David Giles Art Gallery

03/06/2026

Come see my Magnus Opus exhibition “Precipice” at Atwell Gallery 10-19 July.

Some of my favourite paintings from the last two years.

Opening event 6-8 Friday 10th July.

Continues till 19 July open 10-4 daily.

Atwell Gallery is at 586 Canning Highway Alfred Cove.

Www.davidgilesartgallery.com

03/06/2026

A few years ago, Abbi was homeless, facing severe addiction, and living with intense paranoia on the streets. Look at her today. Abbi has her own home, multiple jobs, and a beautiful support network. "I'm the best version of myself I've ever been," she says. Momentum Queens Park never gave up on her.

It takes courage to support change.

Invest in life-changing independence today: https://community.rw.org.au/tax-appeal

01/06/2026

From about 16 to 24 my plan was to become a politician. I wanted to make the world a better place through legislation.

Then I discovered s*x, drugs and rock and roll and wanted to drop out and tune in. I wanted to make the world a better place by not participating in the capitalist slave system and just be. Just appreciate the beauty of flowers, the ocean, cuddles, walks in the forest, being kind to strangers.

Then I met John Seed and wanted to be self sufficient, grow my own food, spend as little money as possible to minimise my environmental impact. I bought a farm to turn into a model of communal self sufficiency especially with food, seeing as much of the food in shops was poisonous. I was singularly unsuccessful.

Then I discovered the Great Walk Network and Deep Ecology and wanted to make the world a better place by showing people the beauty of nature, thinking this could be the key to awakening people to the reality of the interconnectedness of all things, to the reality that there is no separation between us and nature. It is all one. For five years I had a bushwalking business taking people deep into the woods and into themselves.

Then I had my near death experience and became an artist. I wanted to make the world a better place by caring for myself, healing my inner child and showing others this path.

Then I discovered Buddhism and went off to the monastery to be a trainee monk. I no longer wanted to change the world. I just wanted to become enlightened and see through the illusion.

Then I returned to the illusion. I returned to art. I wanted to become a famous artist so I could have a voice to make the world a better place.

All this time the world got faster and humanity continued down the path to self destruction.

Now I am nearly seventy. I look back on my life with affection.

But I lament the fact that last year ten million people died of starvation. Starved to death! It was the same when I was a child. We have i phones and AI yet ten million people still die of starvation every year. Go figure.

I still care. I still want to have a voice.

But I take great solace in the fact that the Pope and the King of England are saying some of the things I want to say. It gives me time and space to play with my dog and my grandkids and sit on my rocking chair on my deck and watch the sun go down.

I have had so many ambitions, so many twists and turns and loop backs, but now I just want to rest.

But if you meet someone on the road who is hungry, please feed them.

31/05/2026

31/05/2026

This painting didn’t sell at a recent auction for Richmind WA. Normal price is $4250. Now available for $1000 with 100% going to Richmind WA Heart & Soul art therapy program. Pm me to purchase. Free delivery Perth Metro.

Return to the Garden
90x90cm acrylic on canvas
Normally $4250

Available now for $1000
100% donated to Richmind WA Heart & Soul art therapy program.

Richmind WA

I am currently working as Creative Therapies Coordinator / Principal Artist in Residence at Richmind WA, one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever done. At a recent Richmind WA exhibition I organised, I asked one of our participants, a recent consumer I had invited to train as a volunteer artist in residence, to speak at the opening. This is a small part of her story. Next week she is facilitating the workshop.

“She was fighting stage fright when she stood up to speak. She said to herself, handwritten notes in front of her, addressing a room of people at a Richmind WA art exhibition. But she stood up anyway. Because she wanted people to understand what the HeART & Soul program had meant to her. And she felt it was important enough to push through her own fear to say it out loud.

Her story didn’t begin at the exhibition. It began at the end of a Richmind WA program, a moment she describes as being happy about the progress she’d made, but terrified of what came next.

She had scraped together some other services in time. But the fear of the future was real, and she felt it acutely. Then, a chance meeting at a Richmind WA end-of-year event. They had a great conversation. An art class followed. And with it came something she hadn’t expected, a new title, Volunteer Artist in Residence, and entry into the HeART & Soul program.

A lifeline, she called it.

Standing at that exhibition, surrounded by her classmates and their work, she described what the program had given her and the people around her:

“Not only are we learning and growing our art skills. We are making real friends, sharing our experiences, offering support and advice, laughing and having a good time. It gives our lives purpose and meaning, building our self-confidence. It provides us with a short break from our adversities and allows our hearts and souls to sparkle for a bit.”

She closed by thanking her classmates. “You are awesome,” she told them.

She had arrived terrified of the future. She left as someone who stands up in front of a room and speaks.

The HeART & Soul, creates spaces where people experiencing mental health challenges can reconnect with creativity, community, confidence and hope.

Because recovery doesn’t always begin with a breakthrough.

Sometimes it begins with a conversation at a party.

An art class.

A room full of people who understand.

30/05/2026

Scale matters

27/05/2026