Alice Blanch Chehovski was born in Queensland to a Russian mother and Polish father. When her father died leaving three small children to bring up on her own, her took them back to Russia to visit her own parents. In the following fateful year, Stalin came into power and the family was trapped by Russia closing its borders. At the age of twenty three, 1944, Alice entered Moscow's Institute of Decorative Arts and Applied Arts to study ceramics. Neither the subject of ceramics nor the academic drawing in fine pencil inspired her. At that time Moscow was surrounded by German troops, Russian culture was inhibited by the war and generally speaking it was not the time for arts. Alice said 'My soul and my hands were needed as a volunteer, to help the wounded soldiers survive'. Alice struggled through a lifetime of hardship and triumph before returning to her native land of Australia in 1981 at the age of 60. This lithographic print is one of a set of ten produced at Dunmoochin at the time of Clifton Pugh.Lithographic print in black and white (very dark image) depicting Chehovskis' cottage at Dunmoochin. Small cottage, bushland and shrubs.Bottom left of print: ed. no. '4/10' and work title. Bottom right of print: artist signature 'Alice Blanch '04'chehovski, dunmoochin, pugh, cottage, lithograph

This work is by a local contemporary artist with a national and international reputation for figurative and portrait works. This lithograph comes from a series of still life by Wegner from the early 80's; a subject matter in which he has not returned to. Wegner is well known for his drawings and enjoys the immediate and directness of the process. He sees the drawn image as an experience of observation, with the content revealing the process of its making. Lithographic print - still life in black and white. Details several kitchen/household items: spoon, tea pot, egg holder, cup and saucer, bowl, chop sticks and mandarin.Lower far left: 'A/P'; Low centre: 'Mandarin on Kitchen Table'; Lower far right: 'PW 83'wegner, lithograph, still life, black and white, utensils, table, fruit, print

Pugh was one of many artists who brought an Australian experience to attention. This work reveals the colour, textures, harshness and inhabitants of the natural bush, with the angular forms found on the ‘black birds’ dominating the composition with dramatic effect. Shanahan, Albert Tucker, Frank Werther and Fred Williams have at one time settled and or work there. Untitled (Black Birds) from the Bodford Terrace Suite 1978, created by Clifton Pugh - a celebrated Australian artist known for his landscapes and portraiture as well as (three-time) winner of Australia’s Archibald Prize. This piece plays a significant role within the Nillumbik Shire Collection due to Pugh’s strong connection to the local land where he settled in Cottle’s Bridge in 1951, purchasing 15 acres and named it Dunmoochin. Artists, potters and others settled at Dunmoochin and formed the Dunmoochin Artists Co-operative in order to collectively protect the land. Numerous renowned artists worked or resided at Dunmoochin including: Rick Amor, Fred Williams, Albert Tucker, Frank Hodgkinson, Mirka Mora, John Olsen, John Percival and John Howley amongst others. Upon his death in 1990 he left an art collection and extensive properties at Dunmoochin to be appreciated and utilised by artists for years to come lithographic print on French Arches paper. Dynamic and expressive depiction of black birds in flight on far left of composition, cropped elements of Australian landscape in blue and red in the background (trees, shrubs, rocks). Inscribed lower right 'Clifton'; 1:1; 179/300clifton pugh, bodford suite, dunmoochin

Pugh was one of many artists who brought an Australian experience to attention. His landscapes reveal the colour and textures of the natural bush, often with a dramatic emphasis. His reference to the harshness of the bush consistently arises, with angular forms dominating the composition. White Choughs in the Landscape is typical of his representations of the bush as a dynamic environment. White Choughs in the Landscape, 1958, created by Clifton Pugh - a celebrated Australian artist known for his landscapes and portraiture as well as (three-time) winner of Australia’s Archibald Prize. This piece plays a significant role within the Nillumbik Shire Collection due to Pugh’s strong connection to the local land where he settled in Cottle’s Bridge in 1951, purchasing 15 acres and named it Dunmoochin. Artists, potters and others settled at Dunmoochin and formed the Dunmoochin Artists Co-operative in order to collectively protect the land. Numerous renowned artists worked or resided at Dunmoochin including: Rick Amor, Fred Williams, Albert Tucker, Frank Hodgkinson, Mirka Mora, John Olsen, John Percival and John Howley amongst others. Upon his death in 1990 he left an art collection and extensive properties at Dunmoochin to be appreciated and utilised by artists for years to come White Choughs in the Landscape is typical of Pughs' representations of the bush as a dynamic environment. The brittleness and fragility of the landscape is recorded in the surface of the work, where paint is applied in thin layers.Signed 'Clifton Sept. 1958'clifton pugh, dunmoochin, white choughs

