Chains are available in a variety of link shapes and sizes. They have many uses on sailing vessels, such as part of anchoring systems or loading cargo onboard the ships. A link called a shackle is used as a quick and flexible way to join two pieces of chain. Sometimes the shackle needs a tool to remove it. A shackle punch like this one will do the job. A modern term for a similar tool, that also has a handle, is a ‘breakdown’ tool. It is designed for aligning and driving pins in and for removing bolts, rivets and pins. This shackle punch has a handle with six flat sides that prevent it from rolling around when stored. It has a fine shank that tapers down to the end. The tool is placed on the join of the shackle, and then the end of that handle is hit with a hammer until the join breaks apart. The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings. You can see Laurie’s inscription on the tool called a ‘bevel’. Laurie worked for Ports and Harbours, Melbourne, for over 50 years, beginning in the early 1960s. He and a fellow shipwright inscribed their names on a wheelhouse they built in 1965; the inscription was discovered many decades later during a repair of the plumbing. Many decades later Laurie worked on the Yarra moving barges up and down the river and was fondly given the title ‘Riverboat Man’ His interest in maritime history led him to volunteer with the Maritime Trust of Australia’s project to restore and preserve the historic WWII 1942 Corvette, the minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine, which is a sister ship to the HMAS Warrnambool J202. Laurie Dilks donated two handmade displays of some of his tools in the late 1970s to early-1980s. The varnished timber boards displayed the tools below together with brass plaques. During the upgrade of the Great Circle Gallery Laurie’s tools were transferred to the new display you see there today. He also donated tools to Queenscliffe Maritime Museum and Clunes Museum.The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright at Ports and Harbours in Melbourne in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings.A shackle punch; a metal tool with six flat sides on the handle and the shank tapers inwards to a rouded point. It once belonged to shipwright Laurie Dinks.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, maritime museum, maritime village, shipwright, carpenter, shipbuilding, ship repairs, hand tool, equipment, ship maintenance, cooper, tool, marine technology, shackle punch, breakdown tool, chains, links, laurie dilks, l dilks, port and harbours melbourne

This all-metal centre pop punch tool has a rounded point, thick body and flat round head. The centre of the body is concave to allow a strong grip. This also creates a flat side and would prevent the tool from rolling off the workbench. The ‘centre pop’ in a shipwright’s toolbox may have been used as a punch to remove the ‘eyes’ from a ‘dead eye’ pulley or other jobs that needed a hole removed from the work. The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings. You can see Laurie’s inscription on the tool called a ‘bevel’. Laurie worked for Ports and Harbours, Melbourne, for over 50 years, beginning in the early 1960s. He and a fellow shipwright inscribed their names on a wheelhouse they built in 1965; the inscription was discovered many decades later during a repair of the plumbing. Many decades later Laurie worked on the Yarra moving barges up and down the river and was fondly given the title ‘Riverboat Man’ His interest in maritime history led him to volunteer with the Maritime Trust of Australia’s project to restore and preserve the historic WWII 1942 Corvette, the minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine, which is a sister ship to the HMAS Warrnambool J202. Laurie Dilks donated two handmade displays of some of his tools in the late 1970s to early-1980s. The varnished timber boards displayed the tools below together with brass plaques. During the upgrade of the Great Circle Gallery Laurie’s tools were transferred to the new display you see there today. He also donated tools to Queenscliffe Maritime Museum and Clunes Museum.The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright at Ports and Harbours in Melbourne in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings.Centre pop tool; all metal punch with a flat head, wide handle section and a shaft that tapers inwards towards the end. It is shaped for a good grip. It once belonged to shipwright Laurie Dinks.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, maritime museum, maritime village, shipwright, carpenter, shipbuilding, ship repairs, hand tool, equipment, ship maintenance, cooper, tool, marine technology, shackle punch, breakdown tool, chains, links, centre pop, punch, laurie dilks, l dilks, port and harbours melbourne

