Jo Dyer is an artist exploring themes of connecting, belonging and slowing down. She was part of the “Renew Newcastle” program for 5 years. Jo has been cultivating a “values-led practice”, aiming to be mindful and present. On her daily walks she intricately traces the delicate and fragile veins of fallen flowers. I have painted Jo in her studio, surrounded by her paintings the way a gardener may be half-engulfed by flowering shrubs and bushes in their garden – tended lovingly and carefully.