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Hello, I’m Maria
I’m a Darwin-based artist, educator and author creating picture books, art resources, workshops and artist-designed pieces that bring creativity into everyday life.
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My work draws on more than 25 years of teaching across schools, creative learning environments and community settings, alongside my own artistic practice. My foundations include Montessori and Steiner training, university education and ongoing professional learning.
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The Maria Grujicic Studio Method—three steps to finding the artist in you—is the approach I have developed through my own studio and teaching practice.
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Create → Transfer → Repeat
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Begin with inspiration, observation and hands-on exploration. Choose ideas from your creation to carry into another piece, then return to the process—keeping, changing, combining or introducing ideas as you go.
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I offer practical demonstrations, thoughtful questions and time to experiment. This gentle structure leaves space for individual choices, imagination and personal expression. It is also how I develop ideas across my own artworks, picture books, wearable art and studio goods.
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For families and educators, my resources offer manageable starting points for meaningful creative experiences. Many use simple materials already available at home, including paper, pencils, recycled objects, natural materials and loose parts.
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Through picture books, printed and digital resources, and small-group workshops, I support hands-on, process-led learning in homes, homeschools, classrooms and community spaces.
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Inspired by Darwin’s natural world and everyday curiosity, my work invites people to slow down, notice something new and discover what they can make of it.
My Story
I was born and raised in Darwin in a Kalymnian-Greek family. My connection to place, culture, storytelling and the natural world continues to shape my work.
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For more than 25 years, I have worked with children, families and educators across Australia and internationally. My teaching journey has included bilingual Montessori education in Germany, Steiner-informed settings, International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme schools, English-language teaching, creative arts education and inclusive learning support.
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Living and working in Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom gave me opportunities to learn languages, experience different cultures and explore different ways of teaching. My professional learning has included Montessori study through the United States and United Kingdom, onsite training in Indianapolis and visits to Montessori schools internationally.
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In my classrooms, I brought music, movement, drama, visual art and storytelling into language and other learning. While teaching English in public schools in Madrid and Albacete, I shared my classroom approach with fellow teachers at a British Council seminar in Madrid.
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Alongside teaching, I have continued to write, draw, paint, compose and make. My creative practice includes picture books, poetry, music, sculpture, soft sculpture, wearable art, headdresses and imagined Avant Garde Creatures. Ideas often begin with close observation of Darwin’s plants, birds, textures and everyday moments.
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Over time, I recognised a recurring process in both my teaching and my own work: creating, choosing ideas to transfer, and returning to them through repetition and change. I have brought this together as the Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat, an invitation to finding the artist in you.
My published works include Mystery Plants & Trees: Adventures in the Ludmilla Bushblock, Hidden Beauty of Darwin and poetry projects including Poems That Dance. Through photography, film, writing and making, observations take new forms across books, resources, artworks and creative experiences.
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In 2026, I am developing Tactile Wall Art, an exhibition and participatory creative project at UNTiTLED gallery+studio in Darwin. It brings together sensory exploration, visual arts, children’s workshops and evolving installation work.
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Maria Grujicic Studio brings these threads together: art, education, place, cultural experience and imagination. It is where I develop my own ideas and help others explore theirs.
How I Work
I create calm, carefully prepared environments where children can explore real materials, follow their curiosity and develop their own ideas through making.
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The Maria Grujicic Studio Method offers three steps to finding the artist in you: Create → Transfer → Repeat.
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A story, illustration, object, movement or experience provides a starting point. Through observation, practical demonstrations and guided experimentation, children explore materials, techniques and ideas.
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They then choose what to transfer from their first creation into another piece. They might keep a shape, change a colour, combine details or follow a new idea. As they repeat the process, each version offers possibilities for discovery and personal expression.
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My role is to provide structure and respond to the individual child—with questions, suggestions, demonstrations and space to think. Children have freedom to decide what they carry forward and how their work develops.
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Many activities use simple, accessible materials, including found objects, natural materials, recycled elements, paper, pencils, watercolour and loose parts. Experiences can be adapted, repeated and returned to over time.
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I work with families, homeschoolers, classrooms, studios and community groups. Resources and workshops allow flexibility for different ages, interests, confidence levels and support needs, with manageable preparation wherever possible.
