Arts Tree - art classes in Brisbane

Hello beauuutiful, art lovin humans!!!

13 years after opening our doors, we are done!
We’ve taught around 3400 classes, and hosted around 104 workshops.
In total we thiiiiink we’ve helped out with around 5600 artworks….
But more importantly we got to meet all of you!!!

We have taught students how to draw, and paint and to imagine and view things through shifted perspectives… We’ve encouraged curiosity over criticism and experimented with all manner of new toys and processes!

But we’ve also been taught.

Our students showed up week after week, year after year, and with them, their lives. Their grief and sorrows, their joys and wisdom. Heartbreaks, heart-attacks, and heartfelt views have all been shared within the Arts Tree classroom and we were made better teachers by them all.

A community is a beautiful thing, and though we initially had no idea that we were building one, 13 years later, we’re certainly surrounded by one! THANK YOU for being a part of this, if only via hopes and dreams that you WISH you could have painted with us!

Working together as a family has been a pleasure and a privilege, and to share this space with our Arts Tree community has been a reality beyond our dreams.

If there’s one thing we hope you all head away with, it is this: Never stop never stopping.
Keep learning, keep creating, keep experimenting and trying things out. If we are the universe experiencing itself, then we need to give it something bloody beautiful to marvel at!

If you’d like to keep in touch with us make sure you go check out our tutors and , but otherwise… Thank you. For all of it.

Signing off in 3
2
1!

# # # De, Ali, and Graham

While Arts Tree itself may be done, our tutors who are the heart and soul of the business are alive and well!

aka founder of Arts Tree has got many fingers in many pies, and always has!
Just a few of the places you can find artwork by De include:
Original works and
Puzzles (if you like them tricky) via
Printed fabrics from

HOWEVER, if you'd prefer to learn from the great master herself then all you need to do is sign up for one of her masterclasses with .official or become a member of her ...

With De you can always expect exuberance, boldness, curiosity and a hell of a lot of child-like glee!

Her excellent daughter Ali, aka is more into the therapeutic side of artmaking with 2026 marking her transition into art therapy!

Ali will continue teaching aged care art classes with as well as working closely with the good folks but if you're after some tips and tricks around using art to foster your mental health then you should definitely head on over to her website, thebravearts.com .

With Ali you can expect authentic truths forged through the fires of experience, timely newsletters, blogs, and workshops created using an evidence base alongside a healthy dose of mess-making!

Make sure you follow their individual journeys because this page is going underground.... Thank you so much for being here, but we'll be signing off in just a few short days!

WE ARE CLOSING....
Which is fun and scary and awesome... but also sad.
Because for 13 years we have been building a community of really cool, creative, authentic, kinda-crazy, and VERY fun individuals.
For 13 years we've been surrounding ourselves with people who honestly make our world a better place, and now we are saying goodbye.

BUT the world goes on and this means one thing: Our students will get to spread their wings and spread the love elsewhere, wooooohooooooooo!!!!!

So: We need some recommendations.

We are looking for art schools that are: Brisbane based, skills-focused, for adults, and that prioritise fun and frivolity!!!

Is this your art school?
Have you attended this art school?
Are there any you'd recommend our students avoid?????

Comment on this post, send us a DM or get in touch via email: [email protected]

Not in Brisbane? That's cool, maybe we can send one of our other followers there!

Thanks for your help, sweet friends!

In 2022 our beautiful student Kim walked through the doors of Arts Tree ready to twist and turn her brains in new ways.

This year, her painting is the catalogue cover for the 'Recovered Futures' exhibition!!!

Held annually in Brisbane, this exhibition is a curated selection of works that speak to the complexity inherent at the intersection where mental health and creativity meet... An intersection where our artists frequently work!

But Kim didn't start here. She has worked her way towards this jaw-dropping work through 3 years, countless hours, and many canvases.... Some of which we've shown here, because Kimbarella, we are so damn proud of you!

Here's the take-away for us: Keep painting.
Keep making.
Keep doing the things that light you up, that teach you, that make you question yourself. Follow that which transforms you.
You never know what's on the other side.

And Kim, thank you, not for your success (though we are so happy for that!), but for coming!!!
Your weekly presence in our classroom has been an asset and a dream, we love you!!!!

One of our favourite pieces over the last few years was this mixed-media triptych painted by our student Prath..

This started out as an homage to Klimt, but it soon became clear to our student that as both a woman-of-colour, and a mother, she had a job to do in regard to populating her canvasses with women who form the global majority.

While Klimt made beautiful works, his works are of a certain time, his concepts formed from a world that spoke to a different audience.
By using Klimt as a starting point, our student was able to conceptually deepen her work, bringing it forward in time, putting her stamp on it, and thus transforming the reality imposed upon her audience.
Prath used an image of Maya Angelou as a starting point for this remix, a woman whose prose and perspective continues to challenge and transform the cultural canon of blackness, womanhood, and the Other.

Swipe on through to see some of the journey of this massive and truly breathtakingly awesome work!
Thank you Prath for bringing your brilliance to Arts Tree!