Mary-Lou began exhibiting in the mid 1980s and over the years has been involved in producing unique pieces as well as developing a large range of domestic ware. In 1984, six months after graduating from a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Phillip Institute of Technology, Mary-Lou was invited to present a solo exhibition at Devise Gallery in South Melbourne. This objective, she says, compelled her to find a studio and was an incentive to focus on developing her ceramic practice independently.Mary-Lou Pittard holds close ties to the Shire of Nillumbik - living and working within Eltham. Her Eltham North Mudbrick Studio employed 5 assistants until recently when Mary-Lou and partner Chris Pittard have scaled down operations. They now produce everything themselves and find that this enables them to focus on producing unique, sculptural ceramic works. Mary-Lou is currently exploring the fine qualities of porcelain and combining these with her ongoing passion for decorative colour and form. 'Decorative Bowl' is a wheel-thrown/moulded bowl, oblong in shape and has been manipulated by hand. Narrow sections have been incised from the main body, perhaps a practical design feature for air circulation, and the rim has been altered to form a jagged edge. Bold colourful shapes decorate the interior of the bowl. They have been applied directly to the bisque surface and subsequently covered with a transparent glaze which protects them and enhances their permanency.mary-lou pittard, ceramic, chris pittard, eltham, nillumbik

Mary-Lou began exhibiting in the mid 1980s and over the years has been known for producing unique pieces of domestic ware influenced by food and traditional ceramic ware of the past.Food and tradition have always played a big part in Mary Lou’s ceramic work. 'Serving Platter' is rich in colour. The decorative designs are inspired by her surroundings in a style reminiscent of the past. Mary-Lou and husband Chris have a studio and gallery attached to their residential property in Eltham North which is open to the public. They also participate in the Nillumbik Artists Open Studios program. Oval platter with bold, stylised flowers glazed in reds, blues and yellows.mary-lou pittard, eltham, nillumbik, ceramic

Chris Pittard is a painter who has been working with clay for over 15 years. Pittard studied Fine Arts at RMIT and VCA and has exhibited paintings for a number of years. Pittard divides his time between teaching, drawing and painting and working in the ceramics studio where he creates distinctive pieces. Chris Pittard's ceramic pieces translate the narrative to the vessel. His vessels speak to us about our place and even his personal stories become more universal expressions.In early 2005 there was a flood which raged through the creeks cutting through the Shire of Nillumbik (Eltham). Not usually affected by catastrophe, these surging waters destroyed bridges and threatened roads. When the water subsided along the banks of the creek, trees had fallen, flotsam and jetsam piled up and even weeks later the long grass flattened by the flood continued to map the raging waters flow. The combination of slightly threatening and destructive forces and eerie beauty interested me. This at a time when world events of a far more horrific and tragic nature where presented to us by strangely beautiful coloured photos in our daily papers. These connections may not be obvious but it was certainly something I was thinking about while making this ceramic piece.flood, chris pittard, eltham, nillumbik

Walter Magilton's professional painting career is highlighted by numerous solo exhibitions, five of which have been in Great Britain. He has also won countless prizes, which include many 'Best in Show' awards. Walter is represented in a great number of private and corporate national and international collections, including ART Bank, in approximately twelve countries.This painting is a one of a series of approximately eight works of the river at Warrandyte and the local creeks, with particular emphasis on the reflections in the water and of the wattle growing along the banks. I was particularly inspired by Penleigh Boyde who did similar work while living in Warrandyte in the early 1920s.'Sunlight and Shadows, Warrandyte' is an oil on canvas painting depicting the Warrandyte landscape, featuring a winding creek with beautiful reflections cast upon it. The colour palate comprises muted green and earth tones, with a vivid aqua for reflective water.walter magilton, nillumbik, warrandyte