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I value small groups, clear visual support and gentle guidance. Adults are encouraged to prepare the space, model care for materials and give children time to observe, practise skills, make choices and work independently.
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Respectful, place-based learning is central to my practice. I encourage children to notice and respond to the world around them with care, curiosity and imagination.
Professional Background
I am a qualified educator, artist, author and creative learning facilitator with more than 25 years of experience working with children, families and educators across early childhood, primary education, arts learning and community settings in Australia and internationally.
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My qualifications include a Diploma of Teaching, Bachelor of Education and Certificate IV in Visual Arts. My background includes Montessori and Steiner training, bilingual education, International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme settings, English-language teaching and inclusive learning support.
Alongside teaching, I write and illustrate picture books, develop creative learning resources, and create visual artworks, installations, wearable art and participatory projects.
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These experiences inform the Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat, an approach developed through my own studio and teaching practice. It brings together observation, practical skills, guided exploration and individual creative choices.
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All children’s workshops are facilitated by me, a qualified, experienced educator with current Working With Children clearance.
Studio Philosophy
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Structure Creates Freedom
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I create carefully prepared creative environments where children can settle, observe, explore and make at their own pace.
This philosophy underpins the Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat—giving children a clear starting point and freedom to choose how their ideas develop.
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Art experiences can sometimes feel loud, fast or overwhelming, particularly when children are expected to follow the same instructions and produce similar outcomes. My approach offers a clear starting point, thoughtfully prepared materials and simple visual or verbal guidance, while leaving space for children to respond in their own way.
Structure is not used to limit imagination. It provides a calm foundation from which children can take creative risks, repeat processes, follow their interests and gradually develop confidence.
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In my sessions, children may be invited to:
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• begin with a simple shared prompt
• work with real, carefully selected materials
• observe an example or visual sequence
• repeat a process until it feels familiar
• make choices about colour, shape, materials or story
• extend an activity when they are ready
• pause, watch or return to an idea later
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Workshops are designed for children aged approximately 4–12 and are adapted according to age, confidence, prior experience and interest. A younger child may begin by tracing, exploring materials or making broad marks, while an older child may extend the same invitation through detailed drawing, pattern, storytelling, sculpture or design.
This means children can work alongside one another without needing to produce the same result. Each child is offered an appropriate level of challenge, support and freedom within the same shared creative environment.
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Group size varies according to the venue, activity, materials and age range of participants. Some sessions are intentionally intimate, while others may include a larger group where the space and workshop format allow for it. In every setting, I plan carefully for clear routines, accessible materials and meaningful participation.
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I value short, clear instruction, visual support, calm pacing and hands-on engagement. Children are not rushed, compared or redirected away from their ideas. They are supported to notice, think, make choices and create deeply.
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This approach is informed by Montessori principles of respect for the child, careful preparation of the environment, purposeful materials and uninterrupted work cycles.
Structure, in the studio, is not restriction.
It is what allows imagination to flourish.
Workshop Philosophy:
Why Time Matters
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Children need time to settle, notice, explore and develop their own ideas.
My workshops are designed as carefully prepared creative experiences rather than rushed craft activities. Children are offered a clear starting point, accessible materials and gentle guidance, then given time to repeat, experiment, adjust and make choices.
The Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat—allows time for children to choose ideas from their work, carry them into another creation and explore what happens when they keep or change different elements.
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Some children begin quickly. Others need time to observe, touch materials, watch a demonstration or return to an idea when they feel ready. All of these are valid ways of participating.
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My workshops are designed for children aged approximately 4–12 and are adapted according to age, confidence, prior experience and interest. A younger child may work with larger materials, simpler movements or a short tracing process, while an older child may extend the same invitation through detailed drawing, pattern, storytelling, sculpture or design.
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Flexible Workshop Formats
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Maria Grujicic Studio workshops may be offered in different formats depending on the venue, project and age group:
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• one-hour focused creative sessions
• two linked one-hour sessions, with the option to attend one or both
• 90-minute workshops
• two-hour holiday workshops
• multi-session creative programs and term-based series
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The two-session format allows children and families to choose an experience that suits their energy, attention and interests. Children who attend both sessions can continue, deepen or extend their work without needing to rush.
