AS A practising artist in country Victoria, I can recall a comment I made to a friend during a time of particular loneliness and isolation, that "my art has been my survival".

Little did I realise this comment would lead me to my current studies (PhD thesis), titled Country Women: personal meaning and survival through artistic expression.

The project explores the need for aesthetic experiences and artistic expression.

Creative expression can take many forms, from cake-making, preserving, gardening and sewing to the more unusual, such as stonewall making, playing the bagpipes, placing naming collars on rescued lambs and writing up each rescue, to my own practice of wrapping an old dead tree in blue bale twine.

These activities can nurture the family unit and also create a sense of identity and self, which is essential in this unique environment, where the woman often has little "me" time.

I am interested in hearing about and photographing all sorts of activities by women who live outside the regional towns of Victoria.

If you wish to participate, contact me on (03) 5333 5292 or bennett08@ncable.net.au

Julie Bennett, Stoneleigh, Victoria