About us

I’ve now had my art studio for over two years, and I absolutely love helping people with disabilities and kids explore their creative sides without the pressure to be perfect. In my studio, the joy is in the doing, not the final product. It’s about fun, freedom, and the deep satisfaction that comes from creating something with your own hands.

Before launching my studio, I spent five years as a support worker in the aged and disability sector. Every client I supported gave me something in return, friendship, wisdom, and inspiration. Creativity played a big part in our time together. For clients living with dementia, I made sensory scrapbooks filled with ribbons, textures, buttons, and photos of their favourite things. For others, we painted, crafted, and created joy together. That experience planted the seeds for what would come next.

For two years, I worked weekends on a dream: to build something of my own, something joyful that I could share with others. With the guidance of my incredible coach and mentor, Adaire Palmer, who followed her own dream to live aboard a houseboat aptly named Adaire to Dream, I found the confidence and tools to turn that dream into reality.

Now, I have a bright little shop bursting with colour, creativity, and possibilities. Sometimes my imagination runs wild with ideas (okay, a lot of the time!), but at the heart of it all is one simple wish: that everyone who walks through the door feels what I feel here. Happy. Safe. Inspired.

And for my next evolution, I’m expanding into the online world—adding both my own creations and my students’ artwork to a print-on-demand platform called RedBubble. It’s a beautiful way to share our joy and imagination with the world, one notebook, tote bag, or hoodie at a time.

~Deb from The Funky Art Studio~