Highlife Magazine

The Summer edition of 'Highlife Living' hit the stands today, and we were so pleased to see the official opening of 'Nest' featured in the Social pages of this issue!

Upon quick perusal of the magazine, this edition of 'Highlife' looks chock full of great stories ... yet again. I always find some inspiration amongst the pages of this quality magazine, as the focus is on amazing people and places in the Southern Downs area.

Do yourself a favour and grab a copy .... http://www.highlife.net.au/

A little bit more of 'Nest' ...

My little angel, Sonny and I mowed our lawn for hours this afternoon. Afterwards, we sat back and admired our handiwork and were very pleased with our efforts.

I thought it was also the perfect opportunity to share some more images of the gallery and surrounding gardens.

We also found this amazing garden umbrella buried under all the stuff in the house! We just need to make it a more permanent fixture in the garden (instead of balancing on the garden chair!)

The parking area ... featuring an old wine press. The wine press is soon to be a mosaic masterpiece! (fingers and toes are crossed).

You will also be greeted with some lovely characters upon arrival ...

We look forward to seeing you soon at 'Nest'!

Our first workshop!

Today 'Nest' hosted it's first workshop - Introduction to Lino Printing with Eva Rasmussen.

We had a small, yet eager group of students, keen to learn the basics of lino printing.

Eva guided the students through the process, and each went home with some great prints, both in colour and black/white.

We fitted a lot into the day - and I am sure the ladies will sleep well tonight!

Linda carefully carving her lino block ...

The ladies concentrating hard on their works ...

Eva demonstrating how to apply ink to the block ...

Rubbing the paper to apply the print ...

... And I wish I had a photo of the finished product, but I had customers to talk to at that exact moment! ... but trust me, it looked just fantastic!

Faces and Places ...

Our Summer exhibition, 'Faces and Places...', is shaping up to be a stunning showcase of contemporary works from local artists.

Featuring Maerten Heeremans, Su Garfinkle, Jane Donaldson, Jim Grasby, Alba Conti and Debbie Cravin, 'Faces and Places...' will be opening on Saturday 11 December, from 2pm.

The exhibition will be running throughout Summer 2010/11.

We look forward to seeing you on the 11th @ Nest Gallery! (1257 Amiens Road, Stanthorpe Qld 4380).

Introduction to Relief Printing

This one day workshop will introduce you to lino printing, a relief printing process. Students will create an image on a block of lino, which will then be carved and printed by hand.

Suitable for beginners or those with some printmaking experience.

TUTOR: Eva Rasmussen
WHEN: Saturday 20 November
TIME: 10am-4pm
WHERE: Nest Gallery, 1257 Amiens Road, Stanthorpe 4380
COST: $100 (includes lunch and tea/coffee) + cost of materials (approx. $15)

For further details, or to enrol, please contact Emma on (07) 4683 3197 or emma@nestgallery.com.au.

Hurry - ONLY TWO SPACES LEFT!

Workshop: WANDERING GOLD with June Fiford

Workshop!!

WANDERING GOLD – HAND EMBROIDERY
Firstly a colourful and simple weaving of silk strips will be created and then embellished with wandering gold threads creating an intriguing pattern of shimmer with a touch of colour. As you stitch perhaps you will imagine yourself on a fascinating wandering of your own.

As an introduction to the technique of non-traditional gold embroidery this piece will be worked in a hoop and information on gold threads and the working process for more complex gold embroideries will be explained during the class.

Background fabrics and gold threads will be available to purchase in the class. Further details will be available once enrolment is confirmed.

TUTOR: JUNE FIFORD

WHEN: Proposed dates of either Sunday 28th or Monday 29th November 2010

TIME: 10am - 4pm

WHERE: Nest Gallery - 1257 Amiens Road, Stanthorpe Qld 4380

COST: $100

For further details, or to enrol, please contact Emma on (07) 4683 3197 or emma@nestgallery.com.au.

Numbers are limited, so be quick!

Jetta's Nest

During the past few months, I have been researching and researching, trying to find a wonderful collection of Queensland artisans to feature in the Nest Gift Shop. I have had lots of fun doing this research, and was so happy to stumble across Jetta's Nest - and her fantastic range of wooden brooches, all lovingly hand crafted from salvaged wood.

They have proven so popular in our gift shop and I can't wait for the next order to arrive! This time the brooches will also arrive with a delightful range of gift cards - all illustrated by the very talented, Samantha.

Visit http://www.jettasnest.com/ and discover this amazing world ... and I hope you too will fall in love with Samantha's work.

Support handmade!

Any potential lino print artists out there?

Nest is looking at hosting a lino and wood cutting workshop at some point in the near future. We are trying to get a feel for numbers, so if anyone was interested in a one-day workshop where you will learn basic lino/wood cutting techniques and the printing process, please email me at emma@nestgallery.com.au or call (07) 4683 3197.

Primavera in the Granite Belt

In the Spring... when one's fancy turns to love,
to food and wine,
to music and the arts,
and to nature's many gifts.

For 20 years the Granite Belt held the Spring Wine Festival when new vintage wines were released in Stanthorpe. New vintages are still released in Spring but there is now so much more than wine to celebrate. The Granite Belt has regional wine, food, art, lavender and other produce, so it is now called...Primavera.

