John ABERY Australian Artist and Sculptor John Abery works in a range of mediums including metal (bronze and steel), fiberglass, stone and wood.Laminated Pinus radiata and steelsculpture, john abery

A steel curved bladed woodworking tool with two wooden handles used to remove thin slices and big chunks of wood from timber. It can be used to fashion wooden sculptures, debarking trees and trimming beams. The final finishing on such work was done by a Spoke Shave tool which we also have in our collection.ROBT SORBY AUS STEELwoodcarving tools, drawing knives, shaves, handtools, steel, wood, woodworking tools

Installed in the Westgarth Shopping Strip, the artworks include aerial, street level and inlaid pieces. The aerial installations consist of eight pairs of steel dragonfly wings. The street level series feature ten sculptural pieces of welded steel depicting enlarged body/skeletal parts of fauna that are indigenous to the area. The inlaid artworks are a series of stainless steel mosaic in the pavement.Five pairs of steel dragonfly wings mounted on eight painted PTC power poles. Ten sculptures of welded steel depicting enlarged body / skeletal parts of fauna that are indigenous to the area. These also function as bicycle racks. A series of stainless steel, ceramic and glass mosaic inlays.

Stations of the Cross by Clifton Pugh is a contempooray art piece in four sections making up 11 stations of the cross. It was commissioned by the Catholic parish in Eltham (Our Lady Help of Christians) in 1961 Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p81 Art is an important means of nurturing faith at Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Henry Street, Eltham. The Stations of the Cross by Clifton Pugh and The Crucifix with the Ascending Jesus by sculptor Charles Rocco are two of the fine works that enhance the parishioners’ worship. These two inspiring works of art were added in 2001 – long after Roman Catholics began worshipping in Eltham around 1864. This beautiful worship centre was built following hardship and change – for parishioners have endured their church being destroyed by fire and have built four churches since they first worshipped together. Before 1864, according to local legend, a visiting priest administered sacraments in the parlour of former convict-turned-respected citizen Thomas Sweeney at Sweeneys Lane, Eltham.1 The first church was blessed in September, 1865, by the Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Goold. It stood on an acre (0.4ha) of land in Little Eltham as that area was known then, near the present Fordhams and Main Roads and was part of the Heidelberg Church Parish. In 1912 the church was relocated to a new building on the present primary school site at 1 Henry Street. This was closer to the town centre, which had moved from Little Eltham after the railway line was extended to Eltham in 1902.2 In 1958 the church split from the Sacred Heart parish, Diamond Creek, to become a parish in its own right, with Father Tom Curran as inaugural priest. Not long after in 1961, a fire destroyed the church and huge working bees under the prominent Catholic builders, the Sibbel brothers, rebuilt and extended it, using the original altar from the first church. It was then that builder and parishioner Herman Sibbel asked his friend, artist Clifton Pugh, to paint the Stations of the Cross for the church. But the priest, Father Curran, neither approved of Pugh’s bohemian reputation nor liked the paintings, so they were hung in the corridor of Our Lady’s Primary School instead. The parishioners almost sold the paintings in 1989 to pay for major school renovations. However the paintings remained there for about 40 years, until 2001, when the church was extensively renovated by Father Barry Caldwell. Another change awaited the church, as it outgrew its building, later to be used as the school hall. So, in 1976, the present church was built across the road. Three beautiful stained-glass windows depicting the Passion, Death, Resurrection and the presence of Christ’s Spirit, link these with the church’s experiences. The first depicts a bushfire in Eltham, referring to their church damaged by fire. Another represents the Resurrection of Christ with new growth on a blackened stump and the Holy Spirit is represented by the Southern Cross. A window depicting Our Lady Help of Christians by parishioner Bill Peperkamp, was donated by parishioners to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Father Desmond G Jenkins’ ordination to the priesthood on July 27, 1977. This, with the statue of Mary, creates a Marian shrine. In the 14 Stations of the Cross painted on four masonite panels Pugh captures the pathos of the suffering Christ and his disciples.3 The figures are stylised, except intriguingly, that of Pontias Pilate, who looks like Clifton Pugh. Charles Rocco’s sculpture is an extraordinary Jesus figure being raised from the Cross. The delicate stainless steel mesh of the figure creates a sense of the power of God over death. The organ, built in 1868 by George Fincham and Sons, was first installed in the All Saints’ Anglican Church, East St Kilda, then in the St Andrews Church, Clifton Hill. It was rebuilt into a modern instrument with a donation from parishioner Jim Murray, in memory of his wife Gwendolene Mary.4 Church members created their own work of art in front of the entrance, by painting designs and messages on 700 tiles. This work indicates the strong church family and faith expressed in art, that awaits the worshipper inside.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, art, clifton pugh, stations of the cross, our lady help of christans, installation

