About Creative Makes
Creative Makes is a process-based art studio in Hastings on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. We run weekly classes for children, teens, and adults, along with school holiday workshops, parties, and one-off events.
What connects everything we do is a single belief: that creativity belongs to everyone. Not just the naturally talented. Not just children. Everyone.
In our studio, there are no templates, no right answers, and no pressure to make something that looks like anyone else's work. The making is the point. And whoever you are when you walk through the door, you're welcome here exactly as you are.
I'm Mel, the founder of Creative Makes.
My background is in early childhood education. I spent years working in kindergarten, where process-based art was simply part of how children learned: open-ended, exploratory, and entirely their own.
Then my own children moved into primary school. And I watched the art change. Suddenly everyone's work looked the same. There were templates. There were correct outcomes. The mess and the discovery and the genuine creative thinking quietly disappeared.
I looked around for somewhere that still offered what I knew was possible. Somewhere children could make art the way they had in kinder: freely, curiously, and without being directed toward a predetermined result. I couldn't find it. So I built it.
I'm also a self-taught artist. Which means I know firsthand what it feels like to make things without formal training, to figure it out as you go, to discover that the process of making is where the real learning lives. That experience shapes everything we do at Creative Makes.
The people in the studio
Creative Makes runs because of a small team of people who genuinely love what they do.
Anna
Anna teaches our clay classes and also works across Creative Explorers and our skills sessions. She brings real depth to her teaching and a calm, generous presence in the studio.
Annie
Annie teaches our youngest students, running messy play sessions mostly off-site in Frankston. She has a particular gift for working with little ones and creating the kind of warm, unhurried environment they need to explore freely.
Millie
Millie is newer to the team and already a firm favourite. She brings enormous energy, genuine passion, and the kind of bubbly enthusiasm that children respond to instantly. She also does face painting, which tells you everything you need to know about her.
Lisa
Lisa keeps the studio running. As our main admin person, she's the one making sure everything behind the scenes works so that everyone else can just focus on making.
What We Believe
We believe creativity is not a talent. It's a capacity. One that grows in the right environment, with the right kind of support, and enough space to make mistakes without it meaning anything other than: keep going.
We believe the process matters more than the product. That what a child does with an unexpected mark, a mixed colour that wasn't what they planned, or a technique that didn't go to plan is more important than the finished piece.
We believe art belongs to everyone: every age, every ability, every person who has ever said they're not creative. Especially them.
And we believe a studio should feel like a community. A place where people show up week after week not just because they enjoy making things, but because they feel genuinely seen and genuinely welcome.
That's what we're building at Creative Makes. One session at a time.
Find Your Class
We Run classes for every age from 5 through to Adults
Creative Explorers: process-based art for children aged 5 to 16
Studio Explorers: art and clay classes for adults and young people aged 16 and over
Holiday workshops, parties, and one-off events: open to all ages
Not sure where to start? Get in touch and we'll help you find the right fit.
Keep in touch
Join Our Community
Subscribe to the Creative Makes newsletter for monthly updates, early access to workshops and events, and creative inspiration from our studio community.
Contact us
Questions about a program, not sure which class is the right fit, or just want to know more about what we do? We'd love to hear from you.
Mel and the team are happy to chat, answer questions, and help you find the right place to start