Art based on time and tide

IT is fair to say that to some extent the finished works by artist Charles Wilcox are predetermined by events that happened many years before and well beyond his knowledge or control. A painter and s...

Fighting the good fight for mankind

A FORMER soldier who is devoted to promoting world peace says our real enemies are not guns or wars – but the physical and emotional harm we do to others simply because we have not been taught to era...

Mynas are no minor problem in the wild

By Barry Morris Two men are waging war against Indian myna birds, sometimes called flying rats and cane toads of the sky, which they say are a scourge on the Australian landscape. Peter Wiltshire, se...

Questions of history still blowing for the Wind

Author Fran Henke is about to publish the final chapters in her novel trilogy, A Fair Wind. However, the historical narrative so far has proved so absorbing that “I can see a fourth – I want to know ...

Trials underway for disability access app

AN app to help people with disabilities find accessible venues for their needs has been tested in Mornington and Frankston. The program, called Data for Inclusion, is a database of local businesses t...

Drawing on a new career

LIFE as a bank teller was not Rondelle Douglas’s dream. She loved to draw as a child. When events took a challenging turn (divorce) the mother of three decided to return to Victoria and rediscover th...

Dog used to teach social skills to children

PSYCHOLOGIST Vanessa Thiele has chosen to use a dog as the main character of a book aimed at fostering children’s “social and emotional intelligence, work ethic and grit”. Thiele says these are “mind...

A mother’s perspective on a child with ADHD

A CRIB Point woman whose now-adult son was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age seven has written a book about her experiences. “We had many years of behavioural issu...

Designs on a career with fashion in mind

MELBOURNE’S Spring Racing Carnival means more to Lorraine Reeves than thundering hooves and two dollar place bets. The Mt Martha fashion designer is gearing up for her first Fashions on the Field con...

High flying birthday wish comes true at 80

IT may have taken 50 years, but Rye grandmother Wendy Burgis has finally achieved her most treasured birthday wish: to jump out of a light plane. “It was great,” she said, recalling the daredevil jum...