CRAFTY ARTS

Bridgewater Memorial Hall

Everything stitched and patched, knitted and woven, dyed, trimmed, brushed and delivered. It’s an exhibition of handcrafts in the beautiful big Bridgewater Memorial Hall, where you can chat to the makers, see demonstrations, buy something special to take home, have a cuppa and a cake, enjoy the busy, friendly atmosphere in a room full of creative people.

Bendigo Embroiderers Guild: The clever people of the Bendigo chapter of The Embroiderers Guild Victoria are nipping over the border into Loddon shire to join our very first regional Crafty Arts show and market. Their talents are many: patchwork, creative embroidery, quilting, lots of sequins, textiles, threads and beads.

Bendigo Spinners and Weavers: This handcrafts group meet first and third Thursdays of the month at the Chum St Uniting Church in Bendigo, welcoming all interested participants.

Trina Dalton-Oogjes: Trina is a proud Wadawurrung and Gunditjmara woman, whose artwork connects her to heritage and culture. Weaving traditional baskets with contemporary designs, Trina also paints, creates ceramics and burns designs on possum skin cloaks, as well as carving clapsticks and bowls. Her work has been commissioned for public and private collections.

Fibre Naturally is a boutique Alpaca woollen mill that combines modern technology with Glenavon Alpaca fibre. Three generations of family work to process luxurious alpaca fleece into yarns, blankets, scarves and woollen accessories. Glenavon Alpacas in Macclesfield began in 1993 with two animals, increasing now to around 80, with fleeces ranging from white right through to black. The Fibre Naturally Woollen Mill turns Glenavon and other growers’ fleeces into “Alpaca Allure” yarns and crafted fibre products. They create natural and dyed yarns as well as gloves, scarves, blankets and wraps.

Jenny Hosking: Bridgewater on Loddon is known for excellent pies, watersports and Jenny Hosking’s knitted berets and felted hats. With her Bridgewater Berets, made from pure Australian wool, Jenny has a bespoke business that makes to order tartan, Fairisle, floral and animal design berets. Popular among those who have Irish, Scottish, Cornish and Welsh clan ancestry Jenny’s designs are unique and cleverly made.

Katherine Holt: on her farm in the Loddon Valley, Katherinne twists, plies, threads and interlocks wool, weaving patterns and textures to create blankets, shawls, throws, wraps and wall hangings. Chunky and tactile in earthy colours that reflect the landscape, her work sometimes begins with spinning, to create the thick, coarse yarn she often uses in her weaving.

The Knitting Man Recommends: Karin Mainwaring’s The Knitting Man Recommends is all about yarn, knitting and design. Her workshop is where she plays with colour, hand-dyeing yarns in small batches to create unique skeins for crafty arts. She also teaches machine-knitting and makes resin jewellery cicadas.

Loddon Crafty Friends Quilts, crochet, embroidery all on display by a group of handcrafters, who will tell viewers about the story behind the “favourite things” on show.

Ministry of Fun: Anna and Philip Ashton run the Ministry of Fun in Dunolly, a production facility, workshop venue and gallery. Anna is a feltmaker and runs felt-making workshops, while Philip is a woodworker and photographer. They promote and encourage all kinds of handcrafts in the goldfields region.

Newstead Spinners and Weavers

Maree O’Connor: Maree ran a craft shop in WA until recently, with workshops for spinning felting and knitting. She returned to Bendigo where she continues to dye yarns and knit unique wearables, including handcrafting wooden buttons.

Cathy Tobin - Gypsy Weaver: Cathy began her weaving journey in 2015 as she travelled Australia. What began as a hobby is now her passion, using only materials/yarns sourced at opshops or gifted. The freeform style of weaving encourages individual expression, not being hindered by patterns or rules. Initially the woven cloth was sewn into clothing. Now it has evolved into mainly creating unique soft toys. After completing the toys, there is always leftover snippets of weaving which are also used by spinning these thrums into an artyarn and used in the next weavings, knitted or sewn into bowls and tablemats. Cathy will be demonstrating her weaving skills and also how to spin the “ted shed” thrums.

Elizabeth Woodroofe: A member of the Guild of Straw Crafsmen, Elizabeth Woodroofe was inspired by her mother to become interested in straw plaiting and making corn dollies. It’s an ancient skill that turns natural fibres into woven knots that were worn as decorations to celebrate the end of the harvest. Although they are called dollies, they don’t represent babies but shapes and masks meant to keep the spirit of a good harvest alive from one year to the next.