FAQ

We love our customers, and as much as we would love, especially during these times, to offer that kind of service, we think art is a hard thing to teach online. Not perhaps in terms of difficulty, but in our classes we love to connect directly with the client and share the experience of creating with them. Particularly with our 'Art as Therapy' classes, we need to be able to connect with the student in a way that technology, while fantastic, doesn't allow for. We love sharing with our students, but at the moment, we are in person only. That said, of course, we are always more than happy to chat with our current students through messenger or the website and help them with any at-home project they may be working on as best we can.

Both! Our teacher and resident artist Jay loves to work with people from all different walks and stages of life. Her current students range in age from 5 to early 50's. She works with children with autism and attention difficulties, adults that want to work on finding their creativity or find a new outlet and people who are just wanting to try something different. No class is 100% the same and they may not be what you might expect!

Art for Wellness is an art to make your soul happy. We are NOT qualified Art Therapists. We will NOT look at your colour choices or subject matter to draw conclusions. That style of teaching certainly can be important and definitely has its place, but it's just not what do here. We do art to relax, to have fun, to feel accomplished and happy with our achievements. We do art to centre ourselves, to get out of our comfort zone, to tap into feelings that seem a little big to deal with directly and to experiment without any judgement. Art as therapy is art that feels good. Without judgements, without limits, with guidance.

The answer to how much guidance you will receive is easy! How much guidance do you want? Here at The Painted Feather, we understand that no person is the same. Because of that, we plan our classes for the student rather than taking the student through a class. We have had students that barely let us talk them through a new technique, and they just want us to draw or paint with them and let them take the wheel. Alternately, we have clients that like us to be involved with every stroke of the brush, pen, chalk or pencil. There is no wrong way to learn. While it can sometimes take a lesson or two to figure out exactly how involved you want your teacher to be, our goal is to make your time with us comfortable and enjoyable.

This is something we are working on and incredibly excited about. It really does depend at the moment on the size of the class and the type of class you are interested in. The best and most straightforward answer is to message us!!!! We will be able to let you know exactly what we can make work.

Many of you may have tried some version of a Kombucha drink at some point, or at the very least, seen it make its way into the refrigerated section of the supermarket. It can be expensive, so there is a community of people who make their own at home. This is done by taking a 'Scobie' a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (also known as 'the mother') and feeding it nutrients. It grows and creates new scobies, and the old one essentially becomes a waste product. While some people eat and share or even discard them, we make a drink for ourselves from the liquid then turn the excess scobies into our leather!

We love a good find, even when it's a bit harder to spot because of some light damage. We frequent op-shops, our Painted Feather community, and we're in contact with some of our local jewellers. We accept the donations of family, friends and you, our painted feather community and transform the mismatched and single earrings necklaces and bracelets into something beautiful after they receive a little TLC from us. If you head across to our 'Work with us' Page, you can learn more about how you can hand in old jewellery that you don't use anymore and get a nice discount in return!!!

Our feathers are sourced by us! Locally and sustainably on long walks in spring with friends and family to collect the feathers that the birds have moulted. These feathers are then washed and sterilized to remove risk, and then they sit and wait to be enhanced and given new life by our resident Painted Feather artist.

It's easy to see from the way we go about creating our art that we care very very deeply for the environment. As a new business, in the art world at that, we are doing our very best to be eco-friendly without compromising quality. However, there are always areas we are continually working to improve. We use resin to set some of our jewellery which is not the best possible practice. However, we are continually workshopping new ways to create that will leave less and less of a footprint without making items ridiculously expensive. We are confident that the reused and reinvented source materials we use to show our commitment to environmentally conscious business practices. We go out of our way to make sure that we are turning broken gems into something with meaningful longevity. While processes like resin and shipping are areas, we are eager to improve on. We are committed to growing and improving continually and take every step we can to stay as environmentally friendly as possible.

Absolutely!!! A lot of our work with feathers is either custom work or on suggestion through our social media. Send us an email, hit up our dm's, we would love to hear from you! If you're feeling confident, put in an order through our website! We'd love to talk to you in detail about your idea! If you're stuck for idea's, check out our past work gallery! It might not have exactly what you want, but a good idea can come from anywhere!

We believe in art without limits. However, reality can be a little mean to us! The more specific you are and the more reference pictures you send us, the more likely we are to be able to give you precisely what you want. We've gone from a memento of a pet rabbit to a celebratory painting of an 18 wheeler truck for someones new business (admittedly, not all wheels were shown in the painting of that feather). We'd love to hear your idea, and we will work with you to make sure that we are confident we can create something you'll love before we start. If you're stuck for idea's, check out our past work gallery!

If you select a feather for a custom piece, we are going to do our absolute best to give you the art you've requested on the feather you want. That said, feathers have been damaged during the making process. If we don't think the feather you've chosen will fit your design, we will let you know and work with you to find the best possible outcome.

This is a hard question to answer. It honestly depends on the work you want to be done. A feather has a lot of time and effort that goes into its creation, often much MUCH more than people realise and we really love to see a feather go home with someone who will love it. If the piece is something that we think we can re-home with another lucky customer, like an owl or elephant, then we may be able to cancel the commission, minus the non-refundable deposit. The more customised your work, however, the less likely we will be able to exercise this option. A very unique and specific piece may require a larger deposit for that very reason. This is, however, something that we will make you aware before the piece is locked in and started.

The original quote we will give you will consist of an estimated price range. We want to provide you with a good deal, we love what we do, and we genuinely love to see art go to people who will enjoy and appreciate it. If you have concerns over cost, we can set a hard maximum price on your feather. We hate a price bump as much as anyone, and we don't believe it a fair business practice. If it looks like we will need to increase the estimated price (which is rare), you will be given lots of notice, and we will discuss your options with you.

Yes. Due to the time and work spent painting a feather without guarantee of payment, we do require a deposit of $50. For highly specific customised work with a reduced alternate sale value, we may require a higher deposit; however, this will be discussed before creating the piece.

If you are eligible for cancellation on your custom work, which is something you will be made aware of before your piece is created, there is no cancellation fee. However, we will not be able to refund your deposit once we have made a start.

Again, this has a straightforward answer. We love what we do, and we love to see our art go to people that appreciate it. Because of this, we sell our art for a fraction of what its worth in time spent alone.

Unfortunately, as we list on each item, we can't accept returns due to change of mind. Please head to our policies page to see our full guidelines on returns.

We would love that. However, we love even more the ability to save jewellery from becoming even more waste. Because of that, we are often unaware of the origins of the pieces we work with and can't make any guarantees. If we can guarantee the quality of any of our articles, we will definitely let you know!

We do everything in our power to make sure it will! We have tested our lines with a team member who (and we say this with all the love in the world) usually can find about 10 pairs of earrings crushed together at the bottom of her purse. She hasn't had any issues yet. That said, we definitely recommend taking a bit more care of your jewellery and include a care leaflet to help you get the most extended life you can out of your product. If you do run into issues, let us know. We can't make any promises, but we may be able to help, and all feedback is greatly valued.