Student Success Story: Donna Towers

From corporate mode to creative mode

For many years, Donna worked in a demanding executive role in healthcare. Creativity had not been part of formal education or professional life, so retirement created an unexpected opening - the kind that invites a person to ask what comes next when the noise settles. Donna picked up the camera again, started taking local art classes, and gradually began building knowledge in the creative field in a steady, intentional way.

Nature was always present in that early exploration. Forests, textures, organic structures and atmosphere repeatedly drew Donna back. Over time, photography became less about capturing an image and more about noticing what it feels like to stand inside a place, to observe quietly, and to translate that experience in a personal way.

When the work felt flat and the voice felt unclear

Before the course, Donna describes being in a "search mode" - trying to work out what medium and voice might eventually feel like home. Photography was central, and there was experimentation with digital alteration, printing, and encaustic wax. The process was thoughtful and committed, but the work remained largely two-dimensional. Even with overlays and edits, the outcome still lived on a surface.

There was also a subtle internal tension. Much of the creative energy was going into technique and problem-solving - learning tools, refining process, trying to make the pieces "work." Donna could sense that something essential was missing, not because skill wasn't there, but because the work wasn't yet carrying the emotional content Donna wanted it to hold.

Discovering a course that felt aligned

Donna first heard about Take Two through a creative community called the Enzo Circle. People within that group suggested Take Two as a way to explore different online courses. While Donna initially saw learning as something best done in person, curiosity opened the door to a different format. Once Donna began to understand how Take Two courses are structured - with the ability to learn at an individual pace, rewatch lessons, and lean on detailed resource guides - the hesitation began to soften.

Then Donna discovered Karen Olson's course, and the alignment felt immediate. Karen's photography background mattered, but the work itself was what landed most deeply: an ephemeral softness, a haunting tenderness, and a way of translating nature that felt both gentle and powerful. Donna saw the course and simply knew: this is for me.

Arriving for skills, leaving with something deeper

Donna expected to gain technical knowledge - and that happened. The course offered practical support for working with photographs, preparing images for printing, and finding accessible ways to edit without feeling intimidated by overly technical platforms. But what Donna didn't expect was the emotional depth Karen brought to the learning experience.

Karen's teaching encouraged students to feel into the work, not just construct it. The course began with forest bathing, and that starting point shifted how Donna interacted with nature. Instead of moving through the landscape quickly or photographing on autopilot, Donna began to slow down, breathe, absorb, and let the environment guide what happened next. That shift removed a creative block Donna didn't even realise was there.

The moment paper became possibility

The biggest change came through discovering paper sculpture and working in three dimensions. For someone coming from photography and flat mixed media exploration, learning how paper could be strengthened, shaped, moulded, burned and formed opened a completely new world. Donna began seeing paper not as a surface, but as a material with movement, structure and presence.

During the course, Donna created a series of cocoon and pod forms, progressively encapsulating pieces within encaustic wax and experimenting with marks, openings and binding. One favourite piece, titled Breathe Through the Small Openings, brought together many of Karen's teachings - mark making, formed paper, intentional openings, and the sense that the work could live in nature and respond to it. Hanging from a mossy branch on Donna's property, the piece felt like it belonged, as though the materials and the environment were in conversation.

Donna also began integrating photography in new ways, using Karen's methods for printing images onto tissue and incorporating those prints into sculptural objects. A dragonfly wing photograph, printed and used both inside and outside a sculptural bowl, became part of a submitted exhibition piece. Fine wirework and subtle shimmer added to the form's delicacy, showing how the course supported Donna in merging photographic language with sculptural intention.

A practice that now has dimension

Looking back, Donna describes three-dimensional paperwork as a "major tool in the toolbox" - one that feels valuable and full of potential. The shift is not about abandoning photography; it's about expanding what photography can become when it is allowed to move into form. The course opened up new ways to shape, build, and incorporate nature-based elements without needing expensive materials or chemical-heavy processes.

Just as importantly, the mindset shifted. Donna moved from working mainly in a technical, corporate-style way of learning - mastering steps, collecting techniques - to allowing feeling, nature and curiosity to steer the work. It's a slower, more connected approach, and it's one Donna intends to keep developing with time and repetition.

Learning that continued beyond the course

The Take Two format played a real role in supporting Donna’s growth. Being able to move through modules at an individual pace, go back and watch videos multiple times, and learn through trial and error made the experience feel supportive rather than pressurised. The Q&A sessions with Karen offered an additional layer of guidance, while the structure still allowed freedom to explore.

The resource guides also mattered, especially as an international student. Donna found the guidance helped locate materials in Canada, and the international scope of the student group created a sense of broader creative exposure - like “virtually travelling,” as Donna described it. The community group became an unexpected source of inspiration and support, offering thoughtful suggestions and encouragement without harsh critique. For Donna, it felt like having an art tribe close by at any time.

The quiet confidence of saying “I’m an Artist”

When asked what the course truly unlocked, Donna’s answer is simple and powerful: an understanding of how to be in the world as an artist. Before the course, Donna didn’t always claim that identity. The work existed, but the language around it felt tentative - photographer, mixed media maker, someone experimenting.

Now, something has settled. Donna can say, comfortably and clearly, “I’m an artist.” That shift isn’t loud or performative. It’s grounded. It’s the kind of internal clarity that changes how a person shows up in the studio and in the world.

Looking ahead

Donna is currently without a studio space, but will return to it soon, and the next phase is already forming. There is excitement around continuing three-dimensional work while refining photographic skills learned in the course. Karen’s wall-hanging works - combining photography with sculptural paper elements - have stayed in Donna’s mind, and the intention now is to begin exploring how personal photography can live within wall-mounted, layered forms.

The direction feels open but focused: building from what was learned, continuing to experiment, and letting nature remain both subject and guide.

Donna’s advice for artists considering the course

For anyone considering Focus and Flow, Donna encourages looking closely at the course content and learning objectives. It can be difficult to explain in words how a course teaches artistic voice and emotional connection - but the experience of doing the work is where the shift happens. Without taking that step, it’s easy to remain stuck in the same place, trying to figure it out alone.

Donna also makes one point clear: photography experience is not required. The course offers many entry points, and Karen shows ways to work with phone images, accessible printing, and simpler editing methods that don’t rely on intimidating software. The course can be followed in a personal way, focusing on the parts that resonate most.

And in Donna’s words, the focus on nature was important - but the flow is what happened.