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What Children Are Supported to Do
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Through thoughtful preparation, children may be supported to:
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• settle into a calm creative environment
• observe, handle and care for materials
• follow a simple visual or verbal sequence
• repeat a process until it feels familiar
• choose and transfer ideas from one creation to another, changing and developing them through repetition
• develop focus and confidence
• make independent creative choices
• explore personal ideas without comparison
• continue an activity at a level that is appropriate for them
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Group size varies according to the venue, activity, materials and age range of participants. Some sessions are intentionally intimate, while others may be offered to larger groups where the environment and workshop structure allow for meaningful participation.
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My role is to create the conditions for children to work with care, curiosity and growing independence.
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The aim is not speed or identical outcomes.
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It is time, attention and freedom within a carefully prepared structure.
Mystery Plants & Trees: From Observation to Watercolour
A nature art workshop exploring three steps to finding the artist in you through the Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat. Inspired by Mystery Plants & Trees: Adventures in the Ludmilla Bushblock picturebook.
Montessori Foundations,
My Creative Approach
My Montessori training and teaching experience inform how I introduce materials, demonstrate techniques and guide children’s exploration.
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Drawing on my experience presenting Montessori Metal Insets, I have adapted their use within my own creative teaching practice. Tracing offers a manageable starting point for exploring boundaries, lines, shapes and patterns. Children then choose ideas from their initial work to transfer into another creation, developing and changing them through repetition.
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This forms part of the Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat—an approach I have developed through my own studio and teaching practice.
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​Montessori materials and principles are among its foundations. My creative extensions bring these influences together with observation, storytelling, artistic techniques and freedom for individual choices.
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This way of working can support visual discrimination, concentration, fine-motor development, spatial awareness, problem-solving and growing independence. The materials provide a clear starting point, while allowing children time to build understanding through direct experience.
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Sensorial Foundations
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Montessori sensorial materials invite children to refine perception through sight, touch, dimension, colour, form, texture and gradation.
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For example:
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• Colour Tablets support matching, sorting and grading colours by hue and intensity. In my workshops, these experiences may extend into colour mixing through plasticine, paint, collage or other carefully chosen materials.
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• The Pink Tower invites children to compare and order graded cubes. Through repeated handling and arrangement, children explore size, proportion, sequence and visual-spatial relationships.
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• Geometric Solids support the exploration of three-dimensional form. Children can hold, compare, name and classify shapes through direct experience.
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• Metal Insets support controlled tracing, line-making, shape awareness and careful hand movements. They can become a foundation for drawing, pattern, design and early writing preparation.
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Montessori Materials and Creative Extensions
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I use Montessori materials where they are helpful, particularly when introducing a new concept or offering children a clear sensorial starting point.
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From there, I extend these principles through my own artist-educator practice. I create accessible variations using materials that families, educators and community groups may already have available.
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This may include:
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• recycled lids and containers for tracing
• cardboard shapes and rings
• natural materials, leaves and seedpods
• loose parts and found objects
• plasticine for colour mixing and sculptural exploration
• pencils, crayons, charcoal, watercolour and simple paint materials
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The purpose is not to reproduce a Montessori classroom at home or in every workshop. It is to carry forward the underlying principles: careful preparation, limited and meaningful materials, sensory exploration, repetition, choice and movement from a simple starting point into personal creative discovery.
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Montessori materials provide a foundation. My workshops then invite children to extend, adapt, imagine and create in ways that respond to their age, confidence, interests and ideas.
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Example: From Colour Tablets to Plasticine Character Making
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In my plasticine colour-mixing workshops, colour tablets may be arranged as a visual reference around a simple colour wheel.
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Children begin by matching, naming and noticing colour. They then use small amounts of plasticine in lids or containers to mix neighbouring colours and observe how new intermediate shades emerge.
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This begins with a carefully prepared sensorial invitation and develops into a more open-ended creative process. Children may use their mixed colours to sculpt characters, create details, explore facial expressions, combine forms, or later translate their colour discoveries into drawing and paint.
