Penelope Aitken lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. She makes paintings and installations about relationships: between people, between things and between people and things. Recurring subjects include friendship, genealogy, romantic liaisons, and cross-cultural exchange as well as gardening, craft and landscape design. 'I am interested in the social, psychological and aesthetic motives behind organisation, belonging and displacement and I often make work that investigates such arrangements.' She has held regular solo exhibitions since 1995 and has been represented in group exhibitions since 1989. These have included shows in public and commercial galleries, artist run spaces, outdoor projects and festivals in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Bundaberg, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Tokyo and Famagusta, Northern Cyprus. Aitken has previously worked at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and at Asialink at the University of Melbourne. From 2006 - 2009 she was a board member of the Melbourne artist run gallery, West Space and she has also curated and coordinated numerous exhibitions and written and edited catalogues, articles and essays. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education (Visual Arts) both from The University of Melbourne and completed her Masters of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2004. In 1997 Aitken was selected to be a studio artist for two years at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne and in 2000 she undertook an Australia Council Studio at the Taipei National University of the Arts, Taiwan. More recently she spent two months in 2007 at the Laughing Waters Residency, Birrarung, in Eltham, Victoria. There she began her current interest in the rocks used in the landscape designs of Gordon Ford. Paintings of Ford's rocks made since 2007 as well as glacial erratics, meteors, and other natural and displaced rocks were exhibited in March 2011 at the Light Factory Gallery in Eltham in a show called My History of here, and Second Nature, one work from this exhibition, was awarded first prize at Eltham Masterworks 2011. Other work made about rocks in nature and culture include: the project, A dark archive, as well as in two installations: You seem so settled for one that doesn't belong held at West Space in 2009 and Gathering these things to remind me of home shown in 2010 at the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery, Queensland. In July and August 2007 Aitken undertook an arts recidency at Birrarung, a house and garden designed by Gordon Ford and managed as the Laughing Waters Artist in Residence Program by the Shire of Nillumbik Victoria. The rocks depicted in the painting 'Mapping Mass & Void 10' are all taken from the garden at Birrarung. Aitken has made reference to those rocks and the way in which Ford thought of the rocks as individuals that need to be handled and placed with consideration to show off their best aspects.oil and acrylic on linen ek prac 2015

Rick Amor was a good friend of three times Archibald Prize winner Clifton Pugh, living and working at Pugh's artist colony Dunmoochin, (Cottles Bridge) during the 1980-1990s. Amor made frequent outdoor painting trips with Pugh. His studies of Williamstown and areas around the port fuelled a period of sustained painting in his studio at Dunmoochin. Amor is an artist of national significance who had lived locally in Dunmoochin (Cottles Bridge) during the time of this work's making. This painting was exhibited/entered into the 1993 Shire of Eltham Art Awards. The work is representative of Amor's style and interest in seascapes as subject matter. Oil on linen, seascape painting. A solitary and motionless male figure in an overcoat stands at the edge of a dock/jetty with his hands in his pockets looking out to sea with his back towards the viewer. A motorised boat is moored close by and a white house with a blue roof can be seen in the distance. The figure is engulfed by the landscape and a resounding sense of desolation. A storm is brewing; the mood forecast by dark, heavy and thick ominous clouds, alternately darkening with the approach of night, a polluted haze and rough seas. In red paint, lower right, signed 'RICK AMOR '93'amor, seascape, painting, personal, boat, dramatic, atmospheric, ekphrasis 2015, dunmoochin

The 'Black Saturday' bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009. It was Australia's worst ever natural disaster. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire: 173 people died and 414 were injured as a result of the fires.This work is by a local contemporary artist with a national and international reputation for figurative and portrait works. The 'Black Saturday' series is a powerful investigation of emotion and grief as experienced by many Nillumbik residents during the 2009 'Black Saturday' bushfires. A cluster of bronze figurines either stand alone or embrace in groups. Their expressions and gestures of despair are made more pertinent with the raw like application and surface treatment of the material used. The 'Black Saturday' series is a challenging work, but one that encourages healing, connection and empathy. Two men embrace in despair. One man throws his arms around the other man's shoulders. The other man holds the other's back. Surface treatment is textured. Dark metallic brown colour with figures starting to turn a green patina. Note stuck with tape underside of sculpture 'Savage Art Prize Peter Wegner (phone number) The Embrace 2011'wegner, bronze, figurines, black saturday, sculpture