For further information, booking accommodation or an event, please visit the GBWT website: http://www.granitebeltwinecountry.com.au/pages/spring-primavera/

'Nest' Gift Shop

Wow! We are so pleased with the our little corner of goodies available in the 'Nest' Gift Shop. We can also proudly say that everything is made by hand, and we are so excited to be able to support local artisans and help to promote their amazing wares.

If you are after a truly unique, one-of-a-kind gift for a loved one, then our little treasure trove of goodies is sure to have something ideal. And in the process of spoiling a loved one (or yourself!), you are helping to support the handmade industry - which is always fantastic!

We will also be launching the online version of our store soon - so stay tuned for that! So if you can't make it out to us, you can still purchase some of these goodies ... thanks to the wonders of technology!

Opening Night!

THANK YOU to all those wonderful people who contributed to our opening night - making it a wonderful success. We were so impressed with the number of people who braved the rain, and came along to share the evening with us.

A special thanks must go to Sue Jurd and Alba Conti for all their help with hanging the exhibition (and catering!), to the band - who provided us with wonderful music all night (at very short notice), to Mark Ravenscroft, for donating the wine - and finally to all the artists who put their faith in us that our first exhibition would come together, and kindly agreed to display their masterpieces. You are all greatly appreciated!

We look forward to seeing many more friendly faces drop in and visit us over the coming weeks. We will be open Saturday-Monday, 10am-4pm.

And if the rain ever stops ... our parking lot should be safe to enter once more! (Thanks Mike for rescuing everyone out of the mud!).

The Countdown is on!

Well, we are officially counting down the hours until opening night! Paintings are hung (but are sure to be rearranged yet again!)

We are so impressed with the standard of work for 'Things of Thread and Wood' and can't wait to share the works with you all.

Opening night is set to be a wonderful night and we are very much looking forward to it ... and not to mention enjoying a wine or two!

Opening night is tomorrow night, 24th September - from 5:30pm. 1257 Amiens Road, Stanthorpe.

Image above: Fay Roselt admiring one of Sue Jurd's pieces, 'Turning'.

Feature Artist - Fay Roselt

Fay's Artist Statement ...

As a relative newcomer to the world of art, I feel a certain urgency to create; however, the reality is that although I'm overflowing with ideas, there isn't enough time for the actual creation of all the work milling around in the ‘ideas bank’.

Participation in a Machine Embroidery workshop by Carol Wilkes in 1999 (in response to an advertisement in the Courier Mail for the McGregor Winter School), kindled a deep interest in textile art. I hadn't realized that I was looking for something in life, but this workshop revealed in me an untapped passion. I was off on a grand journey.

This was followed by a McGregor Summer School workshop in 2000. Two weeks is a long workshop and I struggled to contain myself as my mind was brimming with ideas, excitement and endless possibilities. My tutor was Glenys Mann. She believed in me and with her dedication and encouragement I managed to last the two weeks. Glenys is still my mentor and continues to encourage me in my artistic endeavours.

Most artists seem to work in a chosen medium and develop from there, but I've not settled in a particular area as I'm interested in many facets of fibre art. As I consider myself a 'dabbler' I was well pleased when a well-respected artist/tutor referred to herself as a 'dabbler'.

Working with old woollen blankets, a nostalgic reminder of my childhood, gives me great pleasure. Sometimes stained and always well worn, these treasures have served their useful purpose well and with imagination can be transformed into a work of art.

Collage work with found objects is another area of particular interest. As an avid collector of interesting 'stuff' including feathers, bones, rusty things, desiccated frogs etc, there is much to work with.

My practice is intuitive rather than meticulously planned, ie I take an idea and go with it, the work just evolving rather than reaching a preconceived conclusion. However, participation in a workshop in January 2009 with good friend/mentor well-known embroidery artist Judy Wilford kindled my interest in design and I will explore this approach in future work.

Feature Artist - Cathy Braid from Polly&Me

Today's feature artist is Cathy Braid, from Polly & Me. Examples of her work and the team of women she works with in Chitral, Pakistan, will be on display at the opening of Nest Gallery - including hand bags, wallets and an original piece of embroidery.

Polly & Me is a social enterprise. It is a business based on a model of contributing to the community they work in. Using themes from both international development and the private sector, they create jobs for women in a culturally acceptable manner where there are otherwise limited work opportunities.

Women in Chitral embroider in community spaces they can walk to, or they take the cloth and threads home to sew. The eight collectives across Chitral valley give the 500 or so women artisans space to work together in their neighbourhood, with the flexibility of maintaining their domestic roles.

One of these pieces, 'My Prayer is...' has just been selected as a finalist in the prestigious Blake Prize for religious art.

Welcome to 'Nest Gallery'

Welcome to the 'Nest Gallery' blog. I hope to update this as often as possible with news from the gallery and local art scene.

We have been so busy the past few weeks getting the gallery in tip-top shape for the opening on 24 September. We are so excited about this new art space - and hope that both locals and tourists alike will be able to enjoy the space and the fantastic art that will be on display.

The opening exhibition is titled 'Things of Thread and Wood' and will feature many local artists. More details regarding the exhibition will be available in the next post.

Hope to see you at 'Nest' soon!