Brushes at Bushlands opened in recent weeks to a friendly crowd of SGCH staff, external stakeholders and customers, showcasing artworks from five Lane Cove locals who had signed up for a 10-week program, led by our very own SGCH artist Adnan. 

“I paint, it’s what I do, but I led this course, as I wanted to do something to bring people together from these SGCH buildings together. 

“There are very few children here, and we needed to do something to bring people out of their homes. A few people came to paint with me, and we enjoyed our time together,” Adnan said. 
 
Some of the participants, all aged over 50, hadn’t touched a paintbrush since their school days. Some joined for the extra social connection: “I needed something to get out of the flat, and we enjoyed being together each week,” one participant said. 
 
Pointing to a collection of carefully sketched kookaburras, with a sense of optimism he said, “I see these birds each day, and so I drew them. These ones (pointing to his watercolour) always come in and disrupt the others.” 

Caitlin from our MNE Connecting Communities team said many of the residents had bonded over the joy of belonging . 

“Painting was a great connector for the group, and many enjoyed swapping stories over a paintbrush, chatting about their lives. It was a positive experience overall, and a wonderful creative and social outlet. This is the beauty of living in an SGCH community,” she said.  

Visitors were charmed by Adnan performing a Kurdish song on the Oud, said to be one of the oldest instruments in the world. Most had never seen or heard the instrument, and Adnan humbly asked, “Are you enjoying this? It’s not like my painting. I’m an artist. I’m just having a go at this, and I only started playing when I was 55 years old.” 

Caitlin thanked Adnan and the team for joining together: “Adnan made it all happen. He paints, he speaks five languages, he plays the oud. What skills doesn’t he have? Above all else, he cares about his neighbours, so thank you Adnan for bringing us together,” she said. 

Great work from the Connecting Communities team and thank you to everyone who joined on the day to connect with our customers and celebrate their milestone. 

This program was funded thanks to a grant from Lane Cove Council.