I left home for three days and two nights in July to be nurtured at Burnbank, a lovely old house in neighbouring Berwick, Victoria, which was the home of Olympic athlete, Edwin Flack, back in the 1800s.

The purpose of my retreat was to reflect on past activities and achievements, considering what had brought greatest joy to myself and others. Then using thoughts recorded in copious notes and charts, I created a 6-month business plan for my multi-disciplinary practice.

I refined a broad range of creative pursuits into a focus of three threads, which I aimed to plait into a single practice. The threads were Writing, Studio, and Community. How did I go with my plan, you ask?

If you take a look at my Instagram page, you will see I did very well with the Community strand, spending a lot of time devising and delivering workshops for under school-aged children and their adults at Cardinia Cultural Centre, and engaging community at the SECAN Open Studios month during the City of Casey’s Winter Arts Festival; however, the other two threads did not receive equal attention.

Sounds like I will be revising and adjusting these goals at my next mini retreat early in the new year. When working out my time I must factor in preparation and delivery of my interactive exhibition at The Memo Gallery in March – April. And the building of my home studio – and sorting out which arts materials and paraphernalia to keep, and which to pass on to other artists.

Jenni Ivins is a professional artist and writer who switched her practice during the Covid pandemic, to support local communities online through the long months of lock-downs in Victoria, Australia. As the restrictions eased, she devised projects that reconnected communities in the real world, as well as online. In 2023 she will be returning to her studio practice to master the illusion of Mind Drawing and to write the first book in a fantasy series set in an artists’ residency – where there is a portal to another realm.