December Newsletter

Best wishes for a peaceful festive season, filled with family, friends and good food. Thanks to all members who attended our early Christmas party and made it a lively social event. Congratulations also to all makers who submitted works for the 14th annual Biblio Art Prize. Each year the event builds on the success of previous exhibitions and this year is no exception. Head to Blarney Books to view a fabulous collection of artworks inspired by books with Australian authors.

Moyneyana Festival Lantern Workshops - Volunteers Needed!

Coming up between Christmas and New Year, on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th December, we have been invited by the Moyneyana Festival committee to run two lantern making workshops on the Village Green in Port Fairy. These workshops are for children (supervised by their parents) to make bamboo and paper lanterns for the New Year's Eve parade. We are looking for violunteers to assist on one or both of these days from 9.00am. Workshops will run for two hours from 10.00am to 12 noon. Please email info@swmakers.com.au if you can assist.

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February workshops with Julie Ryder

Don't forget to book online for the Julie Ryder workshops over two weekends in February - places are limited to only ten particpants and the Cyanotype workshop (Saturday 4th Feb) is full already.

• Block Printing on Sunday 5th February

• Julie Ryder speaks on "Ocean's Gay Flowers" on Thursday 9th February (Free, no limit to attendance)

• Organic Indigo Vats and Shibori on Saturday 11th February

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Member Exhibition "Dyepot and Beyond" - Jill Edwards

A summer exhibition by Jill Edwards again illustrates an intimate relationship between her beloved garden and studio creations. With a growing interest in botanical contact printing or eco- printing Jill is keen to explore where this can go beyond coming out of the dyepot. Foliage from her garden are giving beautiful prints on paper, but her inquisitive mind needs to explore more.

The format of works include concertina books, Coptic bound books and casebound books with some innovative techniques to house the images. Beautiful handmade paper is used throughout.

It is not surprising that a series of bird studies enters this exhibition, as the garden is an inviting

habitat for many species. With the garden of inspiration surrounding the gallery, visitors can experience the plants, foliage, flowers and birdsong that is Jill’s delight.

What's on in November?

Remember End-of-Year Drinks from 5.30pm on Thursday 10th November at Blarney Books! Please consider coming along to meet other makers, enjoy an early Christmas drink or two and hear about our plans for 2023 and beyond. There will be some very brief formalities and we will talk about the postponed AGM. Please consider volunteering your time and skills, to be on the committee and participate in the decision-making process for the association. If you would like to join the committee and assist with social media, grant applications or other roles please let us know on the night or send us a message . Drinks and nibbles provided.

We will also consider a new name and logo for the association. While we have become incorporated under the name “South West Makers”, there are several other groups using this name internationally. To avoid confusion when searching on the world wide web, we plan to operate using another name that reflects our specific workshop and gallery location, such as “Shearwater Arts”. We would like to hear from members about their ideas for a trading name and logo and this will be discussed at the AGM. If you can’t make it and have any suggestions for a name and/or a logo design to be used in conjunction with SW Makers, please contact the committee at: info@swmakers.com.au

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While you may have not heard much from South West Makers since the close of our first fundraising exhibition, the committee have been working behind the scenes to secure a physical space for creative studios, sharing ideas, workshops and exhibitions. We have engaged Lisa McLeod from Connect Consulting to assist in the preparation of a strategic plan and project materials to present to the Moyne Shire Council, outlining our vision for the association and how it fits with the social, economic and environmental objectives of the council.

We are currently in communication with the CFA and Moyne Shire executive and councilors, and will meet with both groups to discuss how we can support each other to achieve an inclusive, vibrant arts community in Port Fairy. Integral to this aim is access to a physical space, such as the vacated CFA building. At present, council are waiting on a building report from CFA, that will provide information about the works that may be required to remediate the site and make it suitable for public access. While this may be a long process, we hope to be able to utilize other spaces around Port Fairy for pop-up exhibitions, workshops and demonstrations.

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Thanks to those members who attended our Pop-Up event at the Scout Hall on 22nd October, either as demonstrators or just to come and say hello. About 80 people attended throughout the event and it was great to meet you face-to-face. It was also wonderful to hear interested conversations about materials, tools and techniques. We met a couple from Creswick, an ex-teacher and her husband, who are planning to retire to Port Fairy and have joined the association. Rob, another new member, came along with his wonderful scroll saw and beautifully detailed and intricate mandala carvings. He was delighted to return home with some huon pine, donated by another visitor to the event. These are just some of the valuable connections that can be made by working together in a community space.

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Our next events will be three art workshops and a lecture about 19th century collections of Australia’s seaweeds, by Julie Ryder in February. You will find more information about these opportunities and be able to register in the Events section of the website (to be created soon!). To receive the members discount, make sure you sign in to the website before booking your place:

· Cyanotyope workshop – Saturday 5th February

· Block Printing workshop – Sunday 6th February

· Lecture: Ocean’s Gay Flowers: the mysteries of Australian seaweed collections of C19th – Thursday 9th February

· Organic Indigo Vats and Shibori workshop – Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th February

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Please contact Britt Gow at brittgow@gmail.com if you have any news, articles, dates of interest, local exhibitions or other information you would like to share with members.

SW Makers Pop-Up on 22nd October

On Saturday 22nd October, you are invited to spend some time at the Sea Scout Hall opposite the Railway Reserve, demonstrating your craft, skills and artistic practice or to just have a look. We will have some tables available in the hall, but encourage you to supply your own as well as materials and equipment. If you can set up your display prior to 10.00am, we would appreciate your participation. It should be a fun event allowing us to see what having a dedicated workshop space would be like, This pop-up event is timed to coincide with the Port Fairy Community House Market to encourage new members and create awareness about the Association and will conclude at 2.00pm. Contact Robert Gatt on 0438682794 for more information.

Port Fairy Sea Scouts Hall

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Save the Dates

After obtaining a generous grant from Fletcher Jones, we have been able to engage textile artist, designer and educator, Julie Ryder, for a series of workshops in Port Fairy.

Over two weekends (3/4th and 10/11th February) Julie will present four workshops, including creating cyanotypes (solar prints) and repeat block prints.

Read more about Julie and her artistic practice here:

Julie Ryder's Website