Jonathan worked as an educator at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, Australia, for more than 30 years. He is now a freelance writer, lecturer, and website manager. Although a resident of the Central Coast, north of Sydney, he has travelled to the Comox Valley once a year on average since 2012, each time staying for a month or two. During each visit, he regularly attends the fortnightly Cumberland Life Drawing sessions. Among his other interests is the international language, Esperanto.

TREE OF LIFE
Every second week, a group of adults varying in age and background meets at the beautiful Abbey Studio, a converted church on Cumberland’s Penrith Ave. They gather to practice the skill of life drawing: to sketch the human figure by observing a live model. It’s a technique many are aware of but don’t fully understand, […]
Words by Jonathan CooperPhotos by Meredith Rose