About Jade Forder the artist and teacher at Creative Abyss

Meet Jade

Multi-award-winning artist, unconventional teacher, business geek and founder of Creative Abyss

Hi, I’m Jade.

I’m a self-taught mixed-media artist, unconventional art teacher, mother of three boys, business geek, community leader and firm believer that far too many people have been convinced they are not creative.

I created Creative Abyss to change that.

For more than 20 years, creativity has been woven through my life. It has helped me express things I could not put into words, question expectations, navigate difficult chapters, reconnect with myself and eventually build a business and community around helping others do the same.

But Creative Abyss is not a traditional art school.

I’m not interested in creating a room full of identical artworks.

I don’t want you nervously watching what everyone else is doing, comparing your work or worrying that you’re getting it wrong.

And I definitely don’t want you to become dependent on me telling you what to do.

I want to give you enough guidance to feel safe trying something new, then enough freedom to experiment, question my ideas, change direction, go completely rogue and discover what you are capable of.

Because the artwork matters.

But what you discover about yourself while creating it matters more.

Jade Forder at Creative Abyss painting an artwork of The Veil of the Gemini for a photo shoot

Why Creative Abyss Exists

I have spent much of my life being told how things should be done.

How to be a good mother.

How to build a career.

How to run a business.

How art should look.

How success should be measured.

For a long time, I believed other people knew better.

Creative Abyss is what happened when I stopped listening.

I built my business as a self-taught artist without waiting for qualifications or permission. I developed my own teaching philosophy after seeing children afraid of making mistakes and meeting adults who had avoided creativity for decades because someone once told them they weren’t artistic.

I knew there had to be another way.

So I created one.

Today, through Creative Alchemy, Art Journalling, after-school programs and personalised private experiences, I create spaces where women, children and families can learn, experiment and connect without judgement, perfectionism or comparison.

My goal is to help the question change from:

“Am I doing this right?”

to:

“What if I tried this?”

That is where creative confidence begins.

What I Believe

I believe everyone is creative.

I believe there are no mistakes in art, only unexpected directions and happy surprises.

I believe creativity can be practice for life.

Every time you try something without knowing how it will turn out, you practise courage.

Every time you make a mistake and discover what it could become, you practise resilience.

Every time you stop comparing your work to someone else’s, you practise self-acceptance.

Every time you follow your own idea instead of waiting for approval, you practise trusting yourself.

And every time you make space to create, you remember that your needs, ideas and voice matter too.

I Teach Techniques, Not Conformity

My teaching style is difficult to squeeze into a neat little box, which is probably appropriate because I’ve never been particularly fond of boxes.

I teach techniques and introduce materials, but I encourage people to interpret them differently.

Change the colours.

Ignore half my instructions.

Try the weird idea.

Use the material in a way I hadn’t considered.

Bring me the biggest bloody canvas I’ve ever had in my studio and ask me to help you figure out what to do with it.

Some of my proudest moments happen when a student confidently takes my idea somewhere I never imagined.

Because my goal is not to create artists who copy me.

It is to help people trust themselves.

Artist + Teacher + Business Geek

I sometimes joke that I’m an unusual combination.

I can paint intuitively without knowing what will emerge, sit with the finished artwork and listen for the message it is trying to tell me...

and then happily open a spreadsheet and analyse my business numbers.

I love both.

Alongside Creative Abyss, I have spent more than 20 years in a technical corporate career involving master data, project management, systems, training and team leadership.

At first glance, my corporate career and creative business may seem completely different.

They aren’t.

The philosophy connecting them is empowerment.

Whether I am training a colleague or teaching someone to create, I want to provide the skills, resources, encouragement and support they need, then help them develop enough confidence to trust their own capabilities.

My technical experience also helps me run Creative Abyss with both heart and commercial discipline.

I believe purpose and profitability are not competing priorities.

Profit gives me the freedom to keep choosing purpose.

My Art

I paint intuitively.

Most of the time, I have no idea what is going to emerge when I begin.

I add paint, pencils, collage, marks and layers. I follow curiosity. I change direction. I make happy surprises out of things that did not go according to plan.

Eventually, an artwork begins to reveal itself.

That is when I sit with it and listen.

What is this artwork trying to tell me?

What do I need to hear?

What might another woman need to be reminded of?

Sometimes the message is to rest.

To play.

To stop taking everything so seriously.

To spend more time outside.

To reconnect with nature.

To question expectations.

To remember parts of yourself you have forgotten.

My art is not simply something pretty to hang on a wall.

It is a reminder to come back to yourself.

The Community I Never Expected to Build

When I began Creative Abyss, I thought I was building a business that taught people how to make art.

I now understand I was building something deeper.

Around my paint-splattered tables, children develop friendships and confidence. Families put aside distractions and create together. Women arrive alone and become part of communities where they share deeply, encourage hard and genuinely care about one another.

And I am not standing outside the community I have built.

I am part of it.

My vision is not to reach the greatest number of people.

I deliberately keep my classes small because I want to know the people who walk through my door. I want to notice when someone needs encouragement, greater freedom, a different approach or simply someone to start a conversation.

My vision is to create the greatest depth of impact possible for every person who walks through my door.

The Ripple

I have learnt that I may never know how far one creative experience travels.

A child tries something they thought they couldn’t do.

A woman creates after believing for decades that she wasn’t artistic.

A family reconnects.

Someone speaks honestly.

A student returns years later and tells me one class inspired them to start creating again.

A person begins to trust themselves.

One creative experience creates another.

And another.

My job is to have the courage to start the ripple.

Welcome to Creative Abyss

If you are looking for a traditional art class where everyone follows identical instructions and leaves with the same artwork, I’m probably not your person.

But if you want to experiment, learn, laugh, question, connect, make a mess, try something new and discover what you are capable of...

Welcome.

You belong here.

I stopped waiting for permission.

Now I help others do the same.

Creative Abyss has grown from one woman with a paintbrush and an idea into a multi-award-winning business recognised through awards, television, publications, podcasts and community leadership. Here are some of the places my work and story have travelled.