Draw Plants Together offers friendly, inclusive drawing workshops that focus on our relationships with plants
The workshops offer a space for creativity, social connection and an appreciation of the plants that live around us
Draw Plants Together also hopes to contribute in meaningful and practical ways to plant-oriented community-led activities such as ecological restoration, habitat gardening and urban food growing
Draw Plants Together acknowledges the unceded Aboriginal Land where the plant drawing workshops take place.
I pay my respects to First Nations Elders and communities, and acknowledge your ongoing custodianship and care of Country.
draw
Drawing is a wonderful thing to do. It can be a relaxing and enjoyable process, and can tune us into the present and into noticing the world around us differently.
Lots of us have the feeling ‘I can’t draw’. And part of what I want to offer with Draw Plants Together is an opportunity to loosen this feeling, invite other ways of thinking about drawing, and allow for the sensory and relational qualities of drawing to be felt.
The workshops provide a space for creativity and experimentation and the opportunity for you to spend some time with your own personal, subjective creative experiences of drawing.
I hope you enjoy :)
plants
At the heart of the workshops is the relationship we have with plants.
Plants are all around us, whether they’re house plants, herbs, vegetables, weeds, street trees or plants in nature-strips, reserves, parks and gardens.
And all of us have a relationship with them, in one way or another.
When we tune in to notice plants and draw them, all sorts of things emerge. We can start to appreciate their forms and colours, or their behaviour and character. Or notice the different kinds of relationship we have with plants.
Something I love about plants is that they can show us how beautiful care can be. When we care for plants, they respond, and often in beautiful ways.
One of my hopes with Draw Plants Together is to support community-led activities that also focus on and care for local plants, such as ecological restoration, habitat gardening and urban food gardening.
I’m keen to see how drawing plants together can support greater connection with plants and each other.
And I hope the workshops support more of us to notice and care for local ecologies – ecologies that we’re also a part of.
together
Draw Plants Together workshops are a nice mix of personal time for reflection alongside opportunities to connect with others.
The workshops are a gently social space – they can be a nice way into more social connections, or can simply be an opportunity for creativity, held by the supportive feeling of having company.
Coming together to draw or because we share a love of plants is often quite special.
Relationships with plants – especially creative relationships – often bring people together too.
Draw Plants Together is an inclusive space
Everyone of all ages, backgrounds, sexualities, genders and abilities is welcome
A respectful space for First Nations people
A respectful space for LGBTIQA+, non-binary and gender diverse people
I prioritises accessibility
Please let me know what you need for the workshops to be the best experience for you
Workshops are delivered in English unless co-facilitated or with an interpreter
I am a qualified English language teacher, and am happy to provide English language support
Workshops fees are by sliding scale and seek to be equitable
No fee for First Nations people
Draw Plants Together makes regular donations to local First Nations orgs and local community-led initiatives
“A very gentle, informative approach. I felt safe, supported and inspired to be creative and connect with plants. The best workshop I've taken”
– participant, 'Plant life queer life' with Bridge Queer Gathering for FUSE Darebin
“Draw Plants Together offers a form of relaxation, even meditation, ways of engaging with plants free of the pressure to ‘know already’, and ways to think about how we respond to climate change, injustice and species loss in ways that can support action rather than overwhelm to inaction”
– Liz Morrigan, participant at NECHHi East Coburg
about me
Hi there :) My name is Craig (he/him).
I started Draw Plants Together in 2023 as a way for me to contribute my experience and skills in art and learning in connection with my love of plants and my interest in well-being.
I’ve worked as a learning facilitator (aka teacher, educator) for around 20 years in a range of different contexts. I’ve also spent time at art school (RMIT and VCA) and completed an Advanced Certificate with Gestalt Therapy Australia – probably one of the most meaningful learning experiences of my life. Last year, I participated in the Habitat and Conservation Management course through Darebin Creek Management Committee. I volunteer and have occasional work at Victorian Indigenous Nurseries Co-op (VINC).
In terms of my background, I was born in South Africa and my parents are English. I arrived on Aboriginal Land as teenager. I live on unceded Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country and pay my respects to Wurundjeri Elders and community.
Please get in touch if you’d like to find out more about the workshops or have a chat :)
A note about the knowledge I share around indigenous plants
I often share and refer people to resources by First Nations authors and individuals, and celebrate First Nations work in this area, however, as a non-Indigenous person, I don’t have Indigenous knowledge myself or position myself as a knowledge holder in relation to Indigenous knowledge.
If I share knowledge around indigenous or native plants in the workshops it is from a non-Indigenous perspective. The things I do know are based on my work in a nursery, personal study, and my experiences observing and growing some of these plants.
I hope this distinction makes the workshops a safer and more respectful space.
