My name is Ethan. I am a 31-year-old Aboriginal man from the Palawa mob. I am currently at the Melbourne Assessment Prison (MAP). I have been here for about two months now. This time since I have been in prison, I have been incident-free. It's a big thing for me to be incident-free in prison. Before this, I spent the last two and a half years in the slot at Port Phillip and Barwon. The thing that has helped me this sentence to keep out of trouble is painting. I love doing art, it helps me with my mental health and my depression a lot. Without my art, I would be struggling.
Since your magazine/paper has been coming to our unit, I have wanted to send a picture of my artwork I did on the large concrete pillar in the common area of our unit. But it has taken me four months to get approval to get photos taken of it. I would love to send a copy of your paper to my family to show them I am coping okay in here. Even if telling my story of how doing painting can help with mental health or even depression. If it helps even one person, I'm a happy man. Because before I started painting, I was really struggling a lot with my mental health. When I paint, I'm not in prison anymore. I'm lost for hours in my artwork. If I paint for one hour a day, I'm not in prison for that one hour, and if I paint for six hours, I'm not in prison for that six hours. And to see what people can create when they put their minds to it, it's crazy. If you don't like to paint, then even try poetry. The more hours you spend doing something creative, the less time you will see in prison. There is something for everyone if you look hard enough, you will find something that gives you enjoyment. Maybe if you like to read, then get some books from the library. If you don't read, try going to the gym. If you're at a prison where you can cook for yourself, try baking cakes. Anyway, what I'm saying is the more time you spend in prison doing things you like, the quicker the time will go.
I have started doing another design on another concrete pillar in our unit. When it's completed, I will send a picture over to you.
Thank you for your time reading this. And thank you for giving me and the other blokes something good to read here.
My name is Ethan. I am a 31-year-old Aboriginal man from the Palawa mob. I am currently at the Melbourne Assessment Prison (MAP). I have been here for about two months now. This time since I have been in prison, I have been incident-free. It's a big thing for me to be incident-free in prison. Before this, I spent the last two and a half years in the slot at Port Phillip and Barwon. The thing that has helped me this sentence to keep out of trouble is painting. I love doing art, it helps me with my mental health and my depression a lot. Without my art, I would be struggling.
Since your magazine/paper has been coming to our unit, I have wanted to send a picture of my artwork I did on the large concrete pillar in the common area of our unit. But it has taken me four months to get approval to get photos taken of it. I would love to send a copy of your paper to my family to show them I am coping okay in here. Even if telling my story of how doing painting can help with mental health or even depression. If it helps even one person, I'm a happy man. Because before I started painting, I was really struggling a lot with my mental health. When I paint, I'm not in prison anymore. I'm lost for hours in my artwork. If I paint for one hour a day, I'm not in prison for that one hour, and if I paint for six hours, I'm not in prison for that six hours. And to see what people can create when they put their minds to it, it's crazy. If you don't like to paint, then even try poetry. The more hours you spend doing something creative, the less time you will see in prison. There is something for everyone if you look hard enough, you will find something that gives you enjoyment. Maybe if you like to read, then get some books from the library. If you don't read, try going to the gym. If you're at a prison where you can cook for yourself, try baking cakes. Anyway, what I'm saying is the more time you spend in prison doing things you like, the quicker the time will go.
I have started doing another design on another concrete pillar in our unit. When it's completed, I will send a picture over to you.
Thank you for your time reading this. And thank you for giving me and the other blokes something good to read here.
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It is not a pleasurable experience. It is very difficult to face all those emotions and reflect over the course of your whole life.
I was always drawing as a kid, and when the opportunity came up to do an art course at age 17 I went for it.
I remember our living room used to be filled with hundreds of CDs. My mum is where my love of music came from.
You can have as many support workers and parole officers as you can get, but it will never make you stop doing crimes. It has to come from within yourself.
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