Warami mittigar. Hello friend.

My name is Colette Rose and I am an emerging artist with disabilities.

I am from Sydney, Australia and am a culturally diverse, proud descendant of the Dharug nation. I was born on Dharug land. My traditional lands are in Western Sydney.

I’ve worked on Dharug land for 28 years while living in the Inner West on Gadigal, Wangal land.

My art celebrates my connection to nature and is a spiritual practice for me. My connections to country, culture and community are sacred to me.

My lived experience is woven in my art and part of my story is that I suffer terribly with chronic pain from fibromyalgia and osteo-arthritis.

Anyone with fibromyalgia knows that depression and anxiety are constant companions, so you’re constantly seeking ways to cope and feel alive and reduce the pain.

Creating art does that for me. It reduces my pain, calms my mind and brings joy to my heart. It’s liberating.

I also have a hearing disability. I am completely deaf in my left ear. This makes me feel walled off from the world and I have to work hard at feeling connected and communicating with others.

Creating art allows me to listen inwardly and to go deep within and process the sense of isolation onto the canvas or through making videos.

I’m very grateful for art because it has shown me that there’s a beautiful deep well of creativity within, that is divine, renewing, and healing. It’s waiting to be born and expressed into the world. It transforms me.

Creating art takes great courage because it brings light to the dark places I hide from, and brings me into the light. I can feel exposed and renewed as new energy is released through transformation.

Art is sacred to me. and tells the story of my courage and resilience. It transforms the grit of my everyday life into beauty.

As well as being an artist, I am a mother, and a primary school teacher. I have been teaching English to refugee and new arrival students for 28 years in a South Western Sydney, primary school. Recently I have begun teaching Dharug Dhalang (language) to the staff and students at work too.

Thanks for dropping by.

Yanu. Bye.