Giving Back

Serving Personnel Program

The Society started carrying out the vision that  *Amanda Adams had for the future of those who are serving our country.  Watercolour lessons 2 ½ hours long in work time over 8 weeks all equipment provided for at home and in particular a sketchbook and travel palette.  This came with instructions if you get deployed you take it with you and go for it but do re-enrol next course.  The aim being to put watercolour in their lives at this point and for them to always have those skills, some me time, and some visual meditation.

The first course was run at Irwin Barracks in 2023.  A great success with all ages of serving people attended, enjoyed it and showed their skills.  Some were beginners and some were artists of other mediums.

The next course started at Irwin Barracks in 2025, once again 8 weeks, beginners and some returned from the first class as intermediates.  A second course continued in the later part of the year.  Students were then encouraged to consider entering a painting in the Army Art Exhibition.  A frame and free entry fees for participants will help make this happen later in the year.

Meanwhile, at Swanbourne Barracks, the veterans and families course began in the evening.  This involved the same formula, 8 weeks of  2  1/2 hour lessons all equipment provided and a frame and free entry into the exhibition.  This was so popular that participants have kept a Thursday night whatsapp group and gathering to paint night going.  They are also looking forward to an intermediate class with some of their friends who missed out on the last beginner’s course.  They had their husband’s home in time to look after the kids or the babysitter booked and sorted out and it was their night off and out.

At RAAF Pearce, the same program was introduced in 2025. Defence Member and Family Services staff have been working hard to spread the word and increase awareness of the Army Art program there. Polla Posavec had them painting all sorts of things and having fun.

Rockingham veterans and families were also getting involved in watercolours, they had a daytime lesson with Anastasia Wright and then an evening block of classes with Jane Li.

Members have then been encouraged to enter Army Art Exhibition as the commission taken on any sales goes into the serving/ veterans/ family’s watercolour teaching program.

Such a wonderful opportunity for tutors to share their skills with people who are serving, have served or supporting those who do.

*Amanda Adams has been secretary at WA Society of Arts for a few years.  Her partner has served and is now a veteran, she knows their world very well.

Written by Jane Zandi tutor for Irwin and Swanbourne barracks.

The Charlies Program

“I just realised I haven’t worried the whole time I’ve been watching you girls paint. It’s a very long time since I haven’t worried.”
-Patient at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Cancer Centre

In early 2015 the director of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre (CCC) was looking for strategies to reduce the distress experienced during waiting time for patients and their carers in the CCC and watching artists was recognised as a possible calming influence . Watercolour was the ideal medium having no smell, no fumes and no dust. After discussions and a trial the Watercolour Society and the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital partnered in May 2015 with support from Dry July funding to create this project.

The funding ran out but the artists continued and covered their own costs until Covid interrupted our efforts in 2020. We started again in 2023 at Osborne Park hospital and in 2024 moved back again to the cancer Centre where it had greater impact.

Currently three artists continue to paint at Sir Charles Gardner Hospital and find it a rewarding and enjoyable undertaking. Over the years we have had wonderful feedback from patients , carers and staff who also report a calming effect when they watch during their breaks. Some patients joined in and painted and one had ongoing lessons with us. As artists we have many stories to tell and have had many wonderful experiences since we started in 2015 such as:

A patient watched a painting being done of the area near Sandstone, her childhood home and asked to buy it. Sales are not made at the hospital, but she was offered the painting as a gift and tearfully accepted. Her friend told us she felt that the painting brought a piece of home to her in her final days and kept at the end of her bed where she could see it.

Debbie Ey – Dot’s Place

Debbie Ey and her husband John are always busy on Wednesdays. Both volunteer at Dot’s Place in Bunbury, which is run by the Cancer Council.

Simply named Dot’s Place, the support centre was founded by philanthropist Dot Smith as a place where people with cancer and their families can access support services in a relaxed environment.

Ms Dot Smith was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in June for her service to the estimated 53,000 people who have been through Dot’s Place. A number which she expects will only increase.  John was diagnosed with bladder cancer and has successfully recovered with groundbreaking surgery. He is a driver who collects patients for their chemo and radiation treatments and returns them safely home.  Debbie, on the other hand, is now running watercolour workshops for Dot’s Place clients and their carers. John and Debbie have funded the first purchases of paint, palettes, brushes and paper. Thanks to a donation by Dot Smith and her philanthropic ladies, she has also received a grant to purchase more paper.

The workshops are designed to be a stand- alone session, rather than a progressive set of lessons, as it is not always possible for the attendees to make it to every class.

The morning starts with discussions of whatever medical or emotional topic the students are currently facing, but this is soon washed away with the water, the paint and the concentration.

Marilyn Davies – Mundaring Adult Learning Centre

I have always loved the magical qualities of watercolour, but I didn’t start my own journey, learning to paint with it, until the

enforced isolation due to Covid in early 2020. Thanks to the internet providing a platform for the amazing talent and generosity of so many accomplished artists, I was able to immerse myself in the mysteries of this incredible medium. Needless to say, I became a complete devotee. Subsequently, with the encouragement of my partner, my daughter and Jan Pittman, (to whom I am eternally grateful) I became a member of the WSWA.

I have been teaching sewing on a voluntary basis, at Mundaring Adult Learning Centre in the Hills for some years. I was at the centre when I received the phone call with news of my successful bid for WSWA membership.  My excitement attracted a lot of attention. When I explained the reason for my high spirits, not wishing to miss an opportunity, the President of the Centre immediately asked me to run a class! Well, with much trepidation I agreed to trial a one term ‘foundation course’ to see how it went. Well, one term wasn’t enough, everyone wanted more so it grew and grew. As a result, I now run a three-term course for very eager students on a regular basis.

I have to admit I get a real kick out of guiding my students along their artistic journey and I am proud to say, some of them have even gone on to exhibit and sell their own paintings. The biggest surprise of all is that in teaching others, I have found my own skills as a watercolour artist have developed immensely which is very, very exciting!

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