Caulking is the use of cork or other substances to seal the seams and joints of the vessel to make them watertight. Caulking lasts for quite some time but eventually dries out and needs to be replaced. A mallet or hammer is often used with a caulking iron to drive it along the seams. The caulking iron’s blade is tapered to be narrower at the tip to make it easier to remove it from the joint. The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings. You can see Laurie’s inscription on the tool called a ‘bevel’. Laurie worked for Ports and Harbours, Melbourne, for over 50 years, beginning in the early 1960s. He and a fellow shipwright inscribed their names on a wheelhouse they built in 1965; the inscription was discovered many decades later during a repair of the plumbing. Many decades later Laurie worked on the Yarra moving barges up and down the river and was fondly given the title ‘Riverboat Man’ His interest in maritime history led him to volunteer with the Maritime Trust of Australia’s project to restore and preserve the historic WWII 1942 Corvette, the minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine, which is a sister ship to the HMAS Warrnambool J202. Laurie Dilks donated two handmade displays of some of his tools in the late 1970s to early-1980s. The varnished timber boards displayed the tools below together with brass plaques. During the upgrade of the Great Circle Gallery Laurie’s tools were transferred to the new display you see there today. He also donated tools to Queenscliffe Maritime Museum and Clunes Museum.The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright at Ports and Harbours in Melbourne in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings.Caulking mallet; a thick wooden handle with a round ‘T’ cross-bar near the end. Metal reinforcing is added around the ends of the head. Both sides of the wooden head are flared outwards towards the end. The head is reinforced where it intersects with the handle and around the ends of the head just above the tips. It once belonged to shipwright Laurie Dinks.flagstaff hill, maritime museum, maritime village, warrnambool, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwright, carpenter, shipbuilding, ship repairs, hand tool, equipment, caulking, ship maintenance, cooper, shipwright’s tools, shipwrights’ tools, tools, maritime trade, caulking mallet, caulking iron, laurie dilks, l dilks, port and harbours melbourne

Caulking is the use of cork or other substances to seal the seams and joints of the vessel to make them watertight. Caulking lasts for quite some time but eventually dries out and needs to be replaced. A mallet or hammer is often used with a caulking iron to drive it along the seams. The caulking iron’s blade is tapered to be narrower at the tip to make it easier to remove it from the joint. The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings. You can see Laurie’s inscription on the tool called a ‘bevel’. Laurie worked for Ports and Harbours, Melbourne, for over 50 years, beginning in the early 1960s. He and a fellow shipwright inscribed their names on a wheelhouse they built in 1965; the inscription was discovered many decades later during a repair of the plumbing. Many decades later Laurie worked on the Yarra moving barges up and down the river and was fondly given the title ‘Riverboat Man’ His interest in maritime history led him to volunteer with the Maritime Trust of Australia’s project to restore and preserve the historic WWII 1942 Corvette, the minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine, which is a sister ship to the HMAS Warrnambool J202. Laurie Dilks donated two handmade displays of some of his tools in the late 1970s to early-1980s. The varnished timber boards displayed the tools below together with brass plaques. During the upgrade of the Great Circle Gallery Laurie’s tools were transferred to the new display you see there today. He also donated tools to Queenscliffe Maritime Museum and Clunes Museum.The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright at Ports and Harbours in Melbourne in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings.Calking iron, a metal tool with a round flat top and head that flares outwards to a wide wedge shape. It once belonged to shipwright Laurie Dinks.flagstaff hill, maritime museum, maritime village, warrnambool, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwright, carpenter, shipbuilding, ship repairs, hand tool, equipment, caulking, ship maintenance, cooper, shipwright’s tools, shipwrights’ tools, tools, maritime trade, caulking iron, laurie dilks, l dilks, port and harbours melbourne

