The Dive-Bombing Bee is a short story of Brad’s. Like many of his stories, this one is from his memories and full of love for his mum. The accompanying bee painting is also an original of Brad’s.

Below is an artist statement by Brad of his most recent finished portrait, the first in a series called The Three Ladies. The process behind this one was very unique, using collage, brainstorming and internet surfing to find references.

Brad is currently in the process of creating colourful reminders of his daily routine in the form of doorhook lists! These reminders are a creative step towards Brad's longterm goal of living independantly.

Every year Brad holds a Team Brad Meeting with the entirety of his support crew! Run by Brad, he puts in a lot of effort to prepare topics, invitations, gifts and even a fun game. These gatherings are a wonderful opportunity for Brad to share his achievements from the past year as well as his goals to come.

At the beginning of this year Brad celebrated his 60th birthday. The celebration was a wonderful extravaganza, with the theme of Rockstar Legends in honour of Brad’s love for rock and roll. This blog details Brad’s experience of the party.

Recently Brad achieved one of his major life goals - to hold an exhibition of his art. This is a huge achievement and something he’s been working towards now for three years! Art by Brad is a solo exhibition held in collaboration with the City of Vincent Library. Brad’s show is the first of hopefully many held by the library, in their new Lounge Gallery.

Tomorrow Brad’s exhibition opens at the City of Vincent Library! A solo art exhibition has been one of Brad’s major goals for three years now and it’s finally about to become a reality. This blog post details set up and installation by Brad, his team and the lovely library staff.

When I was at the market I was surprised because it was bright! The musicians were very good and the coffee was very good. I saw a lot of dogs and birds. I was excited seeing the table set up and everything I made.

The first time we tried creating my film, we filmed outside. It was so windy! I kept saying to myself, ‘Go away wind, go away!’ It was distracting and hard to hear Ali. So next time, we filmed inside my apartment. I felt more relaxed in my home, but almost nervous because I knew Ali was filming.

I feel pleased Jess asked me to paint her cat Jordie, because I enjoy painting. He’s a cute cat that one, just look at him! I think I can read this cat’s mind and I’m not sure he likes me…He looks like he’s been through the wars

Where I used to live, I had a tiny room - you couldn’t swing a cat in there! The door almost hit the end of the bed. Now I still live with family, but I have my own separate space. It’s nice and roomy! I worked with the team to design it.

I started making my first journal with Clare. She said, “Do you want to make a journal?” And I said, “Yes.” Clare would write out the captions based on what I tell her about my life. Clare also came up with alot of the jokes. We’d cut up and stick pictures in the book. I feel happy when I look at my journal.

I did find it hard to trust the process, how it looked at the beginning was very different to how it looked at the end! We started with an underpainting using bright watercolours. Then I sketched on top with pencil.

So far everything I’ve made has been good (touch wood!) I’ve made a quiche, fish tacos, spaghetti bolognese, pizza and pumpkin soup. Pumpkin soup was my favourite, I had to hide it from my family because it was so good.

First, Chris McDonald from Blue Lawn Designs prints my designs onto shirts at his factory. Then, I use Posca pens to paint inside the outlines. I start by blocking out the big shapes before working on the smaller ones.

I’ve been painting a lot of cats recently, which is funny because I don’t even really like cats, I’m actually allergic to them! I found that out the bad way when I once fell asleep on a pillow covered in cat hair.