has been studying, teaching and mentoring organisations, groups and individuals in the business, leadership and creative industries. An avid writer and poet she has won a scholarship with the Faber Writing Academy, been awarded local prizes for her short stories and poems, has enjoyed 2 invited residencies at Varuna and been published in several anthologies. She is a sought after and inspiring public speaker and Emcee. Chandu dedicates her time between being a creative and actively supporting creatives to take their passion and practice out into the world. An inspiring and engaging facilitator and creative coach, Chandu offers bespoke group programs and one on one mentoring for artists and practitioners like you who wish to * step more fully onto your creative path * explore and clarify your talents, ideas and offerings * make your passion your profession or * explore and extend your creative and business offerings If you'd love more information and support book a complimentary Connection Conversation today. https://chandubickford.com/services/#holisticmentoring

Loose Parts Press was founded by Sharon Baldwin in 2020. We work on: Traditionally publishing beautiful books for children, Helping you with your self-publishing projects or other design needs, Developing resources for educators and parents, Children’s workshops and events. We love books with messages around community, sustainability and fostering a love for nature. Our books “Goodnight Blue Mountains” and “Good Morning Blue Mountains” by Skye Taylor have been local bestsellers, and our other titles can be found in bookshops, gift shops and galleries around Australia including the Art Gallery of NSW. We are members of the Australian Publishers Association, the Small Press Network and the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Loose Parts Press is also a social enterprise. We donate a portion of our profits to Indigenous-led charities each month, pay for carbon off-setting and use sustainable materials and plastic-free packaging wherever possible. In addition to publishing we also create teachers notes, offer readings with our authors and illustrators, and teach workshops in the Blue Mountains, Sydney and beyond. Our founder, Sharon Baldwin, is the author of “P is for Permaculture” and the 12-book series “The Gardeneers.” Her next book is titled "What Is It?" and is slated for publication in September 2023. For questions around our publishing services, stocking our books, or arranging an author visit, please email us at hello@looseparts.com.au

Gabiann Marin is an author, screenwriter, editor and story developer who has worked across a multitude of projects for stage, page and screen. She is the author of several books and interactive experiences for children including the award-winning children's book A True Person and the award-winning interactive Kids Together Now online narrative experience. She has two exciting titles coming out in 2024 including her first adult novel - THE MEDUSA SITUATION - a contemporary mythological comedy based on a retelling of the original Medusa Myth. She is also excited to announce that her book THE BATTLE FOR VICTORIA STREET, centring on the famous green bans of the 1970's, will be published by Scholastic as part of their My Australian Story Series in March 2024 - exactly 50 years after those fateful events.

Working across multiple disciplines, I explore materialities and aesthetics of memory, experience and place, distilling these ephemeral qualities into a range of physical, visual forms. I explore expanded notions of drawing and painting, compositional abstraction, colour, collage, printmaking, casting (beeswax), assemblage, sound, digital and analogue photography and film. I engage with the languages and processes of collecting, grouping, making, reframing and composing to translate visceral experiences into tactile works. I manipulate materials, light and space, to tell personal stories contained within planar and architectural contexts. Compositions are restrained, with sympathetic relationships formed between materials, surface, space, and the viewer. Extraneous matter is eliminated via material opacity and colour fields, transforming feelings and experiences into veiled, sensual, quiet planar surfaces. The space is gently framed and delineated by the works' edges, providing an entry point for the viewer to focus on the field and find a sense of stillness. My practice also incorporates curation and production of collaborative, site-specific projects held within unique architectural spaces, that explore and expand ways of creating and presenting art forms, and enable deep audience engagement with art and place. Please contact me if you would like to commission a work or discuss a project.

I'm a visual artist, editor, researcher, project manager and teacher. I make exhibition work (installations), edit (academic articles, PhD and Master theses, exhibition catalogues) and produce neat layout (articles, catalogues). I’ve worked in digital humanities (visual arts, history, museums) and journal publishing (scientific, art history). I've taught at uni and TAFE (visual arts) as well as high school (visual arts, English). I am available for editing, layout, teaching/workshops, research and anything to do with managing projects, publications or collections data.