Caulking is the use of cork or other substances to seal the seams and joints of the vessel to make them watertight. Caulking lasts for quite some time but eventually dries out and needs to be replaced. A mallet or hammer is often used with a caulking iron to drive it along the seams. The caulking iron’s blade is tapered to be narrower at the tip to make it easier to remove it from the joint. The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings. You can see Laurie’s inscription on the tool called a ‘bevel’. Laurie worked for Ports and Harbours, Melbourne, for over 50 years, beginning in the early 1960s. He and a fellow shipwright inscribed their names on a wheelhouse they built in 1965; the inscription was discovered many decades later during a repair of the plumbing. Many decades later Laurie worked on the Yarra moving barges up and down the river and was fondly given the title ‘Riverboat Man’ His interest in maritime history led him to volunteer with the Maritime Trust of Australia’s project to restore and preserve the historic WWII 1942 Corvette, the minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine, which is a sister ship to the HMAS Warrnambool J202. Laurie Dilks donated two handmade displays of some of his tools in the late 1970s to early-1980s. The varnished timber boards displayed the tools below together with brass plaques. During the upgrade of the Great Circle Gallery Laurie’s tools were transferred to the new display you see there today. He also donated tools to Queenscliffe Maritime Museum and Clunes Museum.The shipwright’s tools on display in the Great Circle Gallery are connected to the maritime history of Victoria through their past owner, user and donor, Laurie Dilks. Laurie began his career as a shipwright at Ports and Harbours in Melbourne in the mid-1900s, following in the wake of the skilled carpenters who have over many centuries used their craft to build and maintain marine vessels and their fittings.Caulking iron; an iron tool with round flat surface on top, above a narrow, long round handle that flares outwards to form a thick, narrow wedge shape. It once belonged to shipwright Laurie Dinks.flagstaff hill, maritime museum, maritime village, warrnambool, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwright, carpenter, shipbuilding, ship repairs, hand tool, equipment, caulking, ship maintenance, cooper, shipwright’s tools, shipwrights’ tools, tools, maritime trade, caulking iron, laurie dilks, l dilks, port and harbours melbourne

Booknon-fiction500 works of art by 500 Australian women from colonial times to 1955 with images and commentaries on each work prepared by by 200 curators, critics, family member or the artists herself. Includes images of many works which may never have been reproduced. A biographical section comprises concise entries on these artists.colonial art, craft, competitions, portraiture, furniture, sculpture, indigenous art, museology

The Story Writing & Art Project, Victoria, 1995.The Story writing and art project Victoria 1995art work, english literature - competitions, veterans - services for - australia, poetry

The Story Writing & Art Project, Victoria, 1995.The story writing and art project Victoria 1995art work, english literature - competitions, veterans - services for - australia, poetry

Our contemporary Judaica collection was developed through a series of exhibitions titled Australian Contemporary Design in Jewish Ceremony I, II and III. For each of the three exhibitions, contemporary artists and crafts-makers were invited to design new objects that could be used to perform the Jewish ceremonies and rituals that had been preserved and developed by Australia’s Jewish community over the last 200 years. This collection now comprises over sixty unique and distinctive objects made using very different methods of production, including tapestry, silver-smithing, carpentry, ceramics and glass-work. These objects have been inspired by a broad spectrum of religious, spiritual, artistic and emotional responses to the ideology and practice of Jewish rituals, as well as deeply considered connections to Australia’s broader culture and landscape.jewellery, judaica

To celebrate Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Jews eat foods like honey cake and apple dipped in honey. Along with a special prayer, this is a way of asking God for a sweet and happy year ahead. Our contemporary Judaica collection was developed through a series of exhibitions titled Australian Contemporary Design in Jewish Ceremony I, II and III. For each of the three exhibitions, contemporary artists and crafts-makers were invited to design new objects that could be used to perform the Jewish ceremonies and rituals that had been preserved and developed by Australia’s Jewish community over the last 200 years. This collection now comprises over sixty unique and distinctive objects made using very different methods of production, including tapestry, silver-smithing, carpentry, ceramics and glass-work. These objects have been inspired by a broad spectrum of religious, spiritual, artistic and emotional responses to the ideology and practice of Jewish rituals, as well as deeply considered connections to Australia’s broader culture and landscape. judaica, ceramics, jewish new year

The iconic bush surrounds of Lake Daylesford are now home to a new permanent artwork titled Cottage, by artist Jason Waterhouse. The artwork has been months in the making, thousands of S-shaped pieces have been hand crafted from three kilometres of wrought iron, then joined together to form a scaled-down miners cottage. ‘Cottage’ is a highly decorative wrought iron sculpture inspired by the gates at the Convent in Daylesford, “ said Waterhouse. “This work references the rich opulence of the Victorian gold rush and pre-war spa resort era in its patterning. In its form ‘cottage’ pays homage to the miners, workers and farmers on whose backs the riches of Daylesford were built.” Cottage is the first in a series of significant public artworks to be commissioned by Hepburn Shire Council. Cottage will enhance one of Victoria’s premier tourist destinations, Lake Daylesford. Large scale wrought iron public sculpture referencing the worker's cottage of the Goldrush period in Daylesford. 203cm (height) x 382cm (width) x 353cm (depth) verandah 159.5cm (height) wrought iron 32mm x 2.5mmpublic art, sculpture, jason waterhouse, stockroom, daylesford, hepburn shire, daylesford lake, cottage, site-specific art, art, wrought iron, hepburn, hepburn shire public art collection

