End of the year Happenings.

There has been quite a focus on the ARTS as we head towards the end of 2016.

FIBRESPACE Inc. textile artists recently held a retreat/ workshop weekend at THE PLATFORM gallery. Around 30 people attended including visitors from Lapland with whom we have formed a collaboration.

Every space in the gallery was well utilised and the great space was appreciated by everyone involved.
You can follow the FIBRESPACE journey at  https://www.facebook.com/FIBRESPACEINC/

Part of the Lapland connection includes research into how women in marginal places use The Arts to enrich their lives. 

 https://vimeo.com/189426303

The new project theme is " DABULOUS" (dabbling in the fabulous)  and we also have the addition of ... sisu ya taito (persistence, resilience and skill ) the latter being offered by our visitors from Lapland.

Without giving too much away, as my thoughts grapple with new ideas, I have begun the process of developing my own fabric designs that I will have printed and available for use in my piece.

The new PLATFORM GALLERY space is ready for Christmas, I love the colour and vibrancy of this new space. 

Here you can see examples of my printed, felt and hand painted scarves, mugs and bags. 

My pastels have been selling well and with the added work of maintaining the new gallery space I have found it quite challenging to keep up the routines that ensure I regularly produce new pieces. 

As new members become more confident in their involvement with the gallery I should get a bit more time to myself to play with the things I love.

Visit to Hobart and Melbourne 2016

A quick trip to visit family in between all the happenings at the gallery.
We won't mention the falling down the stairs bit :-((
It was lovely to catch up with Steph and connect again with the lovely Hobart and her galleries and eateries. 
We had a delightful lunch at Centurion Bay for Steph's 65th birthday.

 

Then off to Melbourne to catch up with Polly and Elliot and of course the parents! 
Elliot at 2 is right into dinosaurs and monsters and really takes the role of roaring very seriously.
We spent a day cooking with Polly and also had a great time at "Matilda" the musical.
It was also interesting to see Tamsin and John's workspace where many of Singing Bowl's creations come together.

 

ARCHERS' TABLE

Just as things begin to settle down at the gallery it is time for Carly and Brad to open their new cafe.

It has taken a month of hard work with everyone pitching in but finally the cafe is ready for business.

The mural was a bit daunting but we did it. Even Claire added some patterns.

Congratulations to everyone it is a fantastic place  with a wonderful ambiance.

I was very pleased to be one of the first in for breakfast and a good thing too because it has been difficult to get back in with the place being so busy.

Official Opening of THE PLATFORM GALLERY

Well 6 months after we moved in we can finally call THE PLATFORM home!

The styling team has once again done an amazing job,people just love wandering around the gallery finding treasures.

The Music Club welcomed everyone with some foot tapping music and  many friends and well wishers came to celebrate with us.

Dan van Holst Pellekaan, Member for Stuart Officially opened the gallery with a great speech, congratulating everyone on their efforts and promoting the opportunity for people in the community to make the most of this new space.

The New Zealand Holiday

I can't believe I haven't posted here since the end of last year. So much has happened.

In December John and I took a holiday in New Zealand. It was so nice to just get away from everything after all the work we put into the gallery. 

We toured with AAT Kings and travelled around both Islands managing to see some amazing places and meeting some lovely people from  Australia, Hong Kong, America, South Africa and Malaysia.

The pics at Flickr are a record of the trip and I made a photo book as well.
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/georgiesharp/albums/72157663123307405

After New Zealand we visited Tamsin, John, Polly and Elliot for Christmas.
After the pace of the previous few weeks it was lovely to slow down and spend some time with the children, visiting the park and going for coffee. 

Tamsin Polly and I did have a great day shopping in Melbourne... that girl definitely know her shoes ;-))

And the visit to the Andy Warhol  and Aye Wei Wei exhibition was fantastic.