“We’d lived in Fern Tree Gully for 30 years, but I knew Castlemaine was the place I wanted to be. I had done a lot of sketches of the old Castlemaine in the past, and I kept returning here. We were looking for a place, I didn’t want a convent or old school – I wanted a warehouse or a pub. But we ended up looking at the old Convent and St Gabriel’s secondary school (built in 1860.) When I walked in I knew I had found my dream, the studio at long last! I didn’t want to but I could feel this place; I just knew it was the place I wanted to be – it has a certain feel. I felt like I had no choice I had to be here (in Castlemaine). People bring something in and leave it behind here. There is something here, unbelievable, a spirit of the place.”
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