Meet Chrissy Foreman: Autistic-ADHD Artist, Arts Therapist, Arts-based Researcher & Neuro-affirming Educator 🌈🫶🏾🎨

Hi lovely, I’m Chrissy 🌿🫶🏽🎨

I’m a proud AuDHD’er (Autistic-ADHD) passionate about soulful self-discovery, nourishing personal wellbeing, and expressing, learning and processing through therapeutic arts experiences.

Alongside a Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice with Specialisation in Arts-based Research, and ANZACATA Professional registration, I weave together 30 years as a Professional Artist and Educator, with special expertise working with neurodivergent children, late-diagnosed autistic/ADHD women in peri/menopause, families, LGBTQIA+, and allied health professionals.

As a late-diagnosed neurodivergent woman, it’s my passion to support neurodivergent folx to creatively discover their unique strengths, interests and goals for thriving, while expanding the research base of our community’s unique, lived experiences and needs.

In my free time, I love chilling at home with my son, puppy Banjo and 3 cats, sipping tea, going on nature walks, making art, building LEGO, tending to my house plants and enjoying gluten-free friendly cafes. Oh, and frolicking barefoot in the rain! 🌧️

Read more about my journey below 👇

A woman with curly hair and glasses smiling, holding a dark curly puppy with floppy ears close to her chest in an indoor setting with shelves and framed pictures in the background.

My Qualifications

  • Masters Therapeutic Arts, Specialising in Arts-based Research (MIECAT Institute) 2024

  • Graduate Diploma in Therapeutic Arts Practice (MIECAT Institute) 2022

  • Bachelor Art Therapy (IKON Institute) 9 units, upgraded Masters in 2021

  • Cert IV Training & Assessment (Pinnacle Training) 2017

  • Graduate Certificate Experiential Creative Arts Therapy (MIECAT) 2010

  • Graduate Certificate in Community Cultural Development (CANSA) 2008

  • Certificate IV Workplace Assessment & Training (CBAC, Brisbane) 2004

  • Certificate in Visual Arts (RMIT/BOX HILL TAFE, Melbourne) 2002/2003

  • Diploma Early Childhood & Education (North Point TAFE, Brisbane) 1998

My Story …

A woman with curly blonde hair, wearing black sunglasses, a colorful striped sweater, a black jacket, a pink and white striped skirt, and black boots, stands indoors in front of a vintage television and stereo system, with a wooden chair and various household items around.
Photograph of a young child with red hair smiling and running, wearing a white shirt with cartoon print and beige pants.

I've been a creative soul for as long as I can remember—drawing, painting, writing, dancing, and performing were natural outlets for my sensitive, anxious, and curious nature.

Though I studied art all throughout high school, I wasn’t accepted into art school (and was encouraged to pursue a ‘real job’), so I trained in early childhood education and travelled. Still, my love for creativity never left me. In my 20s, I returned to art through visual arts study and later, art therapy with The MIECAT Institute.

Despite two decades of talk therapy, I continued to experience deep anxiety, overwhelm, and emotional flooding. But creative expression always brought me a sense of calm. That led me to pursue a Master’s in Therapeutic Arts—to understand why creativity felt so healing.

Motherhood, burnout, and eventual diagnoses of ADHD (at 42) and Autism (at 44) helped everything click: my sensitivities, creativity, intuitive nature, and how I process the world.

Now, with a Master’s in Therapeutic Arts Practice and a focus on neuro-affirming research and education, I’m passionate about creating offerings for kids and late-identified folx (and those who support us), to help us better understand our brains, our needs, and thrive—authentically.

A young woman with blonde hair sitting on a ledge in front of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, with the glass pyramid in the background.
Two people smiling for a selfie, partly visible in the image, with colorful artwork and plants in the background.
A young girl with red hair wearing a sleeveless dress, standing barefoot outdoors, holding a pink bicycle with a white basket, in front of green bushes.
A woman sitting on a log in a forest, writing in a notebook with a book nearby, surrounded by trees and nature.

Sustainability Practices

- Wherever possible in the studio, we use natural/recycled materials that are locally sourced, alongside art materials with proven, low-toxicity safety certification through ACMI

- Clients are shown eco-friendly processes to use and dispose of art materials

- Art prints and card decks are are printed locally within Australia, using quality eco-friendly processes

- Packaging is Australian-sourced, recycled and reusable wherever possible

- We regularly volunteer to collect litter from our local creeks and bushland, contributing to change in our own backyard

Open magazine with cut-out images of plants, homes, and gardens, featuring a decorative rock with a polished surface placed on top of some cut-out pictures.

Inside Artuition Studio

A multi-purpose craft and workroom with tables, chairs, storage shelves, and plants, illuminated by natural light from multiple windows.

ARTUITION Studio is a homely Private Therapeutic Arts Studio

Based in on beautiful Gubbi Gubbi Country, Clontarf, Queensland, 4019. Australia

Welcome to Artuition Studio … an open, airy, plant-filled therapeutic art space to imagine, grow and co-create your well-being journey. With a private side entrance, surrounded by lovely a garden sanctuary, you’ll experience nourishing, therapeutic art sessions and workshops to support authentic self-discovery and personal growth, in a space that feels safe, inspiring and relaxed to be in.

ARTUITION Studio is also the home of my therapeutic Art Gallery, featuring my artworks on paper, canvas and cards/stationery. If you’re in the Brisbane North area and would like to book a private gallery visit, reach out below to chat.