Blackwood Valley Who's Who
Public Profile
Michelle Baxter
welcome to Blessings by Design Art Studio
I'm the owner, founder, and lead teacher of Blessings by Design Art Studio , a creative space where children and families come to explore art, build confidence, and have fun making something they're proud of.
My background is in working with children. I have worked in special education for over 20 years ,and taught art classes for the past 15 years and in the last few years I worked as an Outside School Hours Care Coordinator, leading programs for children from preschool to Year 6. I loved every part of it — building relationships with families, designing engaging activities, and creating an environment where every child felt safe, valued, and excited to be there.
That experience shaped everything I bring to the studio today.
Blessings by Design
I'm not interested in being the biggest art studio — I'm focused on being the best for the families who walk through our door.
That means small class sizes, thoughtful lesson planning, quality materials, and genuine connection.
When you join a class with me, I'll know your child's name, their favourite colour, what they love to draw, and what makes them light up. I'll celebrate their wins and gently encourage them through the tricky bits. Art isn't just about the finished piece — it's about confidence, focus, problem-solving, and joy.
I'd love to welcome your family into our creative community.
Connect through my public pages
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Distinguished and Famous people from Blackwood Valley
The Blackwood Valley's creative connections include a Bridgetown-born novelist and an artist working from a Boyup Brook farm. Country life supplies both a biographical setting and material for their work.
📚 Jon Doust
Jon Doust was born in Bridgetown into a farming and retailing family, and worked in both before pursuing other occupations. His route to writing included banking, travel, journalism and comedy. His novels include Boy on a Wire, To the Highlands and Return Ticket; the first was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. His later life has been based in Albany, so Bridgetown's claim rests on his birth, upbringing and early work, rather than a present-day address.
🎨 Lori Pensini
Lori Pensini works from a studio on the Boyup Brook farming property she shares with her husband Warren. Her figurative painting draws on family, rural work and relationships with the land. Experience of the South West's 2024 drought informed Bare Earth, the painting that won the 2025 Collie Art Prize. She had previously lived and worked on a Pilbara cattle station. The Blackwood Valley connection is an established farming and artistic life, bringing observation in the paddock into work on canvas.