1. Rock-art of the Western Desert and Pilbara: Pigment dates provide new perspectives on the role of art in the Australian arid zone Jo McDonald (Australian National University) and Peter Veth (Australian National University) Systematic analysis of engraved and painted art from the Western Desert and Pilbara has allowed us to develop a spatial model for discernable style provinces. Clear chains of stylistic connection can be demonstrated from the Pilbara coast to the desert interior with distinct and stylistically unique rock-art bodies. Graphic systems appear to link people over short, as well as vast, distances, and some of these style networks appear to have operated for very long periods of time. What are the social dynamics that could produce unique style provinces, as well as shared graphic vocabularies, over 1000 kilometres? Here we consider language boundaries within and between style provinces, and report on the first dates for pigment rock-art from the Australian arid zone and reflect on how these dates from the recent past help address questions of stylistic variability through space and time. 2. Painting and repainting in the west Kimberley Sue O?Connor, Anthony Barham (Australian National University) and Donny Woolagoodja (Mowanjum Community, Derby) We take a fresh look at the practice of repainting, or retouching, rockart, with particular reference to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. We discuss the practice of repainting in the context of the debate arising from the 1987 Ngarinyin Cultural Continuity Project, which involved the repainting of rock-shelters in the Gibb River region of the western Kimberley. The ?repainting debate? is reviewed here in the context of contemporary art production in west Kimberley Indigenous communities, such as Mowanjum. At Mowanjum the past two decades have witnessed an artistic explosion in the form of paintings on canvas and board that incorporate Wandjina and other images inspired by those traditionally depicted on panels in rock-shelters. Wandjina also represents the key motif around which community desires to return to Country are articulated, around which Country is curated and maintained, and through which the younger generations now engage with their traditional lands and reach out to wider international communities. We suggest that painting in the new media represents a continuation or transference of traditional practice. Stories about the travels, battles and engagements of Wandjina and other Dreaming events are now retold and experienced in the communities with reference to the paintings, an activity that is central to maintaining and reinvigorating connection between identity and place. The transposition of painting activity from sites within Country to the new ?out-of-Country? settlements represents a social counterbalance to the social dislocation that arose from separation from traditional places and forced geographic moves out-of-Country to government and mission settlements in the twentieth century. 3. Port Keats painting: Revolution and continuity Graeme K Ward (AIATSIS) and Mark Crocombe (Thamarrurr Regional Council) The role of the poet and collector of ?mythologies?, Roland Robinson, in prompting the production of commercial bark-painting at Port Keats (Wadeye), appears to have been accepted uncritically - though not usually acknowledged - by collectors and curators. Here we attempt to trace the history of painting in the Daly?Fitzmaurice region to contextualise Robinson?s contribution, and to evaluate it from both the perspective of available literature and of accounts of contemporary painters and Traditional Owners in the Port Keats area. It is possible that the intervention that Robinson might have considered revolutionary was more likely a continuation of previously well established cultural practice, the commercial development of which was both an Indigenous ?adjustment? to changing socio-cultural circumstances, and a quiet statement of maintenance of identity by strong individuals adapting and attempting to continue their cultural traditions. 