Draw Plants Together offers friendly, inclusive drawing workshops that focus on our relationships with plants
The workshops are a space for creativity, social connection, and an appreciation of the local ecologies we are part of
Draw Plants Together acknowledges the unceded Aboriginal Land where the drawing workshops take place.
I express my respects to First Nations Elders and all First Nations people, and recognise their ongoing custodial relationships and care of Country.
draw
Drawing is a great 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 :)
“This is the most fun and least intimidating time I've ever had drawing”
– participant, Glenroy Library Makerspace
NECCHi East Coburg
Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve
Merri Creek Primary, Yarra Bend Park
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. And drawing plants together in small groups, we get to hear what other people notice too.
When we care for plants, they respond, and often in beautiful ways. And something I love about plants is that they can show us how beautiful care can be.
Plants are also beautiful to draw.
“Today’s workshop encouraged me to look a little closer at plant physiology. Through drawing I was able to take notice of different shapes. I enjoyed looking at my favourite indigenous plants through a different, and creative, lens.”
– participant, VINC Nursery
Farm Raiser
Rotunda Wetland, Clifton Hill
Nanadhong - Cathedral Range State Park
Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve
together
Draw Plants Together workshops are a nice mix of personal time for creativity, alongside opportunities to connect with others and to participate in a creative process as a group.
Drawing plants together often involves conversation and connection with others, and also conversation around plants.
The workshops are a gently social space, a way to reflect together, on creativity, on local ecologies, and on many other topics.
I hope the workshops support personal, social and ecological wellbeing, and bring people together in respectful, caring ways.
“I really enjoyed the guided freedom that Craig provided in the session. It allowed our own expression while all working together”
– participant, Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve
VINC Nursery – propagation shed
Laak Boorndap Test Garden – Fed Square
Upfield Urban Foresters
Draw Plants Together is an inclusive space
Everyone of all ages, backgrounds, sexualities, genders and abilities is welcome
A respectful space for First Peoples
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 Peoples
Please contact me if a workshop fee is a barrier to participation
“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
Friends of Royal Park
“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 creativity and learning in the space of ecological care and well-being.
I’ve worked as a learning facilitator (aka teacher, educator) for around 20 years in a range of different contexts.
I’ve completed studies in art (RMIT and VCA) and linguistics (Monash). I’ve also completed an Advanced Certificate with Gestalt Therapy Australia.
Last year, I participated in the Habitat and Conservation Management course through Darebin Creek Management Committee.
I also work and volunteer at VINC Nursery.
Please get in touch if you’d like to find out more about the workshops or have a chat :)
Laak Boorndap Test Garden – Fed Square
Darebin Creek workshops – Epping
A note about the knowledge I share around Indigenous/indigenous plants
In my workshops, I share knowledge around plants from a non-Indigenous perspective, as a non-Aboriginal person.
With plants, I make a distinction between indigenous plants (small i) – more like a geographic term, defined as ‘local to this place’ – and Indigenous plants (capital I) denoting the way these plants pertain to Aboriginal and First Peoples and their knowledge and other systems.
When I talk about indigenous plants (small i) I’m talking about local plants, indigenous to this area. These same plants are also all Indigenous plants (capital I). They’re both ecologically and culturally significant.
Indigenous/indigenous plants can be encountered in remnant vegetation or where they have been planted as part of ecological restoration activities and in support of Indigenous-led or informed care for Country.
Bunjil Reserve, Panton Hill
As a non-Indigenous person, I don’t have Indigenous knowledge. And I never knowingly position myself as a knowledge holder in relation to Indigenous knowledge.
As part of the workshops, I do make a point of including relevant Indigenous knowledge that Aboriginal people have shared (such as the Wurundjeri seasons or the Woi-wurrung names of plants) as an expression of my respect for this knowledge and to centre its value and importance when it comes to understanding the local worlds we live in on Aboriginal Land.
Whenever I relay Indigenous knowledge, I acknowledge the source (the book I read or the person I heard speak) along with the context I learnt it in, and I refer workshop participants to any resources available as a way of centring First Peoples voices.
I welcome feedback and dialogue around this as part of my ongoing learning.