Nicholas Nedelkopoulos is an established artist, his work is represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery of Australia and in numerous International and Australian Public and Private Collections. His work has been included in major historic exhibitions: the National Gallery of Australia's Federation touring exhibition, The Australian Bicentennial Folio and Victoria's 150th Anniversary exhibition curated at The State Library of Victoria and National Gallery of Victoria. He has a Diploma of Fine Arts from Victorian College of the Arts, a Master of Fine Art from the University of Melbourne (Victorian College of the Arts) and has a Doctorate from Monash University. Nedelkopoulos' work is based strongly in graphic tradition which can be seen throughout all of his media.'The Sneeze' alludes to a feverish response, an irritation, a period of temporary discomfort, or a sign of sickness. On a visit to Eltham in 1995 Nedelkopoulos became aware of the disquiet felt by many residents because local government was not in the hands of elected representatives. 'The Sneeze' is an allegorical work, which serves as a reminder of this period in our municipal history. Nedelkopoulos has constructed an environment similar to a theatre set in which every element is a symbol to be deciphered. Whether you read the red-nosed figure as democracy being challenged by the political circumstance, as representing the unelected commissioners surrounded by the criticism of the community, or as another player in the story, to unravel the meaning of individual elements will provide direction and add weight to your interpretation. Without knowledge of the artist's intention the work can convey quite straightforward messages and responses. For example, the misery of hayfever in Spring, or how germs spread from a single sneeze. Such ideas are relevant and provide the metaphoric basis for a more in-depth analysis.Pastel drawing on paper. Image depicts a small black figure with a small monkey on a lead. The figure has a red nose to which he is holding a tissue. He is walking through what appears to be a flowering forest.nedelkopoulos, the sneeze

Created during her residency at Laughing Waters, Ash, the performance is a response to concurring world events and continues Orr's practice of using her own body as the site for creating provocative imagery. In Ash, she explored a familiar theme - our relationship with the environment. The audience was are asked to peer inside a rough wooden hut where Orr laid motionless on a coffin-like slab. The floor was strewn with forest litter and her own body, covered in ashes, carried text messages as reflections on human suffering, in particular the plight of refugees in Australia.Photograph - cibachrome depicting the artist Jill Orr in a reclined position, swathed in fabric. There is black text all over her body carrying messages about war and the plight of refugees.laughing waters, jill orr, ash

A typical Olsen painting combines an implied aerial view with an ambiguous and seemingly unpremeditated figuration. His characteristically quizzical line and irregular squiggles and dots deftly render countless organisms, large and minute. Their environment is conjured through loosely brushed and stained expanses of colour (on canvas or hardboard) and lines which sometimes read as geological mappings. In Olsen's work there is no foreground/ middle ground/ background, nor any sign of European landscape's concern with "human scale." Instead he employs simultaneously the contrary vantages of naturalist and geographer. 'Tropical Rain Shower' by John Olsen forms one of the eight artworks represented in the Bodford Terrace Suite. Eight of Australia's finest artists were brought together to create a folio of lithographic prints to celebrate the restoration of historic Bodford Terrace. Printed at the Druckma Press by John Robinson under the supervision of master printer Jock Abbott. The folio edition was limited to 300 signed and numbered folios. The lithographs were printed on special heavy weight french Arche's paper in accordance with the tradition of this artistic medium. Lithographic print on paper.Signed John Olsen '78, lower right hand corner. Edition 179/300bodfford terrace collection, john olsen, tropical rain shower

Brian was born in Melbourne in 1949. Early life was spent in the stimulating bush environment in Montrose. Ramon Horsefield saw a spark and Brian began to paint in oils at the age of thirteen. He contunued tuition with Graham Moore, in class and at night classes. An Art Diploma at Swinburne was not completed. This did not crush his creative spirit and he resumed tuition with Graham Moore. Within a few years he was winning prizes. Many and varied jobs allowed him to survive whilst aspiring to become a full time painter and bring up his growing family. In 1977 Brian resigned from his last employment as a picture framer. He leased a shop in Main St, Mornington and set up classes. Brian taught painting and had his own studio behind the school. Later he was to move and build his "bushland gothic" home in North Warrandyte. Here he developed his reputation as a painter. Brian had his first solo exhibition in 1979. Many more were to follow. He has won many prizes, was a finalist in the 1992 Moran Portrait prize. The Alice Bale Scholarship which he won, entailed a year traveling and studying in Europe. Brian returned home in 1996. Sharing his skills with many students over the years, he taught privately and at various art societies. His oils, pastels and charcoals capture the light of landscape, portrails and nudes. In 2012 it will be thirty-five years since Brian has had a "real job". At times this has been really difficult. He is now semi retired after suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis for a decade. Now he paints what he loves to. His portraits capture the very essence of the sitter. In 2009 he remarried and moved back into the bushland of North Warrandyte. 'Duet' by Brian E. Armstrong was donated by the Artist to the Eltham Copper Butterfly Appeal Auction.Oil on canvas painting depicting a 'Duet' scene with two children. One is shown playing the flute whilst the other is playing the piano. The painting is fashioned in sombre colours and muted tones, with alternating tones of violet prominent.Signed- Brian E. Armstrong '87 On label - artist's name: Brian E. Armstrong Address: 844.2925 Title of Painting: Duet Medium: Oil on canvas On Frame: 82 enclosed in circle. 31 1/2. C Enclosed in circlebrian e. armstrong