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The Montessori material provides a clear starting point. The creative extension allows children to experiment, imagine and develop their own ideas.
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The aim is not to copy a finished character. It is to support children to understand colour through their hands, then use that understanding in personal, imaginative ways.
Preparation for Writing:
The Hidden Curriculum
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Many Montessori materials support the foundations children draw on for later writing.
Activities such as tracing, transferring, pouring, arranging and repeating controlled movements can help children develop hand strength, coordination, visual tracking, concentration and awareness of boundaries.
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In my workshops, these foundations may appear through activities such as:
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• tracing shapes with metal insets, cardboard forms or found objects
• drawing repeated lines, patterns and pathways
• using watercolour pencils, crayons, chalk or brushes with care
• working with plasticine, loose parts and small sculptural materials
• following a simple visual sequence at an individual pace
Children may gradually develop:
• control of line and direction
• hand-eye coordination
• visual attention
• patience and persistence
• confidence with tools and materials
• readiness to move from guided process into independent drawing, design and storytelling
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The aim is not to rush children towards formal writing. It is to offer meaningful movement, sensory experience and creative repetition that can support later learning.
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Practical Life, Focus and Independence
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Practical life principles also influence how I prepare workshops.
Simple actions such as pouring water, selecting materials, carrying trays, opening containers, tidying up and returning tools to their place help children participate with growing care and independence.
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These experiences can support:
• concentration
• sequencing
• order
• precision
• responsibility for materials
• completion of a creative process
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In my studio practice, practical life is not separate from art-making. It becomes part of the creative environment: preparing the materials, working with attention, caring for tools and reflecting on what has been made.
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Geometry Embedded in Art
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Art and geometry naturally meet through tracing, pattern, construction, symmetry, shape and spatial relationships.
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Children may encounter ideas such as:
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• form and proportion
• symmetry and asymmetry
• pattern and repetition
• scale and placement
• two-dimensional and three-dimensional shape
• visual balance and composition
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These ideas are not taught as abstract rules first. They are explored through drawing, collage, sculpture, plasticine, loose parts, painting and design.
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From Isolated Concepts to Creative Integration
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Montessori materials often isolate one quality at a time — such as colour, size, shape, texture, movement or sequence.
In my workshops, this becomes a clear creative invitation with a manageable starting point. Children are not overloaded with too many materials or competing instructions. They are offered enough structure to understand the process, then space to extend it through their own ideas.
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This may look like:
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• matching and grading colour before colour mixing
• tracing one shape before layering shapes into a design
• practising line movements before inventing a creature or pattern
• exploring simple forms before building a sculpture or story
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These foundations inform the Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat. Children begin with a focused exploration, choose discoveries to carry into another creation, and develop their ideas through repetition and change.
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Practical guidance provides clarity, while individual choices allow imagination to grow.
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Structure creates freedom.
From Colour to Mask — Montessori-Informed Plasticine Colour Mixing Workshop
Exploring colour mixing, fractions, sculpture and character-making through hands-on art.
Curriculum Connections & Educational Partnerships
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Maria Grujicic Studio workshops can be delivered in schools, early years settings, homeschool groups, studios and community learning environments.
Workshops use the Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat—with practical guidance and opportunities for children to choose, revisit and develop their own ideas.
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Depending on the age group, workshop format and learning context, sessions can connect with key educational frameworks while remaining responsive to the children, materials and creative process in front of us.
For early childhood settings, workshops may connect with the Early Years Learning Framework through experiences that support identity, wellbeing, confident and involved learning, communication, connection to place and participation in shared creative environments.
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For school-aged children, workshops may connect with the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, particularly Visual Arts, through opportunities to explore materials, develop creative practices, make artworks, respond to visual ideas and communicate meaning.
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Workshops May Support Learning Through
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• visual arts processes, materials and techniques
• drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, loose parts and installation
• creative and critical thinking
• literacy through storytelling, visual narratives and reflection
• science through observation, nature study, materials and change
• spatial reasoning through form, pattern, scale and composition
• personal and social capability through collaboration, choice-making and reflection
• sensory exploration, concentration and creative confidence
• place-based learning through local plants, birds, weather, textures and everyday environments
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My workshops are not designed to replicate classroom learning in a different room. They offer carefully prepared creative experiences that can complement existing programs, extend current themes or create space for a stand-alone arts experience.
