Canberra Heart Stories at Rise Sanctuary.
Heart Stories is a curated story telling space for people to connect and explore the ‘heart story way’ of being with themselves and being together in community. Rise Sanctuary is a community for women to connect, flourish and grow.
Heart Stories are personal stories told from people’s own experience that usually shed light on bigger themes and offer connection with the story teller on an emotional level. Heart Stories invite the listener to draw meaning from the story into their own lives, thus the ‘heart story way’ can enrich, offer purpose, wisdom, hope, and perhaps lead us to new and inspiring personal and community directions and actions.
A ‘story with heart’ aims to not be a discussion of concepts, projects, and strategies or a sharing of professional expertise, nor advice - though these things come through as part of telling a personal story. Rather, the story teller and story caretaker (curator) ‘birth’ and prepare the story together through spending time in uninterrupted telling, listening, identifying themes, metaphors and the heart or universal overarching ‘gem’ which all stories carry. It can be overwhelming to tell your story which is why Heart Stories supports its storytellers with this model of story teller - story caretaker collaboration and preparation.
A Heart Story is further brought to life, augmented, expanded and shared with a carefully chosen meditation, poem and song and through both group sharing time and individual quiet reflection time.
Join us at Heart Stories May 25th 5.30 pm with Barbie Robinson for ‘From the Other Side of the Lens.’
Barbie Robinson, photographer, arts journalist, writer, arts advocate, book designer, mother and grandmother brings us her enthralling Heart Story. Barbie is the author of nine books -three which she describes as children’s picture books for adults – one, Phoenix and Ralph poignantly tells us what the magpies did in the 2003 Canberra bushfires. Barbie has also published five books of poetry, two with photographs; and she was part of a community writing project which resulted in the book Between the Lines - stories of eleven women.
She describes the focus of her arts practice as: intimacy and loss, and likes to produce stories about hope and human kindness. She has a notion that all great literature is about intimacy and loss. As an arts advocate she is inspired by the work of artists across all artforms. Her favourite painter is Vincent Van Gogh, also being inspired by Cazneaux and Olive Cotton.
Since 2018, she, with her husband Richard, has co-produced and co-hosted Living Arts Canberra, a not for profit arts media organisation - website, podcasts and internet radio station. Her motivation here is to contribute to the promotion and support of arts in the region and books worldwide.
Barbie was born in London, has lived in England, Canada, Charleville, Sydney and Canberra. She has a BA Dp Ed (Macquarie University), a Grad Cert TESOL (UNE), A Graduate Certificate in Applied Language (Indonesian (CIT) and a Certificate in Creative Photography (ANU and PhotoAccess).
Do join us for Barbie Robinson’s Heart Story.
PLEASE BOOKINGS: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/canberra-heart-stories-from-the-other-side-of-the-lens-barbie-robinson-tickets-634287199087
Join us at Heart Stories March 30 th with Fay D’Elmaine for ‘Seated on the Land’
Fay brings us her stories of ‘Seated on the Land’ -striving to live with and be guided by nature’s turning of the wheel of the seasons. She lives this, in her words through ‘being seated on the land’. That is, observing and ‘sitting in’ the seasons, to know the wonder, artistic pull and possibilities of a place. These are her catalysts for creative inspiration .
Her eight decades have seen her make gardens, gather their produce, engage in hand spinning fleece of her own alpacas, weave, knit, crochet, play much music and sing many songs arising from these passions. Throughout, Fay has searched for a spirituality whose touch-stones arise from Nature, eventually arriving, through Celtic stories, to Druidic spirituality.
Fay will share her ‘seats and beds on the land’ from Sutherland, Tallong, Bungendore, the islands of Orkney and Shetland, and of her careers in the Australian Opera Chorus, the Adelaide ABC Singers, in various large, ensemble and Chamber choirs and in teaching English in high schools.
Do join us for Fay’s Heart Story and her ongoing yearning to live ‘Seated on the Land’.
WHEN: Thursday March 30th
TIME: 5.30 – 7 p.m. Refreshments Provided
VENUE: Sanctuary 17 Brockman Street Narrabundah
RSVP: March 27th
CONTACT: Valerie 0406052339
BOOKINGS: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/canberra-heart-stories-seated-on-the-land-fay-delmaine-valerie-albrecht-tickets-582918814867
From A Love for Nets to Net Art and Networking
On October 20th, Canberra Heart Stories brings us Nancy Tingey OAM and her love for nets, net art and networking. For Nancy, nets are dualistic art. She explains: while netting fibres together into often breathtaking designs, breathtaking spaces are also created. However these spaces can cause loss of things and remind us of our losses and aloneness-es. As well, she says while making nets gathers and ‘networks’ people, they can bring entrapment to both people and nature.
