Doodle Cafe Coming Feb 2026
Happy 2026 friends, and a big welcome to everyone who joined us over the break! It already feels like we’re in for a wild ride this year, which means creativity will be key.
Doodle Cafe is here
Today I’m dropping in with a quick note to let you know that the inaugural Doodle Cafe is now live and available for sign up — Tuesday 24 February, 5:30 - 6:45pm, at Cuckoo Emporium, 57 Customhouse Quay in Central Wellington.
Doodle Cafe is playtime for serious professionals. Each month, we’ll gather, talk creativity and then we’ll doodle around.
Science confirms that doodling is great for us both personally and professionally. The excerpt above is from a fantastic book called Your Brain on Art, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, which looks at the research on what art truly does to us. On doodling specifically, the authors have this to say:
“It turns out that doodlers are more analytical, retain information better, and are better focused than their non-doodling colleagues ”
Feel free to forward that onto your bosses / colleagues / teachers / Ministers. And please also enjoy the mildly lusty found poem I created to protect the authors’ copyright.
So what can you expect at Doodle Cafe?
a fun, low stakes, judgement-free zone where we exercise our play / imagination muscles
the warmth of other people’s creative energy
support to work slowly and compassionately with creative blocks or baggage
drinks, snacks, music, good vibes.
All you need to bring is your curiosity and something to doodle around with (a notebook / pens / pencils / crayons / a couple of highlighters from work… whatever you choose).
Doodle Cafe is koha/pay what you can. We’re also hosted by the awesome team at Cuckoo Emporium, so we can enjoy the space and grab lots of drinks and snacks on the night.
Will we see you there?
If you’re on the early doodlers list, you’ll have received the calendar invite this week. If not — here’s the link to sign up!
Get it in your diary, invite your friends — and we’ll look forward to seeing you at Doodle Cafe on Tuesday, 24 February, 5:30 - 6:45pm.
If you’re keen to doodle but can’t make our Wellington events, flick me an email and I’ll pop you on the list for future events, either online or in other centres.
2026 intentions
Each year I pick a word to orient myself, and this year it’s Tennis. Both because I want to start playing again and because of the energy of tennis: rhythm, playfulness, determination, flow, power, trial and error, responding to the universe. Tennis!
Here’s my new racket and some tennis balls to show that I’m really serious.
Using that powerful Tennis energy, I’m deep in planning for the year and have lots of ideas in the works for Renaissance Lab and bringing more creativity into the leadership world.
I’m super keen to connect with you all around your work and creative lives, so we can build Renaissance Lab in a way that sparks maximum creativity!
If you have ideas about the kind of creative support / community / inspiration you’d like to see, or if you’d like to generally chat creativity with me, please get in touch — I’d love to hear from you. You can book in a quick catch up here, or send me an email at hello@kateyesberg.com and we’ll make a plan.
Studio Life
The end of last year was a big one in the studio as I finished off ‘Fortune II’, my largest body of work to date. A bunch of those paintings are now on show at {Suite} Gallery in Ponsonby.
After a big show like that I always feel like throwing paint around and letting things get loose — no straight lines for a little while! I’ve had fun getting the coloured pencils and watercolours out and drawing squiggles and these alien dancing orchids?
That’s it for now. Wishing you a creativity-fuelled year and hope you’re enjoying some sunshine now that it’s here.
Creative power to you,
Kate x
Want to learn more about my leadership coaching practice grounded in creativity, or interested in working together? Get in touch at hello@kateyesberg.com