What's on in Gold Coast: KRANK | Painting birds with Ronelle Reid at Living Museum of Logan, Kingston, Saturday 11 July, what to expect and how to go

Ronelle Reid is bringing her KRANK bird-painting workshop to the Living Museum of Logan in Kingston on Saturday, 11 July. The session sits at the intersection of two things the Gold Coast wellness community has been leaning into hard: creative expression as stress relief and engagement with natural subjects-birds in particular-as a grounding practice.

The Living Museum of Logan, housed in a restored heritage property on the Kingston border, has quietly become one of the hinterland's most accessible cultural venues. Unlike the more tourist-heavy gallery spaces dotting Surfers Paradise and Main Beach, Kingston's focus on local artists and grassroots programming has drawn a steady crowd of Gold Coasters seeking alternatives to the usual beach-front wellness circuit. Alongside the museum's permanent exhibits, weekend workshops like Reid's tap into a growing appetite for hands-on creative sessions that double as a form of mindfulness.

Why bird painting matters for your weekend

Art therapy research consistently shows that observational drawing-particularly of natural subjects-activates the same neural pathways as meditation. A 2024 survey by the Australian Creative Arts Therapy Association found that 67 per cent of participants in structured art workshops reported measurable reductions in perceived stress over an eight-week period. Kingston sits just 35 kilometres inland from Kurrawa Beach, where the Gold Coast's yoga and pilates communities have built a strong base. Reid's workshop extends that wellness logic indoors, replacing the ocean view with a sketchpad and paintbrush.

The KRANK name signals Reid's approach: bold, unpolished, permission-based. Participants typically work from reference images or live observation, building confidence in loose gestural mark-making rather than photorealism. For anyone burned out by the Instagram-ready wellness influencer culture that dominates Broadbeach and the Surfers Paradise hinterland trails-where every sunrise hike gets documented and curated-this is a deliberately low-stakes alternative. The workshop format means you show up, paint birds, and leave without needing to perform wellness for a feed.

Practicalities and getting there

The Living Museum of Logan is located at Kingston, accessible via the Mount Tamborine Road corridor. If you're coming from central Gold Coast-say, from the Southport precinct or Cavill Avenue-allow 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. Street parking is available around the venue; there's no toll road involved. The museum operates on a casual drop-in basis for many events, though Eventbrite hosts the booking page for this session (eventbrite.com.au/e/krank-painting-birds-with-ronelle-reid-tickets-1990147478682). Price and booking confirmation details are listed there; it's worth checking ahead, as weekend slots at Kingston venues fill quickly during the school holiday period in July.

Bring or wear clothes you don't mind getting paint on. Most of Reid's sessions are structured as two to three-hour blocks, so budget half a day if you're travelling from the beachfront. The hinterland around Kingston offers several complementary activities: Lamington National Park is 20 minutes further inland, making this a natural pairing with a morning walk or afternoon drive through the rainforest.

For Gold Coasters looking to step outside the wellness-influencer circuit without leaving the region, this is a straightforward entry point. No experience required. Bring a sketchbook or work on the museum's paper. The birds don't judge, and neither does Ronelle Reid's method. Saturday, 11 July, Kingston.