The Wreck of Hope (Long-nosed Common Dolphin skeleton, Delphinus delphis) featured as part of the exhibition Anatomy Lessons, shown at the National Wool Museum in 2024. The exhibition featured meticulously-sculpted, life size skeletons, making visitors question their place in this web of the living and the dead. From a towering giraffe stretching 4.4 metres in height, to an army of over 50 delicately rendered frogs, this exhibition was enthralling in scale. Each sculpture is an accurate portrayal of a real animal and is carefully measured, drawn, and moulded from steel, wire, and foam. The frame is then intricately knitted over to create these thought-provoking pieces. Each sculpture tells a story, one of the collection of animals by museums and collectors, of Western safari hunters, of human encroachment, and of the often-sad role of the animals in our lives. These underlying concepts are explored and reflected by the materials used. Wool, that speaks of warmth, of comfort, of care, meets the size, grace, and sheer breathtaking beauty of the pieces, clashing with the hard and complex stories beneath. This knitted dolphin skeleton was the start of Beevor's interest in comparative anatomy. Beevors recalls viewing a dolphin, one of many skeletons alongside a mouse and a lion in the Australian Museum's collection during a school visit in the 1970s. At the time, school children watched TV reruns of 'Flipper', which portrayed dolphins as intelligent and noble animals. Elsewhere, the conservation movement was growing, and appeals to protect marine mammals were gaining momentum through the 'Save the Whales' campaign. The fascination with live dolphin shows had grown throughout the 1960s and 1970s and the ethics began to be questioned. Some believe they played an important role in raising public awareness of cetaceans and their welfare. Others argued the performances glorified the dominance of heroic trainers over the subordinate dolphin, and offered little education about the dolphins' natural characteristics nor prioritised their welfare. Many of these facilities are now closed and all dolphin species are protected by international accords aimed at conserving wild populations. Despite this dolphins are still at risk of swallowing plastic waste, mercury toxicity, toxoplasmosis, boat impacts and being bycatch in commercial fishing operations. Originally from Australia, Michele Beevors has been practicing in New Zealand for the last 20 years. She is Head of Sculpture at Dunedin School of Art, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand’s oldest, and one of its most prestigious, art schools. Beevors has exhibited in galleries, museums, and exhibition spaces in across New Zealand, Australia and Vienna with art that is defiant, unconventional, and moving.Life sized knitted skeleton of a dolphin, with white wool and internal steel, foam and wire frame. The dolphin is mounted on a wooden base, made from a desk, with books placed under the desk lid. The books and desk are painted black.knitting, art, dolphin, conservation, sculpture, skeletons, anatomy lessons, michele beevors

