Belinda Ramson first learned cloth weaving in 1965-66 in Canberra, Australia, studying with Solvig Baas Becking. In 1967 Ramson studied as a special student for a year in the Tapestry Department, Edinburgh College of Art, and returned to Edinburgh in 1973 to work as a weaver at the Dovecot Tapestry Studio. Established in 1912, Dovecot is a world-renowned tapestry studio and a landmark centre for contemporary art, craft and design. Ramson went on to be a key figure in the development of tapestry in Australia, teaching trainee weavers at the newly established Victorian Tapestry Workshop (now Australian Tapestry Workshop, or ATW) In her obituary for the ATW newsletter, Kay Lawrence wrote: “Through her work as artist, teacher and consultant to the ATW, Belinda Ramson played a crucial role in shaping the vibrant and distinctive woven tapestry movement that emerged so surprisingly and with such authority in Australia in the 1970s. Her influence is threaded through the development of contemporary tapestry in Australia: an art form now renowned internationally for its transformative and expressive use of an ancient medium. Belinda Ramson’s legacy is the vibrant and creative tapestry field in Australia, with its attention to technical excellence, relationship with contemporary art and strength of visual qualities.”

Belinda Ramson first learned cloth weaving in 1965-66 in Canberra, Australia, studying with Solvig Baas Becking. In 1967 Ramson studied as a special student for a year in the Tapestry Department, Edinburgh College of Art, and returned to Edinburgh in 1973 to work as a weaver at the Dovecot Tapestry Studio. Established in 1912, Dovecot is a world-renowned tapestry studio and a landmark centre for contemporary art, craft and design. Ramson went on to be a key figure in the development of tapestry in Australia, teaching trainee weavers at the newly established Victorian Tapestry Workshop (now Australian Tapestry Workshop, or ATW) In her obituary for the ATW newsletter, Kay Lawrence wrote: “Through her work as artist, teacher and consultant to the ATW, Belinda Ramson played a crucial role in shaping the vibrant and distinctive woven tapestry movement that emerged so surprisingly and with such authority in Australia in the 1970s. Her influence is threaded through the development of contemporary tapestry in Australia: an art form now renowned internationally for its transformative and expressive use of an ancient medium. Belinda Ramson’s legacy is the vibrant and creative tapestry field in Australia, with its attention to technical excellence, relationship with contemporary art and strength of visual qualities.”

Mike Brown is known for his bold use of colour and graffiti-like imagery. Charles Nodrum Gallery describe Brown as ‘a unique leader of alternative avant guard art in Australia, and a true bohemian eccentric. An artistic anarchist and polemicist, during his 30-year career he waged an unwavering war on art world conventions and sensibilities, critiquing mass culture, consumerism, sex, advertising, censorship, and embracing counterculture, alternative lifestyles and socialism.’ This tapestry was produced by the Victorian Tapestry Workshop Melbourne (now known as the Australian Tapestry Workshop) in South Melbourne, based on an original painting by Mike Brown. We have exhibited the weaving and painting together to provide a comparison of how artwork is translated into tapestry. The large area of dark blue at the centre top of the tapestry demonstrates how the weavers have used colour changes in the yarn to depict the painterly shading in the original painting. The Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) is an international leader in contemporary tapestry, collaborating with a diverse range of international and Australian artists to produce exceptional handwoven works of art. Established in 1976, ATW have created over 500 tapestries in creative collaborations for nearly 50 years, promoting innovation and excellence in tapestry weaving and textile art.

Mike Brown is known for his bold use of colour and graffiti-like imagery. Charles Nodrum Gallery describe Brown as ‘a unique leader of alternative avant guard art in Australia, and a true bohemian eccentric. An artistic anarchist and polemicist, during his 30-year career he waged an unwavering war on art world conventions and sensibilities, critiquing mass culture, consumerism, sex, advertising, censorship, and embracing counterculture, alternative lifestyles and socialism.’ This tapestry was produced by the Victorian Tapestry Workshop Melbourne (now known as the Australian Tapestry Workshop) in South Melbourne, based on an original painting by Mike Brown. We have exhibited the weaving and painting together to provide a comparison of how artwork is translated into tapestry. The large area of dark blue at the centre top of the tapestry demonstrates how the weavers have used colour changes in the yarn to depict the painterly shading in the original painting. The Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) is an international leader in contemporary tapestry, collaborating with a diverse range of international and Australian artists to produce exceptional handwoven works of art. Established in 1976, ATW have created over 500 tapestries in creative collaborations for nearly 50 years, promoting innovation and excellence in tapestry weaving and textile art.

Artist's Statement: "Every Wednesday at 10 o'clock in the morning, from the beginning of Winter, 2011 to the end of Autumn, 2012, I photographed the same scene in my Ballarat garden. While the main subject is the weather of the moment, it includes a walnut tree killed in the recent drought, and a deciduous ornamental plum. There are 52 Wednesdays recorded in the tapestry; and 4 frames showing the seasonal changes in the plum tree. The colours bordering each panel are those of deciduous leaves on trees in my garden that week. It is said we only know eternity in the pulse of the moment; and permanence in the cycle of the seasons."Millicent REED Initally training in tapestry from Sara Lindsay at an ATW community class Millicent Reed received a Diploma of Art (Tapestry) from South West TAFE in 2009. Her strength and direction comes from being part of the unbroken continuum of tapestry art from the beginning of recorded time. Similarly, the sameness and difference of time itself has become the focus of all her work. (https://americantapestryalliance.org/exhibitions/tex_ata/down-south-tapestry-in-australia/down-south-exhibitors-biographies/, accesed 03 April 2020)Woven tapestry in eight panels, each with seven images in each panel measured 212.0 x 57.5 cm. weaving, seasons, tapestry, ballarat, weather, millicent reed