N/AJodi Wiley is a local artist who works in acrylic to create detailed images of trees found in urban and suburban environments. “Trees are ordinary features of our everyday landscape. And yet when the light hits them at certain times of the day, the colours and textures that are illuminated can make us gasp in awe if we are truly paying attention". 'Afternoon Light' was highly commended in the 2015 Nillumbik Prize, judged by Melinda Martin, Director of Linden New Art, Melbourne.Detailed, cropped view of a tree trunk, warm earth colours and tonesWhite, hand painted 'J' in bottom right cornerwiley, acrylic, art, painting, trees, landscape

Alan Martin studied under Max Meldrum, at the National Gallery School and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He later established his own art school. He has won several prizes and is represented in several provincial collections. Alan Marshall was the author of more than fifteen books, and lived much of his life in Eltham. He became a central figure in the area's arts community of writers, artists, sculptors, film makers, actors and musicians. He contracted polio when he was young is considered one of Australia's most successful and loved authors. His most famous book, 'I Can Jump Puddles' is based on his life story and the obstacles he faced as a child in trying to overcome his disability. The portrait of Alan Marshall was exhibited as a finalist at the 1956 Archibald Prize.

Painter, printmaker and sculptor Rick Amor is one of Australia's most distinguished senior artists. He was a good friend of the late George Baldessin and three times Archibald Prize winner Clifton Pugh, having lived and worked at Pugh's property, Dunmoochin in Cottles Bridge, Nillumbik during the 1980s and 90s. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George. 'The Ruin' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. Rick Amor has been an ardent supporter of the Baldessin Press & Studio and a great patron of living artists. In 2014 the Press partnered with Amor and the State Library of Victoria to create The Amor Residency at The Baldessin Press & Studio, which is part of the Library's annual fellowship program. 'The Ruin' was based on a plein air painting done by Rick Amor on a trip to Broken Hill in 2001 and reflects on death and the passing of time so eloquently portrayed by the industrial ruins of NSW. In the tradition of a Piranesi, the work emphasises the transience of life and the triumph of time. Black and white drypoint etching in which a small figure, a traveller; located bottom left, points to a large crumbling edifice (building), a stage like space in the background. Ed.14/25baldessin, print, drypoint, amor, 2018 ekphrasis, ruin, etching, ekphrasis2018

George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George. This work chosen for the folio is from an incomplete edition from 1966. It has been printed on Baldessin's original 1974 cast aluminium Enjay press (designed and made in collaboration with Neil Jeffreys) and restored specifically for this project by Dan Jones. In addition Deanna Hitti has used Baldessin's original Japanese Torinoko paper, stored safely in his studio for over forty years. ‘Portrait II’ is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. This print is a fine example of Baldessin's primary interest of the figure, which displays great sensitivity to and observation of the human condition. Distortion, exaggeration and fragmentation were employed by Baldessin as tools to animate and scrutinize the displaced, dispossessed and alienated figure, flattened against the picture plane. Black and white distorted and exaggerated figure (head and shoulders), with hands raised to the face and the figure's right eye. acquatint, etching, baldessin, ekphrasis2018, figure

Jock Clutterbuck is a sculptor and printmaker of national significance, known for his sophisticated abstract forms with underlying esoteric mysticism. Clutterbuck overlapped with Baldessin when he studied sculpture and printmaking at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, RMIT (1965-66). He taught at RMIT from (1969-73) before lecturing in sculpture at the Victorian College of the Arts (1974-2000). He is represented in many national and international public art collections and is a recipient of many National prizes and awards. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was a printmaker and sculptor who built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971. The bluestone studio was hand built by George, his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.‘Frosty Night Cartouche’ is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. Following a visit to the Press in 2015, Clutterbuck was reminded of a suite of paintings he had produced some thirty years earlier inspired by plein-air drawings of the night sky. This print attempts to capture something of the enchantment, mystery and drama of a frosty rural property where Clutterbuck spent many years. It is a frost dreaming; a subtle personal homage to Baldessin, embodying the reverence of a fellow artist towards an old friend. In pencil (handwritten): low plate: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'Frosty Night Cartouche' (title); right 'Jock Clutterbuck' (signature); low paper: right emboss 'GB' (Baldessin Press & Studio monogram)ekphrasis2018, symbols

