"I think a lot of artists have a dream and mine would be just to make people happy. I guess that's why I'm going to teach roller skating," says 26-year-old Mel O'Dell.
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O'Dell is an interdisciplinary artist whose latest big initiative came about as her other work slowed down during the pandemic.
In the past few years she's painted murals around town at places like Hudson Street Hum and Frothers Espresso.
She's performed and taught with Fondalicious, a Newcastle-based retro aerobics class.
She does commissioned paper cutting which she describes as "cutting and gluing to replicate life".
Paper-cutting work got her through Christmas and Valentine's Day, but now a new passion has rolled in.
Prior to the skating she was dabbling in surfing but she didn't feel confident in the big swell.
"I kind of needed something I could do on land," she says.
"I bought roller skates two years ago, really cheap secondhand ones. I could go forwards and backwards and stop.
"I thought, 'It's actually fun'. I started researching skates.
"I think it was in May when I found a good pair of skates. They cost me $180 which at the time was a lot of money."
She started going out almost daily and watching YouTube videos to learn how to do certain moves. She's seen tremendous progress.
She joined Roller Skaters of Newcastle on Facebook (which has over 500 members). She started meeting roller skaters in town and started skating at the netball courts.
Since then she's graduated to the more challenging skate parks.
"I don't know; I became addicted," she says.
"I ask people how it has affected their lives. A lot of people say 'confidence'.
"In roller skating you really have to push yourself if you want to get better. You will have to fall down and get hurt."
Now she feels confident dropping into an eight foot bowl, which is "pretty thrilling".
And true to her art form, she's decided that the roller skating joy is too good not to share.
Chuffed Skates on the Central Coast offered a "roll out" program for discount skates to people starting community initiatives and O'Dell was keen.
"I want to offer a one-on-one service where people can come to me for their first time on skates," O'Dell says.
"They can see if they like it. They can see if they can commit to buying a pair.
"I think it would be really good to have a person there because my first time on skates was horrible. I was screaming; I was so scared.
"I think you see a lot of people on the internet gliding on skates, looking so elegant. The reality is, you don't know where you put your weight. For me, I was leaning in weird directions."
Skate Mate was born. She purchased eight pairs of skates ranging from size five to 12, and now she's organising booking sessions.
Skaters will have to sign a waiver for safety, and she's collecting and taking donations for protective gear. And, much to people's surprise, O'Dell isn't interested in making any money. She just wants to show people what it's like and give them a leg up.
"Good karma, right?," O'Dell jokes.
To book a skate session, visit her Instagram: @skatematenewy or email skatematenewy@gmail.com.
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