Angel featured as part of the exhibition Anatomy Lessons, shown at the National Wool Museum in 2024. The exhibition featured meticulously-sculpted, life size skeletons, making visitors question their place in this web of the living and the dead. From a towering giraffe stretching 4.4 metres in height, to an army of over 50 delicately rendered frogs, this exhibition was enthralling in scale. Each sculpture is an accurate portrayal of a real animal and is carefully measured, drawn, and moulded from steel, wire, and foam. The frame is then intricately knitted over to create these thought-provoking pieces. Each sculpture tells a story, one of the collection of animals by museums and collectors, of Western safari hunters, of human encroachment, and of the often-sad role of the animals in our lives. These underlying concepts are explored and reflected by the materials used. Wool, that speaks of warmth, of comfort, of care, meets the size, grace, and sheer breathtaking beauty of the pieces, clashing with the hard and complex stories beneath. The smallest of Beevors’ knitted pieces was made while reflecting on the global tropical fish trade. At the time, press reports predicted that the imminent release of the film ‘Finding Dory’ would increase demand for pet tropical fish. People enjoy a good fish story, but studies have revealed that widespread reports of the ‘Nemo Effect’ following the debut of the film’s predecessor, ‘Finding Nemo’, were exaggerated. Data collected to assess people’s interest in blue tang, the species of the title character in ‘Finding Dory’, revealed an increase in online searches for “blue tang”, but no evidence of an increase in their trade or visits to public aquariums to observe them. When discussing the action and attitude effects of pop culture depictions of animals, it is necessary to investigate evidence-based material. Pop culture, wildlife documentaries, web videos, blogs, and news stories: there is a great ocean of content to consume, but the mechanisms by which witnessing these representations of animals and nature leads to tangible behaviour change, positive or bad, individual and social, remains poorly understood. In a world inundated with messaging and content, could a simple phrase like “fish are friends, not food” influence attitudes? Originally from Australia, Michele Beevors has been practicing in New Zealand for the last 20 years. She is Head of Sculpture at Dunedin School of Art, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand’s oldest, and one of its most prestigious, art schools. Beevors has exhibited in galleries, museums, and exhibition spaces in across New Zealand, Australia and Vienna with art that is defiant, unconventional, and moving.Knitted white woollen fish skeleton, with black pupil.knitting, art, conservation, sculpture, skeletons, anatomy lessons, michele beevors, fish, angel fish

The sculpture is of welded 3mm oxidised mild steel fabricated into six rectangular blocks of unequal size, joined along the edges by welding and juxtaposition at various angles. The work is classified by The National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and was funded by the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts. The sculpture is an example of a classic formalist work by one of the early practitioners of the style in Australia.The sculpture is of welded 3mm oxidized mild steel fabricated into six rectangular blocks of unequal size, joined along edges by welding and juxtaposition at various angles. It is supported by one angle bracket, and several short lengths of reinforcing steel sunk into the pavement and tack welded to the sculpture. It has an overall length of 3.25 metres, a height of 2 metres and width of 1.45 metres.

Robert Ulmann was born in Zurich, Switzerland, where he studied sculpture and painting, exhibiting annually with the National Art Society of Switzerland and in Paris, Munich and Stockholm. He migrated to Canada in 1956 and became a Canadian citizen. After working on the restoration of sculpture on the west wing of the Parliament Buildings Ottawa, he took up a Government appointment as one of six artist advisers to the Eskimos, initiating handicraft and sculpture programs in isolated settlements across the Central Arctic. He arrived in Australia with his Australian wife, Helen, in 1969, after two adventurous years backpacking and sketching through the United States, Central and South America and the South Pacific. From 1970 to 1972 he was employed by the Northern Territory Administration as a manual arts instructor to the aboriginal people of Docker River, a remote settlement west of Ayers Rock. A series of drawings from this period was exhibited by the Department of the Interior in Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide. Robert Ulmann’s paintings and prints of wildlife from Australia and overseas fill a beautiful studio overlooking the famous Logans Beach whale nursery at Warrnambool in the Western District of Victoria. His previous studio and home, together with 13 years of field sketches and his best work collected together for two books were destroyed by the Ash Wednesday fires at Naringal in 1983. Rob exhibited in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth as well as in the Regional Galleries of Warrnambool, Ballarat, Portland and Horsham, and, among numerous prizes, he won the award for watercolour at six of the annual exhibitions of the Wildlife Art Society of Australasia, between 1978 and 1983. Although his principal interest was in drawing and painting, he retained a fascination with sculpture. His works range from two stone fountains with figures commissioned by the City of Zurich, while he was still a student, to a 4 ½ ton sculpture in bluestone commissioned in 1977 as a memorial to Sir Fletcher Jones., a five metre representation of whale tails in steel, and a life-size bronze of St. John of God commissioned for a private hospital.Image of a goat beginning to rise from a seated position, possible struggling out of mud. Painted in yellow and brown tones, with blue shadows. Earth colours form a rough ground area surrounding the goat. A brown wash provides a cursory background behind the goat's head. Dark cream matt surrounds image. Gold painted wooden frame, with glass.Front: Robert Ulmann (lower centre, paint) Back: (no inscriptions)