Elizabeth Skruzny jumped at the opportunity to join an art class for older adults in Sunshine.
“The ad said you don’t need to have any experience and I’m interested in everything,” the 88-year-old said.
So she attended the first class at Sunshine Art Spaces last month and is now busying herself creating clay pots she’ll use for indoor pot plants.
The Ardeer resident said she has relished the opportunity to be creative and learn new skills.
She now lives on her own in the house she and her husband bought in 1950 when they moved to Australia from France.
Ms Skruzny was born in Czechoslovakia in 1928 but was forced to flee during the Second World War.
“We had one hour to take what we could carry and walk to the Austrian border,” she said.
Her family eventually migrated to France, which is where she met her husband who was booked to travel to Australia to work on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme.
Ms Skruzny is one of only two members of the new art class, but teacher Vincenza Fazzalori said she hopes to recruit many more.
The former high school art teacher began teaching adults how to be creative again after falling ill.
“I became aware of the isolation that comes with a reduced income or ill-health,” she said.
The free classes are held every Wednesday at Sunshine Art Spaces, 2 City Place, Sunshine, from 10.30am until noon.
Details: Vincenza, 0468 313 040 or email LapasseggARTa@live.com.au.
No art skills are required.