Michael Leunig is an Australian cartoonist, poet and cultural commentator. His best known works include The Adventures of Vasco Pyjama and the Curly Flats series. Leunig was declared one of Australian Living Treasures by the National Trust of Australia in 1999. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was a printmaker and sculptor who built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.one colour (yellow) etching on Somerset paper. Thick lines weave in and out to produce a figure reminiscent of his 'curly flat' characters holding a long stem flower/vine. ekphrasis2018, pilgrim, baldessin, leunig

Jan Senbergs was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1939 and came to Australia when he was ten. Senbergs’ work has been characterised by a simple and bold aesthetic. From lush landscapes to barren urban spaces, his body of work signifies an artist who has continually experimented with shape, form and motif, a fundamental humanist vision, a finely-honed sense of the absurd, and a rigorous studio practice spanning printmaking, drawing and painting. Senbergs is Baldessin's exact contemporary. He was also born in Europe and fled his homeland because of the war, arriving in Melbourne in 1950. Like George, Senbergs also worked at the RMIT and in 1973 represented Australia at the Bienal de Sao Paulo. Senbergs first met George when he was living in St. Kilda. George asked if he could screen print his 'Argus' catalogue for a show at the gallery in the Argus building. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971. The bluestone studio was hand built by George, his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.'New Jersey - rust belt' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. This print finds its' origins in the time Senbergs spent at Harvard in America in 1989-90. In the context of Baldessin it explores an industrial urban surreal vision that was common to both artist. The image captures the life force of the city revealing the keen and observant eye of Jan Senbergs. Similar in sensibility to his large scale charcoal drawings of the 1990s, the artwork is not only a record of what the artist sees, but of what interest him. By following the movement of each line the viewer can witness the artist's eye travelling through, over and around each element of the urban landscape. The scale is deceptive with the image bled to the full-size of the sheet of paper like a microcosm of a much bigger whole. sugar lift etching of an urban (cityscape - New Jersey) scene - bridges, roads, buildings, in thick black brushstrokes. The image is busy; full of energy and movement. A bleed print in which the paper barely contains the city scape. In pencil (handwritten): top centre: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'New Jersey-Rustbelt' (title); right 'Jan Senbergs' (signature); print, sugarlift etching, urban landscape, ekphrasis2018, new jersey, line, rust belt

Imants Tillers has been identified as a quintessential postmodern artist in his use of appropriation and quotation. Since 1981 he has used his signature canvas boards to explore themes relevant to contemporary culture, from the centre/periphery debates of the 1980s to the effects of migration, displacement and diaspora. Most recently, his paintings have been concerned with place, locality and evocations of the landscape. Imants Tillers and Baldessin met on their way to the Bienal de Sao Paulo in 1975 and in the following year worked on two collaborative etching plates in Paris that were printed by Pierre Giarudon. 'Unsaid + Nameless' harks back to his experiences with Baldessin in Paris forty years ago. It is a poignant image of absence that can be read in the tradition of the momento mori. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.'Unsaid + Nameless' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. In 1976 Baldessin and Tillers embarked on the collaborative work 'According to des Esseintes'; a post modern Surrealist game of consequences and sequences. In homage to his friendship and work, Tillers completed an unfinished Baldessin plate from 1976 inspired from their 'des Esseintes' collaboration. The addition of Odilon Redon's 'smiling spider' is indicative of Tiller's broader post-modern approach. Solar plate etching of Odilon Redon's 'Laraignee souriante' (The Smiling Spider) on an incomplete plate etched by George Baldessin in 1976 on Somerset paper. Other images include skewed perspectives of a wooden window frame, 'wooden' floor or table(?) folded sheet of paper and unknown apparatus. In pencil (handwritten): low plate: left '14/25' (edition); centre: 'Unsaid + Nameless' (title); right 'Imants Tillers' (signature); low paper: right emboss 'GB' (Baldessin Press & Studio monogram)solar plate etching, george baldessin, somerset paper, spider, line, ekphrasis2018, odilon redon, appropriation, post modern, surrealism, collaboration, paris, folio

