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’s rooms, 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. It’s a market and show in one. Crafty eh!

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 are a diverse and creative handcrafts group that meets the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month.

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. 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.

Sue James: From her studio and gallery in Maldon, clayworker Sue James makes an enormous range of decorative objects, jewellery and pottery. Some of her work features flora and fauna, such as flowering gums, bees, kookaburras, wattle and hakea. A highly skilled and experienced artist, her ceramic pots, vases and bowls are both functional and attractive, with a special range created for feature display.

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 will all be on show from this versatile handcraft group, whose display will include “Our Favourite Things”, a selection of items with a story behind them.

Ministry of Fun: Ministry of Fun: Anna and Philip Ashton run the Ministry of Fun in Dunolly, a studio complex,  workshop venue and gallery. They showcase works by Anna, feltmaker and potter, Philip, woodworker and photographer, along with works by ceramicist Danielle Boothroyd and feltmaker Tanja Gawin. Anna also runs workshops in feltmaking and ceramics

Newstead Spinners Group began 45 years ago as an informal gathering of interested fibre crafts people. Friendship and an open sharing of skills and curiosity about all things fibre have been at the heart of Newstead Spinners ever since. Not all who join the group spin yarn, but all love to create using mostly natural fibre of various kinds. Newstead Spinners regularly have workshops, have a library of fibre craft books and members can borrow equipment owned by the group for that purpose. They meet every second Tuesday at the Newstead Community Centre from 10.30 am to 3 pm.

Maree O’Connell: 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 items that were worn as decorations to celebrate the end of the harvest and to keep the spirit of a good harvest alive from one year to the next.