DINNER CLUB, MELBOURNE (Belgrave), AUSTRALIA

WHEN: 7pm, 4th Thursday of the month
WHERE: Honey Thai Restaurant, 1678 Main Rd, Belgrave (just up from Belgrave railway station footbridge)
WHAT: Dinner (meals start from around $17 and special diets can be catered for) with others on the spectrum
WHO: teens and adults on the autism spectrum and their direct support people.
This group has been successfully running since 2006.
Note: we have established 2 important ground rules for attendees
1) this is NOT an opportunity to study people with autism or explore ways to enter the autism field
2) those attending are expected to be self management skills (ie: able to respect other people’s space, have reasonable hygiene, respect the venue etc).
Any doubts whether this group is for you, please contact Donna: bookings@donnawilliams.net
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Imagine a Christmas in Melbourne where there were virtually no street decorations, where shopkeepers didn’t make Christmas windows, where the houses largely had no Christmas lights, no wreaths or garlands, often not even an indoor Christmas tree. Well, in 2011, it happened. Person after person began spreading news not of Christmas cheer, but of Christmas sneer. Read the rest of this entry »

Say Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and it may conjure up images of quackery, hysteria, Sybil, stories of satanic ritual abuse and controversies of false memory syndrome. There are those who are attracted to the circus of cancer and equally those who are excited by any new role or condition to the degree they are attracted to anything so intriguing as DID. But in fact, there is a spectrum of dissociative disorders which includes things quite common and mundane and with which most people have some familiarity. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the Dec 2011 poetry challenge started over on my FB page. Feel free to send me a 1-2 word TITLE or THEME to write to in the comments section and up to the end of Dec, you’ll find I’ve responded by posting a poem here addressing it. Here’s the poems so far… Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you so much to those who supported my earlier Art-Not-Cancer sale in August. Now as I sweep aside the cancer adventures of 2011 and face the brave new world of 2012, I’ve made a new art space and finally I will have a ‘real’ art studio with space, light, storage – awesome. No more stacking up the walls in a room too small to get as crazy as required to get really experimental with art. To celebrate I’m having a December 2011 Christmas Art Sale. All paintings and sculptures will be 30% off the listed price. You can visit my online gallery to view the available paintings here. If you find a work you like, take 30% off the listed price. That would be the price, plus postage and packing (which varies from $10 upwards depending on the size of the work). You then email me and I’ll tell you the postage cost for what you’re interested in and if you’re still happy, I invoice you via PayPal for the art work you are interested in. You pay for the art work and it would be with you within 7-10 days (hopefully not delayed by Christmas post). I’ll even include 10 free art cards. Read the rest of this entry »

Through September, October and November I will need to exercise to manage chemotherapy side effects.

Those who exercise throughout chemo tend to do better and I suffer from Dysautonomia which is aggravated by the chemo. This interferes with my brain’s ability to regulate things like heart and breathing, messes with circulation, interferes with bladder and bowel function, causes brain fog, reduces brain function during acute episodes and is generally pretty awful. Exercise is one of the most important parts of working with Dysautonomia. I also live with immune deficiencies and of course exercise is really important in keeping what immune function one has.

Our post office is a 10 min walk there and back. Those buying a pack of my art cards throughout September to November will be encouraging me to do this walk and I’ll pop in 5 extra cards including a signed one from me. You can purchase 10 of one design OR specify in the comment box that you’d like me to send 10 varied cards and mention some you like. Here’s the link for those interested.

Warmly,
Donna *)

Donna Williams, BA Hons, Dip Ed.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.
http://www.donnawilliams.net

BIG THANK YOU TO:

Nikki Yokoyama
Anita O’Flynn
Marisol Villamil
Suzanne Ayres

for so far supporting this program.

I’m so excited. Chris has been taking photos since his teens but he has progressively become such a wonderful photographic artist he would have visitors in awe of his work. Some of our friends wanted to buy art cards and prints of his work and I urged him to set up a gallery so they could do so even if they weren’t physically visiting us here. Finally, he did. I’m really proud of him and his work. I hope you enjoy his gallery here.

I have 2-3 weeks before starting chemo for breast cancer. With plenty of surgery, blood tests, genetic tests, scans, biopsies, and soon chemotherapy I haven’t been able to work since July. So I thought I’d do something positive and sell off as many of my original art works as I can from now to the end of August in an Art-Not-Cancer art sale. Not only will art sales help by me some hats but I see it as doing something to spur me on to then make more art during the four months I’ll be tackling chemo. Read the rest of this entry »

DUEL: The Aerosol Assassin

Exhibition Opening 6-8pm July 21 2011
Exhibition runs July 19 – August 06 2011

The latest exhibition by Melbourne based graffiti maestro Duel represents this artists progression, passion and individuality. Duel’s new works have multi dimensional brilliance, are like an untamed life force, and bounce off the canvases immersing you in their energy. Colors and splats, ribbons and weaves, take you on a journey through Duels past, his development of style, and future innovations.

Kick Gallery is located at 4 Peel Street Collingwood & open Tuesday-Friday11am-6pm & Saturday 12-5pm

For further information contact Kick Gallery on 0412 243 818 or email info@kickgallery.com

I’ve always had a strong reaction to images of Barry Humphries. Read the rest of this entry »