Painter, printmaker and installation artist John Wolseley was born in Somerset, England. He lived and worked throughout Europe before relocating to Australia in 1976. His work explores how people dwell and move within landscape. Wolseley see's himself as a hybrid mix of artist and scientist; one who tries to relate the minutiae of the natural world - leaf, feather and beetle wing - to the abstract dimensions of the earth's dynamic systems. Using techniques of watercolour, collage, frottage, nature printing and other methods of direct physical or kinetic contact Wolseley finds ways of collaborating with the actual plants, birds, trees, rocks and earth of a particular place. George Baldessin was one of the first artists John Wolseley met when he arrived in Australia in 1976. Both immigrated to Australia and connected through this shared experience. They were both at 'Realities Gallery' with Marianne Baillieu in the 1970s and 80s. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George. 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. Communion and collaboration with nature are central to Wolseley's practice. He assembles different drawing methods to represent a kind of inventory or document about the state of the earth. His interest is to paint the processes and energy field of the living systems of this land. 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' is his continued exploration of Australia's natural eco-systems. The beetle attacks the eucalypt and in the process of tunnelling into the wood of the tree leaves scribbly patterns. The work celebrates the cycle of life, and the wisdom and delicacy of these creatures. This three dimensional work consisting of three layers of paper is a varied edition, offering just the slightest difference between each print, reflective of variation in nature. The found log used as a woodcut acknowledges the interconnectedness of nature and living beings; the log is not apart from the art and the beetle has become an active artistic collaborator. An intimate and layered print of a tree log with line trails from the Longicorn beetle. Patches of pink, yellow and orange watercolour placed randomly. Woodcut from found log and etching on chine-colle with water colour on Gampi (top layer), Mulberry (middle layer) and Arches (bottom layer) paper. In pencil (handwritten): low plate: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' (title); right 'John Wolseley' (signature); low paper: right emboss 'GB' (Baldessin Press & Studio monogram)woodcut, etching, chine-colle, landscape, environment, longicorn beetle, print, baldessin, ekphrasis2018, eco, mixed media

The abstraction and colours refer to the modernist abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko.Nillumbik Prize 2018 Winner. The artist lives and works in Nillumbik. Inspired by modernist abstraction the work is a reflection of current times, exploring our relationship with technology and its’ impact on our social, personal and professional lives. Blurred abstract image in warm colours: yellow, orange and brown. Loading circle in white at the centre of the image.photograph, digital print, rothko, modernism, instagram, abstract, loading

Nillumbik Prize 2018 finalist. The artist lives and works in Nillumbik. A juxtaposition of the mechanical (digital camera) with the hand painted. Each turning page exposes the artist’s own experiences and responses to his environment. The book unfolds into a sequence of pages that opens up to a landscape. digital photographs and hand painted (detailed/cropped) images of trees on paper, encased in an archival box.

Imam is represented in the Nillumbik Shire Art Collection and was the winner of the 2015 Nillumbik Prize for her work "Diagram of sentiment #1" (judged by Linden New Art Director Melinda Martin). She was also a finalist in the Nillumbik Prize 2016, 2015, 2013 and 2010. Imam completed a residency at Laughing Waters in 2011. Imam works within photography, the moving image and installation to create works centred on themes of embodiment and the female perspective. In this work she participates in a dialogue between her body and the Finnish Archipelagos in order to develop a relationship with the islands as both a place and an organic body [of land] where flux and change occurs. Photograph of the artist immersed from the waist down in green moss (landscape).N/Afinnish, archipelago, inkjet, print, photographic, body, island, moss

