The Last Hurrah - Votives

 A few weeks ago I went to the last workshop to be held by Fibre Arts Australia in Ballarat. I have been going to these workshops for many years and have enjoyed them so much. It was full of fun and joy as participants came together to celebrate the end of an era. 

The Banksia Tree, my first project, made with Banksia cones, a rock, rusted wire and some blackbirds cut out ply from a box of offcuts.

The workshop that I attended was Votives with Gordon Bain. We were encouraged to make figurative works and to use recycled material where possible. This piece was a tree made with little crucibles that were thrown away by a school. Each piece was inserted into a hole that was drilled into an old stick. The figure was made with off cuts of ply and painted.

Some more ply figures made with off cuts 

Birds are a favourite subject matter and often appear in my work

It is a tradition of the event for the class to make an artwork for auction on the the final evening. The class project was a vase of flowers made with simple flowers shapes cut from scrap ply, painted and mounted onto springy wire and inserted into the repurposed piece of fence post. Each person made three flowers for the vase.

More ply fun, a vase shaped wall piece with flowers

Participants who had attended ten or more events were encouraged to bring the first thing and the last 

My first class was in 2011, Steampunk Fashion with Kerri Toose. I made several garments, this pinafore was made with recycled men’s suit jackets and incorporated a draped skirt made with Ponti jersey. The book was made in April 2024 in a class with Seth Apter. The white sculpture was made in a class with Jade Peglar in 2012.  

I swapped the tunic for this machine embroidery. 

This was a gift from Glenys Mann, the powerhouse behind Fibre Arts Australia. Whilst it is disappointing that these events have come to an end it is important to celebrate what was and look to the future as Fibre Arts Australia takes a different format and direction.