4. Negotiating form in Kuninjku bark-paintings Luke Taylor (AIATSIS) Here I examine social processes involved in the manipulation of painted forms of bark-paintings among Kuninjku artists living near Maningrida in Arnhem Land. Young artists are taught to paint through apprenticeships that involve exchange of skills in producing form within extended family groups. Through apprenticeship processes we can also see how personal innovations are shared among family and become more regionally located. Lately there have been moves by senior artists to establish separate out-stations and to train their wives and daughters to paint. At a stylistic level the art now creates a greater sense of family autonomy and yet the subjects link the artists back in to much broader social networks. 5. Making art and making culture in far western New South Wales Lorraine Gibson This contribution is based on my ethnographic fieldwork. It concerns the intertwining aspects of the two concepts of art and culture and shows how Aboriginal people in Wilcannia in far western New South Wales draw on these concepts to assert and create a distinctive cultural identity for themselves. Focusing largely on the work of one particular artist, I demonstrate the ways in which culture (as this is considered) is affectively experienced and articulated as something that one ?comes into contact with? through the practice of art-making. I discuss the social and cultural role that art-making, and art talk play in considering, mediating and resolving issues to do with cultural subjectivity, authority and identity. I propose that in thinking about the content of the art and in making the art, past and present matters of interest, of difficulty and of pleasure are remembered, considered, resolved and mediated. Culture (as this is considered by Wilcannia Aboriginal people) is also made anew; it comes about through the practice of artmaking and in displaying and talking about the art work. Culture as an objectified, tangible entity is moreover writ large and made visible through art in ways that are valued by artists and other community members. The intersections between Aboriginal peoples, anthropologists, museum collections and published literature, and the network of relations between, are also shown to have interesting synergies that play themselves out in the production of art and culture. 6. Black on White: Or varying shades of grey? Indigenous Australian photo-media artists and the ?making of? Aboriginality Marianne Riphagen (Radboud University, The Netherlands) In 2005 the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Melbourne presented the Indigenous photo-media exhibition Black on White. Promising to explore Indigenous perspectives on non-Aboriginality, its catalogue set forth two questions: how do Aboriginal artists see the people and culture that surrounds them? Do they see non-Aboriginal Australians as other? However, art works produced for this exhibition rejected curatorial constructions of Black and White, instead presenting viewers with more complex and ambivalent notions of Aboriginality and non-Aboriginality. This paper revisits the Black on White exhibition as an intercultural event and argues that Indigenous art practitioners, because of their participation in a process to signify what it means to be Aboriginal, have developed new forms of Aboriginality. 7. Culture production Rembarrnga way: Innovation and tradition in Lena Yarinkura?s and Bob Burruwal?s metal sculptures Christiane Keller (University of Westerna Australia) Contemporary Indigenous artists are challenged to produce art for sale and at the same time to protect their cultural heritage. Here I investigate how Rembarrnga sculptors extend already established sculptural practices and the role innovation plays within these developments, and I analyse how Rembarrnga artists imprint their cultural and social values on sculptures made in an essentially Western medium, that of metal-casting. The metal sculptures made by Lena Yarinkura and her husband Bob Burruwal, two prolific Rembarrnga artists from north-central Arnhem Land, can be seen as an extension of their earlier sculptural work. In the development of metal sculptures, the artists shifted their artistic practice in two ways: they transformed sculptural forms from an earlier ceremonial context and from earlier functional fibre objects. Using Fred Myers?s concept of culture production, I investigate Rembarrnga ways of culture-making. 8. 'How did we do anything without it?': Indigenous art and craft micro-enterprise use and perception of new media technology.maps, colour photographs, b&w photographswest kimberley, rock art, kuninjku, photo media, lena yarinkura, bob burruwal, new media technology