This painting was sparked by a US studio residency at Yellowstone National Park, shortly after Trump’s election. In America, Chin witnessed conservative nationalism and divisiveness, but also an equal reaction promoting diversity and challenging structural inequality. Developing this work in Australia, Chin examined how a sense of place forms fluidly in the consciousness, to surpass geographic borderlines.Kevin Chin is a local artist. He has been a finalist in the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art (2015, 2019). In this painting Chin explores economic, cultural and social structures that shape the world in which we live, questioning who has built what, who takes ownership, and who has the right to the land. Landscape painting depicting a house (upside down) and a half finished urban structure sitting amongst mountain peaks and land that has been cleared and immersed in fog/smoke.N/Alandscape, kevin, chin, structural, inequality, castle, trump, painting, nillumbik, residency, yellowstone, realism, oils

Kangaroo Ground's first school began in 1851 with 22 pupils from the district's ten families. It was a single room school located further south on the site, which also served as a Presbyterian church. The first teacher was Andrew Ross. The school building was used as a Post Office between 1854 and 1858 and during 1857 also served as a Court of Petty Sessions. With a growing farming community, a new building was warranted and the original Sate School No. 352 was closed and a new building, State School No. 2105 was oipened October 1, 1878. A residence for Head Teacher Henry Wallace School was erected in 1879 attached to the left of the school building. That residence is now home to the Andrew Ross Museum, which opened in 1993. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p35 In a corner of the Kangaroo Ground Primary School playground stands an old weatherboard building. This structure, attached to the former teacher’s weatherboard residence facing Main Road, first served as a school in 1878. The former residence, built in 1879, houses the Andrew Ross Museum, which opened in 1993. It is named after the school’s first teacher,1 who also founded The Evelyn Observer newspaper, which began on the site in 1873. Later the printing presses were moved to brick newspaper offices by the Kangaroo Ground Hotel, which became the Shire of Eltham offices. However Kangaroo Ground’s first school began in 1851 for 22 pupils from the district’s ten families, in a slab building further south on this site. Andrew Harkness and other settlers campaigned for the building, which was built on half an acre (0.2ha) donated by local farmer, James Donaldson. Builder was Samuel Furphy, father of the novelist Joseph.2 The single room measuring 30 feet x 18 feet (9m x 5.5m), was unlined and the green slabs shrank, allowing the wind and rain entry through cracks except when they were stuffed with paper.3 The building served as a Presbyterian church as well as a school, where fees were 18 pence a week for education. Young men also attended evening classes there in winter. At one stage, a corner of the room was curtained off for the schoolmaster’s living space, and the platform, which was used for sleeping, was also the pulpit during church services. Teacher Andrew Ross also took church services when the minister was unable to attend, which happened frequently as he had long distances to travel on the bad roads. In 1857 the school building was also used as the Court of Petty Sessions, and from 1854 until 1858, it served as a post office. During the gold rush fossickers on their way to the Caledonia Diggings at Queenstown (now St Andrews) prospected the district, but did not remain long, as the fields were not rich in gold. But the farming community grew, until by 1878 the population warranted the building of State School No 2105 – the present one-roomed tongue-and-groove lined building measuring 49 feet x 18 feet (15m x 5.5m), to accommodate 60 children. The old school, No 352, was closed, and the new one opened on October 1, with Henry Wallace as head teacher, assisted by work mistress Annie Johnston. Early teachers included Messrs Smith, Hamilton and Prosser, with sewing teachers Misses Sweeney, Limerock and Oliver. In the early 1920s a small room was built on the front veranda of the teacher’s residence, and used as a State Savings Bank agency until about 1934. In 1928 the schoolroom’s three-tiered floor was replaced by a flat floor and teacher’s platform (which has since been removed). A half-glassed partition wall then divided the large room into two rooms in which the old style form-type desks were replaced with dual desks. The small playground, surrounded by pine trees and a picket fence, was extended in 1931 with an additional acre or so (0.4 ha) of land. During World War Two the school faced closure because of a fall to seven in the enrolment, but by 1946 it had increased again to 45. Mr Eric Morgan was head teacher and Mrs Margaret Banks was assistant head teacher, a position she held for ten years. In 1955, under the head teacher Mr V Gardiner, who taught there for 13 years, the school won a prize for the best-kept garden and school ground in the inspectorate. A district subdivision increased the enrolment in 1968 to 65 and a bus service was established. After the hall which had been used for lessons was demolished late that year, the pupils met in the original fire brigade meeting room (now the tennis club, diagonally opposite the general store). The new school building with a storeroom and staffroom was built in 1974.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, kangaroo ground, andrew ross museum, eltham-yarra glen road, kangaroo ground primary school no. 2105, kangaroo ground state school, state school no. 2105