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I can work with educators, schools and community organisations to develop workshops that respond to a particular age group, theme, project, exhibition, picture book, local environment or learning focus.
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Examples may include:
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• nature-based drawing and storytelling
• tracing, line-making and watercolour through the Maria Grujicic Studio Method
• plasticine colour mixing and character creation
• tactile PlayArt and loose-parts exploration
• creative workshops connected to picture books
• exhibition-linked workshops and artist talks
• sensory and place-based visual arts experiences
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Workshop length, group size, materials and level of support are planned according to the venue, age range, activity and needs of participants.
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Schools, centres, libraries, homeschool groups and community organisations are welcome to contact Maria Grujicic Studio to discuss a tailored workshop, resource package or creative learning collaboration.
Qualifications & Credentials
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• Bachelor of Education — specialising in Music, Drama and Visual Arts
• Diploma of Teaching—Charles Darwin University
• Studies towards a Diploma of Creative Arts — Charles Darwin University / Academy of the Arts, Northern Territory
• High Distinction — S126 CRA102: Art, Dance, Songs and Stories of Place
• Montessori Training — Early Childhood, UK and USA
• Certificate IV in Visual Arts
• International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) Certification
• TESOL Certification — Teaching English to Children and Adults
• Artist-educator with more than 25 years of teaching experience in Australia and internationally
• Current Ochre Card / Working With Children Clearance, Northern Territory
• Professional Member — National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
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My workshops, resources and community art activities are delivered within a professional framework and supported by current public liability insurance through my NAVA membership.
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Creative Practice​
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My creative practice is grounded in observation of place, memory, culture and the natural environment. I often begin by walking through landscapes, documenting plants, wildlife, weather, colour, texture and changing seasons through photography, sketches, film and written notes.
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These observations become the foundation for picture books, poetry, paintings, sculpture, soft sculpture, wearable art, artist-designed studio goods, installations and educational projects.
The Maria Grujicic Studio Method—Create, Transfer, Repeat—also describes how I develop my own work. I choose ideas, images, colours or forms to carry from one creation into another, changing and developing them across different materials and creative forms.
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I write and illustrate my own picture books, including Mystery Plants & Trees: Adventures in the Ludmilla Bushblock, and have also published Hidden Beauty of Darwin and poetry projects including Poems That Dance.
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My current work includes the development of the Tactile Wall Art Project, an exhibition and participatory creative project at UNTiTLED gallery+studio in Darwin from October to November 2026. The project brings together sensory exploration, tactile art, workshops, evolving installation work and creative participation across children, teen and adult audiences.
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Recent Academic Recognition
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In 2026, I completed a Creative Arts unit through Charles Darwin University / Academy of the Arts, achieving High Distinctions across all assessments submitted for that unit.
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My work was recognised for its place-based observation, reflective creative practice, cultural storytelling, material exploration and ability to connect personal history with broader questions of memory, landscape, movement and belonging.
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Across these projects, I explored connections between Darwin, the Ludmilla bushblock, Kalymnian heritage, family memory, maritime traditions, environmental care and intergenerational creativity.​​​​​
Selected Feedback
Charles Darwin University Creative Arts Study, 2026
​​S126 CRA102 ART, DANCE, SONGS AND STORIES OF PLACE
“A beautiful testament to the space between places.”
“A highly developed and cohesive artistic voice.”
“Your work elevates writing from a simple description to a comparative cultural study.”
“A beautiful realisation.”
“An exemplary model of ethical intercultural engagement.”
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This study continues to inform my current creative practice, including picture books, place-based workshops, visual arts, writing, installation work and the development of the Tactile Wall Art Project.
Let’s Connect
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I welcome thoughtful enquiries about:
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• children’s creative workshops
• school, homeschool and early years programs
• artist-led projects and exhibitions
• picture books, creative resources and collaborations
• community arts and place-based learning opportunities
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Based in Darwin, Northern Territory.
Workshops and creative projects can be delivered locally, with selected resources available online.
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