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

Michael Wilson learnt the craft of Goldsmithing after seeing well known sculptor and silversmith Matcham Skipper working in his studio at Montsalvat in and around 1970. This work is a gift to the Eltham Community in recognition of his twenty five years of developing his goldsmith skills and operating his business within the Shire. Wilson officially opened his commercial premises in 1985. Michael Wilson is a local jewellery maker. His work is influenced directly by the environment in which he lives. This sculpture is representative of his distinctive style of work as a nationally and an internationally recognised Designer and Goldsmith. Made of steel and powdercoated in aluminium with a concrete base. Decorative elements such as the ring encasing the cicada and the cicada's wings are guilded with 24ct gold leaf. The steel rod is burgundy in colour with the cicada painted a dark olive green to represent the 'Green Grocer' variety common in Eltham. The colours used in this sculpture match the surrounding Elm and Ash trees in the landscape. N/Apublic art, cicada, wilson, gold, green grocer, jewellery

Piers Bateman was a local artist, held in very high esteem by his peers and community. He was born in Perth in 1947, moving to Eltham in 1955 as a young child with his family. In 1966 Bateman moved to London for eighteen months to develop his craft. In 1969 he settled in St Andrews, where he built a studio. The St Andrews locale is said to have been a strong influence on his work. Bateman’s talent was such that he was promoted and mentored by such ilk as Charles Blackman, Clifton Pugh and Arthur Boyd, among others. Bateman’s work is an intimate dialogue with the environment, renowned for his paintings of the outback, wilderness frontiers and the sea. He spent a year in the mid-seventies sailing the Greek Islands and the French canals to Amsterdam. In 1980 Bateman and Marcus Skipper embarked on a trans-Australian venture to the red centre and across northern Australia from Cairns to Broome. In the mid-eighties Bateman returned to the Mediterranean, before returning to the Australian outback in the late-eighties. His international career continued on an upwards trajectory between the Australian outback and European seas, providing a unique contrast throughout the course of his career. Bateman's work questions our relationship with the natural world, and in particular, reconciling our colonial heritage with our indigenous past. This line of questioning and his genuine response to place is the key to Piers Bateman’s work, for which he is lauded and celebrated. On September 4th 2015, Piers Bateman died in a boating accident on the NSW coast line. Piers Bateman was an instinctive painter whose inspiration came from nature. He reworked and scraped off the paint, moving it around until forms and colours of the landscape took shape. Although Bateman lived in Spain and Italy, his time in Europe made him aware of the contrast between the two continents and the bright clear light that defined the Australian landscape. At the time of this work, Bateman was living in St. Andrews, but travelled regularly to New South Wales and South Australia on painting trips. The ‘Grass Tree’ Xanthorrhoea johnsonii (commonly known as ‘blackboy’) is indigenous to these areas. It is a uniquely Australian, slow growing plant with twenty-eight species growing within Australia. Old examples of this tree are survivors of many wild fires, which can cause their blackened trunk, of one to two metres, branch into two or more heads. These heads consist of thick, rough corky bark, surrounded by long, wiry leaves and flowers that produce seed capsules with hard black seeds. The tree’s ability to be one of the first to flower after a wild fire ensures a food source for many insects and birds.Oil on canvas painting. Detail of three grass trees resting on the side of a mountain/hill. Green and gold palette throughout depicting the colours and light of the Australian landscape. Hand written, low right in capitals: 'BATEMAN'bateman, grass trees, xanthorrhoea johnsonii, landscape

Vipoo Srivilasa works predominantly in ceramics, creating unique contemporary porcelain sculptures, vessels and figures to transmit a universal message of cross-cultural experience. His works explore similarities between the cultures of homeland, Thailand and his adoptive home, Australia. His work is both a playful, and at times a political, blend of historical figurative and decorative art practices with contemporary culture. For more than 20 years, Vipoo has exhibited both internationally and throughout Australia, including Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Saatchi Gallery, London; Ayala Museum, Philippines; Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan; Nanjing Arts Institute, China and the National Gallery of Thailand. His work is held in national and international collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, GOMA, and the Craft Council, UK.

The Reader brings together ideas and insights into the craft, philosophy and politics of being a writer. It’s about writing and everything that comes with that: editing and publishing, motivation and distraction, the missed opportunities and the poetics of failure. With articles, essays, poems, fiction and artworks, The Reader blurs the lines between the creative and the critical, ultimately asking, what is it to be a writer? The book was published in 2010 and edited by Aden RolfeThe second volume of The Reader, this book has a blue cover depicting a drawn writer at work in the only light room of a building.emerging writers' festival, 2009, literary programming, the wheeler centre, the reader, books, aden rolfe, 2010,