David Armfield studied at the National Gallery School in the 1940s and turned to full time painting in 1965. RMIT printamking. He has won several art awards, including the Ramsay Prize - NGV School, the Redcliffe and in 1980 the Eltham Prize. Armfield is represented in the National Gallery collection, Art Gallery of NSW, Tasmanian Art Gallery, several regional art galleries across Australia as well as private collections. David Armfield first came to Eltham in the late 1903s on painting trips and used to camp on the banks of the Diamond Creed. He returned to Eltham in 1957 with his wife Joan who has subsequently become one of the district's potters, and built a mud brick house and studio in John Street on land adjoining Peter Glass. He has painted many landscapes in the district including intimate studies of the bush floor and the aftermath of bush fires.Oil on canvas painting depicting a Panton Hill bush scape.Signed: D. Armfield in lower right hand corner. Not dated.david armfield, eltham art prize, panton hill

David Armfield studied at the National Gallery School in the 1940s and turned to full time painting in 1965. RMIT printamking. He has won several art awards, including the Ramsay Prize - NGV School, the Redcliffe and in 1980 the Eltham Prize. Armfield is represented in the National Gallery collection, Art Gallery of NSW, Tasmanian Art Gallery, several regional art galleries across Australia as well as private collections. David Armfield first came to Eltham in the late 1903s on painting trips and used to camp on the banks of the Diamond Creed. He returned to Eltham in 1957 with his wife Joan who has subsequently become one of the district's potters, and built a mud brick house and studio in John Street on land adjoining Peter Glass. He has painted many landscapes in the district including intimate studies of the bush floor and the aftermath of bush fires. Painting: oil on canvas. Depicting the desolate aftermath of a bushfire in Eltham. Trees are bare and burnt, foreground is sparse, whilst background is fiery red.david armfield, eltham, bushfire

David Armfield: David Armfield studied at the National Gallery School in the 1940s and turned to full time painting in 1965. RMIT printamking. He won several art awards, including the Ramsay Prize - NGV School, the Redcliffe and in 1980 the Eltham Prize. Armfield is represented in the National Gallery collection, Art Gallery of NSW, Tasmanian Art Gallery, several regional art galleries across Australia as well as private collections. David Armfield first came to Eltham in the late 1930s on painting trips and used to camp on the banks of Diamond Creed. He returned to Eltham in 1957 with his wife Joan who has subsequently become one of the district's potters, and built a mud brick house and studio in John Street on land adjoining Peter Glass. He has painted many landscapes in the district including intimate studies of the bush floor and the aftermath of bush fires.Ceramic stoneware. Reduction fired, dolomite glaze, wax resist decoration over iron. Decorated/painted by David Armfield. Cast by Joan Armfield.

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

Painting: acrylic on paper. Image depicts a bird in landscape in bright, vibrant colours.

Vessel - Iron Clay, is a wheel thrown vase that curves upwards from a narrow base to form a wide, rounded shoulder before concluding at a short, delicate rim. In contrast to the unglazed, rough texture of the exterior surface, the entrance to the vessel is smooth and shiny due to a tea leaf dust glaze. This is a low alumina tenmoku glaze, containing magnesium oxide which is responsible for the dark yellow/green striations of speckling which are formed during the slow cooling process of a reduction firing. This patterning is intermittent and dispersed with a grey/green pebbled effect. The stoneware vessel is built from clay with a high percentage of iron.

Kate Hudson's highly patterned and decorative prints reflect her love of Australian birds and flowers from her immediate environment, as well as oriental art and her training in textile design. Her work is influenced by the Australian artist (printmaker) Margaret Preston and the vases depicted in her prints are based on the ceramic works of her husband Stephen Hudson. The wattle depicted is the Acacia Terminalis (Sunshine Wattle), a shrub or small tree that grows to six meters in height. It’s an Australian native commonly found in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.A reduction coloured lino print. A ceramic vase with a black and white target print at its' centre holds a bunch of Acacia Terminalis (Sunshine Wattle). The vase rests on an orange table cloth decorated in white stylised flowers. The background is light pink. Hand written in pencil: low left '8/26'; bottom centre ' Wattle and Circle Vase'; low right 'Kate Hudson' hudson, linocut print, sunshine wattle, acacia terminalis, still life, margaret preston, ceramics, textiles, orient

