Newcastle Music & Art Therapy

18/10/2026

Our latest art exhibition is "Light Through the Darkness", featuring artworks by Erin Forrester.

15 of her artworks will be on display in our foyer area for the next month. You can pop in to see them any time between 9am and 5pm on weekdays, or check them out when you have an appointment here!

🎨 ARTIST STATEMENT 🎨

These are art works I have done in my art therapy sessions.
I have used acrylic paint on some of them and acrylic paint pens on others.
There are spooky and non-spooky paintings.
The spooky ones are painted or coloured-in with dark colours. They represent my gothic, dark and wild side.
The non spooky ones are painted or coloured-in with nice light, pastel colours. These represent that I’m a big kid at heart.

I started off doing the spooky paintings when I was living in Supported Independent Living (SIL), having to live with other people and having a tough time. When I moved into my own place (Independent Living Option or ILO) the paintings got lighter and lighter as I became happier and more independent.

How I Made the Artworks:

I found the images online and traced them onto a canvas using carbon tracing paper. I would then look at the traced image and change the design by taking parts out or adding parts. I would then paint the images and go over them with black outlines. I started off doing the background last, but found this too messy, so I started doing the backgrounds first and painting the image on top.

What I’ve Learnt Along the Way:

Sometimes paintings start off crap, and I have to step back and have a look at it. Sometimes I have to start another painting and then coming back to the original one with fresh eyes and ideas.
I also really enjoy trying different techniques, such as getting the blood to look like blood by dabbing on thick, red paint.

🖼️ IMAGE DESCRIPTION
Five photographs of Erin's exhibition displayed in the foyer of Newcastle Music & Art Therapy. There are 14 canvases hanging on the foyer wall, all containing paintings that contain cute animals done in a pop art style with bright colours and thick black outlines; the top row all have "creepy" elements like skulls, ghosts and eyeballs included with the animals, while the bottom row has "lighter" elements like critters, hearts and sweet treats.
One photograph shows a canvas displayed on the wall of our staircase, featuring cute turtles in a pond.
Two of the photos show two additional artworks that were displayed on an easel for the opening but will not be part of the ongoing exhibition, as they feature "gory" elements like blood and exposed bones.
One photograph shows a close up of Erin's artist statement, as written in the post above, displayed on the wall next to the artworks.

18/09/2026

🎵🎨 Did you know that you can access music therapy and art therapy using your Support at Home package? 🎨🎵

Support at Home is a My Aged Care program designed to help older people remain at home as they age, giving you a budget you can use for government supported in-home services.

There are 8 different levels of funding, ranging from level 1 to level 8, that help determine how much support you will be able to access.

Music Therapy and Art Therapy can be accessed by anyone with funding level 4 and above.

If this is you or your loved one, ask your service provider to get in touch with us on your behalf, and then all you’ll need to do is fill out the self-referral form on our website: https://www.newcastlemusictherapy.com.au/referrals/

04/08/2026

“Can I ask…what’s with the ducks?”, one of our clients asked this week.

What started out as a spontaneous bit of whimsy from one of our admins has now turned into a beloved feature of our clinic.

Hidden throughout the building are tiny colourful ducks - and somehow they just keep multiplying! To be honest, we have lost track of how many there are, but at last count there were at least 40…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION 🎥 a montage of short clips shot at different places around our clinic. Each of the shots starts with a wide shot showing the part of the clinic the camera is in, and then zooms in to show a tiny bright coloured plastic duck that has been hidden in that area. There’s a duck in a plant, another inside the piano stool, some in walls and ledges, and even one on the clock in the foyer!

31/07/2026

31/07/2026

While we love art lessons and music lessons, what we do is very different!

Art therapy and music therapy are allied health services that are similar to occupational therapy and psychology. We can help you with physical, mental, cognitive and sensory goals, and help you reach your goals through art and music interventions. Our therapists are all Masters trained and professionally registered (as well as being the loveliest bunch of humans you could ever meet!).

Netflix, we’re ready when you are!

16/07/2026

One of our amazing clients, Keira, has created a podcast all about navigating life with degenerative chronic illnesses and invisible disabilities.

You can find Unseen Scars Unbreakable Spirit on Spotify - may we suggest this episode about music therapy as your starting point?

Unseen Scars Unbreakable Spirit · Episode

15/07/2026

The impact of art therapy, as explained by our friend Judy from Bear Cottage:

15/07/2026

Our front desk knick knacks have a life of their own...

29/05/2026

🎸 Our awesome music therapist Kate was featured on SBS中文 this month, talking about her work as a bilingual music therapist and how sharing languages and cultures has improved her music therapy practice.

“I believe the real connection between people is not about how perfect your English is. English is not my first language, and I have an accent when I speak...But after entering this profession, I realised that clients do not remember how perfect your English was. What truly matters to them is whether you listened, whether you genuinely cared, and whether you made them feel seen and understood.” ❤️

If you understand Cantonese you can click the link below to listen to her interview, and if you would like to read the English translation you can click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WMmhHvzP2izeoZJsLRnQPG7wCmXTaGEw/view?usp=sharing

在澳洲主流社會，從事音樂治療工作的梁佩珊 (Kate Leung) 認為，真正的社會融合，不是要求所有人變得一模一樣；而是即使文化不同，大家仍願意彼此聆聽、理解與尊重。

07/05/2026

We’re at the Hunter Disability Expo all day today and tomorrow! Come on down to the Newcastle Entertainment Centre between 9am and 3pm and visit our booth - we’d love to chat to you!