Susan Sweeney - Certificate III in Visual Arts

Susan Sweeney had heard wonderful things through the community about the Byron Community College’s Certificate III in Visual Arts course, and decided to enrol. Coming from more of an academic background, she was drawn to the course as a way of developing her more creative side and wanted to see where the journey would take her. With the opportunity to work across a wide array of mediums and be guided by a wonderful group of highly talented and supportive tutors such as Virginia Reid, Suvira McDonald and Dale Rhodes, the low levels of confidence that her and her fellow students initially felt, soon gave way to a freedom to connect with their passions. Whilst the course does give invaluable techniques which can be explored in depth, Susanne found that there was no pressure from the tutors to stick to a structured process and often students guided the learning process with ideas that they wanted to explore.  

Flash forward one year later, and Susan found herself wanting more. When the Early Bird enrolments were open for business, Susanne was knocking down the door with her deposit for another year of creative learning. An idea had taken seed during her initial course that she wanted to develop, and she was able to take what she had learned about the basics in that first year, relax, and develop what is now her new business, Red Boots Yoga. Her Girl with the Red Boots was an idea that started to move through all of her work in her first year of study, including drawings, lino prints and paintings. She has now has become the character that that is the driving force behind her business. 

The course gave Susanne and her classmates the opportunity to connect, both to themselves and with each other through their work. The art journaling proved an invaluable tool through which Susanne continues to workshop her ideas, thoughtsand day to day life challenges, and she intends on continuing this process beyond the completion of her studies. 

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