linocut; inks on paperA/Pek prac 2015

Williams' use of the dog and poem was inspired by a print by the late Barbara Hanrahan (an artist friend) in which a women was holding a cat accompanied by a dog and in which words from a William Blake poem were included / After her mother died Williams made a work of her mother with the dog, holding the cat and using the same words in the Hanrahan print / The dog is a family pet; Dolcie, that Williams fell in love with / The dog as a symbol has been used in fifteenth and sixteenth century painting to represent fidelity in marriage / The use of the dog is also a contradiction to the themes in this work by Williams / Williams found that many of her women friends were having emotional and romantic difficulties, suffering from the same malady again and again, feeling rejected, destroyed and having unfulfilled desires / The female figure standing on her hands is not seeing things realistically / The figure is head over heels, vulnerable, with her skirt around her head revealing more than normal / The text enhances the meaning of the work and draws the viewer into experiencing the foolishness of love, demanding the viewer travel around and around to read it / Overall the dog provides structure to the work and a reliable object on which all else balances / Balance has been one of the recurring or repetitive themes within William's work / It references the physicality of clay, the difficulties in creating balance with the clay and balance in the work / Williams' work is about form rather than colour / Sometimes she uses a coloured clay like a pale terracotta / Williams likes the flatness of the surface in relationship to the marks of the text / She describes herself as a Minimalist, paring down the form to the bare essentials. 'In Love' was a finalist in the 1997 Nillumbik Art Award held at the Eltham Community and Reception Centre, Pitt Street, Eltham. A ceramic sculpture made of white stoneware clay (coated with a wash of gesso) of a girl doing a hand stand on the back of a dog (retriever?) / Her face/head is partially covered by her skirt which has come down / Her skirt is inscribed in the round with the poem "The Lady's First Song" (1938) by W.B. Yeats (see inscriptions and markings) / The dog is looking straight ahead and upwards towards the sky and his tail is pointing straight out. The dog is covered with cross-hatch incised lines to give the illusion of fur and texture / Hand written inscription of W.B. Yeats poem "The Lady's First Song" (1938) on girl's skirt / I turn round / Like a dumb beast in a show. / Neither know what I am / Nor where I go, / My language beaten / Into one name; / I am in love / And that is my shame. / What hurts the soul / My soul adores, / No better than a beast / Upon all fours.williams / yeats / love / ceramic / stoneware / dog

'Tiles from the Boomerang Studio' is a prototype of the work 'Year 2052', created while Mooney was an Artist in Resident at Laughing Waters in the Boomerang studio in 2002. Records of flora were collected in and around the Gordon Ford garden in Laughing Waters Road. The work 'Year 2052' is made up of '77' tiles and was acquired by Geelong (Regional) Art Gallery in 2003. Whilst working at the Boomerang studio, local based artist Mooney noticed that “a battle raged in the bush between non-indigenous plants and indigenous plants”. She also noticed how humans “invade” land, changing the surrounding environment and causing irreversible damage. This work is an interpretation of the fragility and value of Nillumbik’s indigenous flora and of its conflict with introduced species. The title of the work (Year 2052) and look of these ‘fossilised specimens’ asks viewers to cast themselves into the future and to look back at today. “These tiles have been found; an incomplete record of flora collected in and around the Gordon Ford garden in Laughing Waters Road. The tiles appear to have been made at the beginning of the millennium. The viewer is asked to contemplate which species are missing”. Mooney works with collected indigenous items to emphasis the beauty of their natural shapes, while at the same time introducing selected materials of contrast or sympathy. Her work creates a great sense of “stillness and peace, of simplicity and connection with the natural world as well at the vanishing Australian bush.”This work is made up of seven handbuilt earthenware oval/round clay 'tiles' - (eight pieces - with one tile intentionally broken), brown in colour and bisque and blackware fired, giving a matt black ash coating on each of the tiles' surface. Each tile has an imprint of a floral specimen indigenous to the Laughing Waters area in Eltham. Each tile has an imprint of the following specimens: tiles, earthenware, flora, indigenous, bisque, boomerang, ford, laughing waters

This work is a serigraph (screenprint) on cartridge paper using blue oil based inks of the 'Brolga' (Australian Crane); a common, gregarious wetland bird species of tropical and south-eastern Australia and New Guinea / It is a tall, upright bird with a small head, long beak, slender neck and long legs / The pose of the bird represents their stance when calling out to their mate, which sounds like a loud trumpet / The decorative markings on the bird's plumage is from the traditional carved/etched Gunnai shields from Gippsland Eastern Victoria, which is where Thomas' people are from. Underneath 'Brolga', on slant, lower right in greylead pencil (?) handwritten artist signature and language group "Ray Thomas - GUNNAI"