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Unique Gifts For The Festive Season

If you’re looking for unique and socially conscious gift ideas this festive season, the crew at Blue Tongue Adventure Wynnum has been working on a range of artisan creations, perfect for placing under your tree for someone special. 

A young man wearing an apron stands at a kitchen bench, tying labels onto jars of pickled preserves.

Nathan puts the finishing touches on delicious preserves at Blue Tongue Kitchen.

The Blue Tongue Crew has whipped up a range of delicious pickles, chutneys and relishes, as part of their capacity-building cooking workshops at the award-winning Blue Tongue Kitchen cooking school, under the expert guidance of Chef Allan. These preserves are ideal for festive season charcuterie platters, thoughtful gifts – or even to add some extra flavour to those post-Christmas leftovers! 

If you’re shopping for someone who deserves a luxurious treat, browse the Blue Tongue Industries range of home, bath and body products. The range includes candles, soaps, scrubs, body washes and lotions, all crafted and packaged by the Blue Tongue Crew. 

The Cooking and Industries workshops are just some of the activities on offer at Blue Tongue Adventure’s disability support day programs for young adults.  These workshops help to hone skills such as reading recipes and following procedures. Proceeds from the sale of the products are re-invested back into the programs.  

Check out the range on the shelves at Blue Tongue Pantry cafe, 100 Mooroondu Road Thorneside, opposite Beth Boyd Park. 

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Art With Heart At the Blue Tongue Adventure Showcase 2024

Wynnum is set to play host to an inspiring and thought-provoking art show this month, with Blue Tongue Adventure’s Art Showcase, displaying a vast array of pieces by artists involved in the disability support program. 

The event will feature a diverse range of art works, using media including woodwork, ceramics, paint on canvas, digital art, and textiles. The Blue Tongue Crew is also stocking the shelves with a variety of Blue Tongue Industries giftware items, including bath and body products, candles, and jewellery. 

Blue Tongue Adventure’s Tingal Road centre will be transformed into an elaborate gallery for the event, with guests enjoying drinks and canapés by Thorneside café Blue Tongue Pantry as they mingle and admire the works. There will also be live music by Blue Tongue Crew member Sam Mammino.  

“We’re so excited to showcase the beautiful pieces our Crew have created over the last few months,” coordinator Sam Franklin-Wangman said. 

“This event will uplift and inspire the Crew to continue these amazing creations, and provide the opportunity to showcase their work to their friends and family, as well as inspiring others in the community.” 

The Art Showcase will be held on Friday 23 February, 6:00pm-8:30pm at Blue Tongue Adventure, 260 Tingal Road Wynnum.

RSVP here!

 

As published in The Community Leader February 2024  

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Art Show Spectacular!

What a night – our Blue Tongue Collectables Art Show was a raging success! The walls of our Wynnum studio were absolutely brimming with such a diverse range of pieces – in fact even we were surprised to see just how many amazing art works we’d created, once they were all put on display!

We were absolutely blown away by the support of our family and friends as well as the local Wynnum community who came out in force to admire our work and learn more about Blue Tongue Adventure. Our Helensvale crew didn’t miss out – contributing some very special pieces to the show, and making the trip north to join the festivities!

So many of our artists experienced a moment of pride when guests bought their pieces. The artists will earn a portion of the proceeds of their sales, while a small portion is being reinvested in our programs. We’re saving for our own kiln for the art studio, so that our ceramic creations can be fired on-site, and judging by last night’s turnout we’re getting much closer to our goal!

It’s such a special heart-warming feeling when everyone’s efforts come together to create a fantastic community event: from our talented Blue Tongue Crew putting their “art and soul” into their pieces, to our dedicated support staff encouraging the crew and celebrating their progress, and our amazing coordinators for pulling it all together. This was our first ever art show but we’re sure it won’t be the last!

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Blue Tongue Adventurers Discover the Artist Within

As the Blue Tongue Adventure crew continues preparations for the Art Show in June, participants have learned about skills and talents they never knew they had!

In our Wynnum Collectables space, Art + Soul program participants have been creating a stunning variety of pieces from paintings to ceramics.  But our woodworkers in The Workshop are also discovering their own artistic flair, starting with fascinating 3D abstract wall art pieces which see the artists experimenting with shape and pattern.

Will, 22, was a little surprised – yet delighted – to discover his own artistic skills. “I love woodwork – but now I know I can be an artist with woodwork!”

Will explains: “At school we made dollhouses, that sort of thing.  But with what we do here, now I know I can be an artist using woodwork.

“I can’t really draw so I never thought I could be an artist, but now… I know I can use wood to make art,” he smiles.

Meanwhile, our ceramic artists are working on a spectacular central piece for the show.   Art program coordinator Josh says the crew has researched the art works of different cultures for inspiration.

“We’ve looked at the symbolism of totem poles, and talked about how those elements have meaning for North American cultures,” he says. “We talked about how we could bring our own influences and experiences to the piece, to represent our local area. Now each week we create a new element and the artists are each bringing their own personal individual touch to their contributions.”

Bring on the big day – we can’t wait!

The Blue Tongue Art Show is on June 22, 2021 at Blue Tongue Collectables, 260 Tingal Road Wynnum.