Originally a race course, the park has brought the community together with a variety of activities. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p45 Once used for horse racing, which attracted visitors from Melbourne, the Eltham Lower Park has brought the community together with a wide range of activities. Horse riding is now enjoyed as a recreation in the park as are other sports. The park also includes the Diamond Valley Railway miniature trains and a sanctuary for the rare and vulnerable Eltham Copper Butterfly. Eltham Lower Park, with other parks, forms an almost continuous green band from Eltham’s centre, along the Diamond Creek to the Yarra River.1 Before European settlement the Wurundjeri people met on this land, particularly at the junction of the Diamond Creek with the Yarra River, which they called Birr-arung. This is commemorated by the sculpture, Not just a Pretty Place by Aleks Danko, winner of the 2000 Nillumbik Art in Public Places Award. The first European to settle here was probably Henry Foley, who in 1841 used it as part of his pastoral run. Foley sold his leasehold to Joseph Wilson in 1845, who soon after sold it to Frederick Falkiner.2 During the 1840s the future park was part of a government square mile (2.6 sqkm) reserve, north of the Yarra, within the Parish of Nillumbik, later named Eltham. Soon the land was used for horse racing after nearby residents cleared ten acres (4ha) in the early 1850s. A three-quarter of a mile (1.2km) race secured the winner the £10 Publican’s Prize. In response to popular demand, the newly formed Eltham District Road Board petitioned the Surveyor General of the Colony of Victoria, in 1856, for 36 acres (14.6ha) of crown land for a racecourse and recreation. By 1858 the Eltham races had become an institution. ‘Many skirmishes occurred and the way home was paved with temptation, with sly-grog for sale.3 In the early 1870s, two jockeys were sons of the police officer in charge of the Eltham Police Station, Miles S Lyons.4 Another ten acres (4ha) was added to the area in 1866 and 12 acres (4.8ha) – Hohnes Hill – in 1870. In 1866, two acres (0.8ha) on the creek banks became an animal pound with William Walsh the pound keeper in 1870, but this was later incorporated into the park. By 1877 the area was called a public park but horse racing and training continued into the 1920s. In the mid-1900s trotters were trained on a circuit road. In 1953 the Eltham Pony Club was established and used a cross-country course on Hohnes Hill. From the mid 1950s the club held the Eltham Easter Fair at the park, later to include a procession along Main Road from the town centre to the park. The park also attracted picnic parties and campers from the inner suburbs as did Wingrove Park, and businesses catering for visitors, sprang up on the opposite side of Main Road. Bus-loads of school children visited the park for Gould League bird days in the 1960s. In 1979 the Eltham Shire Council bought Lenister Farm, linking the park with the Yarra River. The Lenister Farm wetland includes a bird hide, viewing platform and interpretive signs.5 Pioneer Henry Stooke, later Road Board chairman, bought the 11 acres (4.5ha) - later to become Lenister Farm - from the Crown in 1862. Stooke never lived on this site and the two houses at Lenister Farm were built in the 20th century. Since its formation in 1871, the Council has controlled this crown land, which it named Eltham Park. But in the 1920s Eltham Council bought land near the town centre for a park, which it named Eltham Central Park. To avoid confusion the Council renamed Eltham Park, Eltham Lower Park. Since 2004 the Yarra footbridge has linked the park with the Yarra Valley Metropolitan Park and the Main Yarra Trail.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, eltham lower park, eltham park