Jackie Kerin's (donor's) story. In 1973, I was in my late teens and while I’d moved to Sydney from Melbourne, to begin my first year of drama studies at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. My parents had moved to Lake Bunga, a few kilometers north of Lakes Entrance (Victoria). On my first holiday visit to Bunga, I called into the Jolly Jumbuck Country Craft Centre in Bairnsdale http://jumbukwool.com.au/history. I was entranced by the place and spent the following weeks learning to spin lumpy wool on an Ashford Wheel. By the end of the holidays, I had my own Ashford and it travelled with me back to Sydney. After graduation, I returned to Melbourne and the hippy “back to nature” movement was in full swing; there were many shops and galleries selling handmade woollen items and pottery etc. So I found an outlet for my pieces. Sometime in 1976-77, I met a spinner and weaver of Swiss origin (I think) – her name was Ingeborg Guber (not sure of the spelling). She had a small gallery/shop at Brighton Beach where she worked, with her pet duck for company. Ingeborg had an upright Philip Elford wheel; an Australian wheel crafted from Acacia melanoxylon (blackwood). I was smitten and ordered one. I have a memory of Philip driving to Hampton from Ballarat to make the delivery. I used this wheel for years but as time and enthusiasm for spinning waned, the wheel became a decorative item in the house. Then in the 90s, and with my drama training, I set myself up travelling to schools and festivals, museums and galleries as a storyteller. The spinning wheel had a new life accompanying me on my adventures. For many children, familiar with references to spinning in fairy tales, seeing the little Philip Elford upright was magical. The wheel was donated to the National Wool Museum in 2021.Vertical tripod leg spinning wheel. 6 spoke wheel with three bobbins. Inscription “Philip Elford Ballart” can be read in gold text stamped to the base of the wheel. Wording, stamped, gold. Philip / Elford / Ballartspinning wheel, textile production, hobby textiles, aciacia melanoxylon (blackwood)

Collected by Adele Grey and owned by Jenny Lang who was a member of the Embroiderers Guild of Victoria and held exhibitions of her work at the Arts & Crafts SocietyTwo White pillow shams (3861.1 and 3861.2) with white embroidery flower design and eyelet work in each corner and oval design in centre. 7cm crochet lace around edge. Make Reg No NA3861.1-2manchester, bedding

Embroidered pieces donated by Adele Grey from the collection of Jenny Lang who was a member of the Embroiderers Guild of Victoria and held exhibitions of her work at the Art & Crafts SocietyWhite oval shaped dressing table centrepiece. White embroidered flower design. 6cm crochet lace around edgemanchester, table linen

Embroidered pieces donated by Adele Grey from the collection of Jenny Lang who was a member of the Embroiderers Guild of Victoria and held exhibitions of her work at the Arts & Crafts SocietyCream linen edged in orange silk buttonhole stitch centre embroidered with yellow and orange daisies and green leavesmanchester, table linen

Silk piece donated by Adele Grey from the collection of the late Jenny Lang. Jenny was a member of the Embroiderers Guild of Victoria and held exhibitions of her work at the Arts & Crafts SocietyCream silk square with scalloped edge. Each corner is embroidered with a design of flowers, leaves and butterflies. The scallop edging is embroidery os hand worked with silk thread.costume accessories, female

Came from Glen Waverley, family home of donor Melva Horne nee RichardsonFramed embroidered sampler dated 1831. Worked by Sarah Ann Gauntless, aged 6 Triumph over death And must this body die? This mortal frame decay? And must these active limbs of mine lie mouldering in the clay? March 4 1831As abovesampler, biblical motifs, sarah ann gauntless, children's needlework, embroidery

Example of embroidery stitches.Hand embroidered sampler Various designs worked by Embroider. Green and yellow Red and Silver threadspersonal designs, green, yellow, red and silver stitching

Worked in Needlework Class - 1943 At high schoolPink sampler - cotton Loose cream insert - other Blanket stich edge Various embroidery stitchesEmbroideredpink needlework sampler, needlework, heather mcnamara & isobel mcnamara

McNamara collection - sampler of drawn thread work. - various patterns.- Sampler of drawn thread work. - Cotton, machine edged.Nilsampler, drawn thresd

In 1969 RMIT lecturer Gerard Herbst arranged an exhibition the work of his Industrial Design students at the NGV’s Design Centre. In ‘Design with Paper' the students explored the characteristics of a sheet of paper, an exercise based on similar ones set by Josef Albers at the Bauhaus, Germany and Black Mountain College, USA. The exhibition attracted press attention, Bulletin critic Brian Hoad noting You are told that in the tradition of Gropius and his Bauhaus experiments of the ‘twenties they are attempting to bridge the gulf between the fine arts and the technical crafts to produce one day from among their numbers a new type of creative thinker. Photograph featuring students in 'Designs Performing' exhibit. Students are from the RMIT Industrial Design course.design, rmit university, bauhaus, industrial design