Nancy comes from a background of art practice - she holds an Honours degree and MA in Fine Art (UK) and has had multiple exhibitions in both the UK and Australia. She was awarded the Museums Diploma in Art Curating whilst working in galleries in the U.K. and also has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship for her project Painting with Parkinsons which she founded in 1994 in response to her husband’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s. Nancy went on to establish Networks Australia for artists in 2008. Nancy's work has further been recognized by the World Parkinson Coalition, the Robin Elliott Award for Service to Community 2019 and the ACT Chief Ministers' Inclusion Award for long Service 2014.
Additionally, it has been vital and life -giving for Nancy to consciously network between Australia and the UK to maintain her family, friends and Quaker spiritual support in both countries.
Join us for Nancy’s Heart Story accompanied by a selection of her Net Art – be lured into the splendor of nets, their spaces, their manifold meanings and their consequences.
Thursday 20th October at 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Light Refreshments served. Nancy’s Heart Story will be filmed. A proportion of your entry fee will support Painting with Parkinsons.
Click here to watchhttps://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/430500678117
Join us at Heart Stories on 21st July with Roberta Turner for Many Paths.
Roberta will story through her times of studying voice, English, Landscape Architecture, ceramics, writing, art and Art Therapy; her time in an Evangelical church and the Quakers, her times moving between two continents - the United States and Australia and some of the influential people in her life - her adopted children, her husband, Brian Turner, Ted Noffs, founder of the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross in 1964, and several Quakers from both countries.
These heart stirring paths have been core in Roberta’s life - with her family and serving others through Art Therapy. Many Paths - do join us.
At Roberta's Heart Story
At Roberta's Heart Story
Our 9th June story is: ‘Talking about Everyone’s Creative Birthright’ with Judy Clingan, musician, composer, singer, artist, writer, teacher, passionate carer of children, marginalized people, the bush, animals, simplicity and an AM recipient.
Judy has long striven to inspire, support and teach others to love expressing their own creative visions, be it through music, writing, drama, singing or arts/crafts. She advocates that creative expression is a universal birthright, and should therefore be a central part of everyone’s life - however in many countries, including Australia, creative artistic expression has become marginalized.
Her key life theme is for each individual to awaken to the joy to be found in all the arts, and to restore everyone’s courage and belief in their power to creatively express themselves.
Judy will share how these key words have been ‘lived’ out - the highlights and the lowlights -through her Churchill Fellowship in Finland, Iceland and UK, her performance and teaching tours around Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Asia with the Wayfarers Choir, the various choirs and musical organisations she has founded in Canberra, her musical compositions and her painting.
Judy will share her art and music during our Heart Story evening. There will be time for reflection and sharing.
22 people attended Judy’s Heart Story where she shared and encouraged us all to reflect on our individual creative birthright. Judy shared story, song, music and art followed by us all singing!
On June 2nd Sue Hanna with careers as a journalist, disability carer and Anglican Priest will share her heart story Finding community through the metaphor ‘mangrove swamp’
Sue has centered her life in various forms of community life, including Corrymeela in Northern Ireland, L’Arche Sydney, an Anglican religious order and a small midwestern Bible Belt community in the USA. She is currently a member of the Benedictus Contemplative Community and St Ninian’s Uniting Church in Canberra’s inner north.
Sue was born and raised in the Tweed Valley, Northern NSW, where her interest in community life began. She is a third generation family member from Murwillumbah and since childhood has found inspiration in the rich sub tropical natural environment of the Tweed Valley. Although mangrove swamps in the region have historically been devalued by settler communities, many have been destroyed to create housing stock, Sue has come to understand mangrove as a rich, life giving ecosystem, offering space for vulnerable life to be nurtured and flourish.
As Sue says, mangroves are beautiful, with rich potential, but they can also be hazardous! Community life can be both to us as well, it’s how we approach them from our our own heart story that can determine the bigger picture. Following Sue’s reflection, there will be time to reflect and share our own experiences of living in community.
I am excited and inspired by Sue and Judy’s Heart Stories. We are indeed fortunate that they are sharing with us at Rise Sanctuary on 2nd and the 9th June. I look forward to hosting Sue Judy and our community – do join us with your family and friends.
For further information, queries and bookings, and if you would like to share your heart story please call Valerie M:0406052339