 We have an incredible artist with us here in the studio. She'll be whipping up a few masterpieces for us this morning. Her name is Sarah Rowandale, and she has a brilliant talent... APPLAUSE ..and quite an amazing backstory. So, make sure you stick around for that. Welcome back. This morning, we have an extraordinary speed painter with us on set, and she'll be panning up a storm for us during the show. Sarah Rowandale is a woman with an incredible talent and one heck of a story to tell. And she's on our panel now. Welcome to Studio D. Before we get to your incredible art, because some might say that this is a big driver of it, you did something pretty life-changing earlier this year, and you put it on YouTube. We'll show everyone at home. Have a look. Family, friends and fans around the world. I just want to take a moment and share with you something that has taken me 20 years to have the guts to say out loud. And yes, from the title of this video, you can tell it's not a video on speed painting or creative tips of the day. Yes, I'm a lesbian, and I'm no longer ashamed to say it. There, I said it. Is that three seconds of brave? Yeah, I think so. I pray that you find your bravery before it's too late. Oh. You're getting emotional even just watching that video. Yeah. So, how brave was it to put that out on a YouTube? It was terrifying, because I respect my family that was... Because you were married, and you've got kids. Yes, yes. 12 years to, like, the most incredible guy on the planet, and the reason our marriage lasted so long was because our great friendship. But at the same time, I wasn't being true to myself, and it really affected my health. I had rheumatoid arthritis. I had mental health issues. I've got arthritis too. Maybe I'm lesbian. Too nice. And I was about to do that. And the day I left, the arthritis immediately left my body, and I haven't had to do a single injection or drug since, eat whatever I want, drink whatever I want with no pain. Because you come from quite a loving, but very deeply religious... Tradition, religious family. Christian family. How did your family take it? My aunt honestly said, oh, I've known since you were three. Wow. And my cousins and family were very supportive, except for my parents, who... It's a bit of a shock to their system, and I'm just being patient with them. But had you already told them before you put that video up, what did they find out via the video? They knew before the marriage. I was convinced by the church that I would change, and that I could change, and so I honestly went into the marriage thinking that was possible. But I wasn't being authentic to myself, and it caused a lot of problems. And one of the things that stopped me, I was afraid of hurting the kids, and yet they've been the most supportive of my journey. How old are they? Ten and seven. Wow. They're amazing. What's this done for your art, and why is it so nice? Right. Because I was so not confident in my skin, and because I was living a lie, my art just was in a holding pattern. It was never going anywhere. And then as soon as I stepped out and was authentic and loved myself for the first time, my career has quadrupled exponentially. So how did you get into speed painting? Because that's quite an extreme... There's an extreme sport of art. It would have to be that. Right. Art school never teaches you how to make a living. So I left art school. I thought to myself, how am I different from other artists? I thought, I love entertaining people, making people smile. So I brought a little prop today. What? Hang on. So before, I was an artist. I played basketball from my university. Really? I actually paid for my college. And so I used to go around the world, and I could spin sticks at once, but I'm not going to do that in national television now. But Joey, you want to come try? Yes, I'd love to. What do I do? Oh! OK, now you're going to hold it really tight? Well, I had no social life as a kid. I just practiced basketball in the garage. Oh, my God! But what's that got to do with... How does that then take you to be a painter? Well, most artists are very introverted. They're scared to show their work. They're scared to be on a stage, whereas I'm like, I'll mess up. I'll make a complete fool of myself, because sometimes, I mean, I've done about 500 events, and I'm like, did I do that? So, yeah, what you do is you go to charity events, and you paint while the event's on, like, incredibly fast, and then they're auctioned. And you've raised an incredible amount for charity. Well, where are we at? We're at just over 110,000, and my goal is millions, so... The goal's a million dollars. At least. Because the first time we met just about a week ago, raising money for the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, which is an amazing work, teaching basically disadvantaged kids to read. Yes. So you painted... I was MCing the event, and you actually painted the event sort of while it was happening. And just in a matter of an hour or two, you'd come up with this incredible canvas of this mighty-soring eagle. My question is, was that eagle inspired by me? Oh, definitely, Joe. How did you know? Yeah, I thought so. Just checking. I think my American bit came out, because there we had the beautiful, Aboriginal-honoring ceremony beginning, and then I didn't really know what I was going to paint because that's, like, American roots in me. That's what you first think of. Oh, the bald eagle. But then the soaring and the books and the pages. Yeah, so it's an honour to work with the refugee kids. I paint with them with the subtext programme of ALNF. It's amazing. Well, we are lucky to have you sticking around all morning and making a few masterpieces for us. Sarah, welcome to the show. Great to have you. Now, ahead this morning... We have a fantastic speed painter working. Her magic this morning. We'll check in on Sarah's progress all morning. See you soon. Look it out. We have our fabulous speed painter, Sarah, in studio all morning, and she's doing up a few masterpieces. APPLAUSE We're going to chat to our speed painter, Sarah, about what she's created throughout the show, but first it's time to see what Mel has for us. We have been so lucky to have Sarah Rowandale in the studio today, creating these absolute works of art. Talk us through them. What was the inspiration behind each? Alrighty, I wanted to honour my... I'm now Australian citizen, and I love the tall poppy syndrome needs to end. And so I paid that to remind us to just encourage one another. Lovely. This one is my iconic squares. They signify the little windows of an opportunity in life that we take for granted, and just to remind us to not do so, to really make eye contact with people. And don't forget, you can buy these incredible pieces of art at your website. And you can also contact you on Twitter and Instagram. You are so talented. Thank you! I think Joe just grabbed the elephant. I come with that. I thought about it, guys. Bye.