Strathnairn Arts Association

Avi Amesbury: Ceramics   www.aviamesbury.com

Avi Amesbury uses clay to express a connection between land, history and memory and to explore the notion of the 'poetic image' evoking memory. These relationships are investigated through materials, mark making and the making process and the strong surface depiction in her work evokes a sense of history similar to an artefact or relic.

Amesbury uses the translucent qualities of porcelain to hint of cultural diffusion and the ephemeral nature of perceptions.

Jo Hollier   www.johollier.com

"My early education in etching began using traditional techniques without much thought given to the environmental and personal safety of our methods and materials. Recent trends towards a more environmentally sensitive lifestyle have prompted me to experiment with new, gentler and safer methods which can also replicate the aesthetic of an etching. This has involved reducing the amount of solvents and increasingly using acrylic etching mediums. This experimental process has recently lead to some exciting results in the early exploration of solar plate etching."

Jo likes to explore the painterly aspects of the etching medium as much as possible by manipulating the ink on the plate, combining techniques, mixing colours and adding collaged papers. In this way she is able to create a print which is unique.

The source of inspiration for her work is the world about her, nature and personal experience and memories. Her favoured media include printmaking, etching and drawing, are often mixed with paint media and collage. Her work shows a love of line and colour with a hint of the exotic!!

Jo Hollier has exhibited in many group and solo shows both locally, nationally and overseas. She was recently selected to exhibit in China for the 3rd International Chinese Modern Folk Art Exhibition in Jiaxing. She is represented by various galleries in Australia, Jordan and China.

David Hodges: Book binding

David Hodges is an artist and bookbinder. He prints and binds unique editions, conducts workshops, undertakes bookbinding commissions and book repair.

His work was recently featured in the book 500 handmade books published by lark press.

He can be contacted via davidhodges [at] ozemail.com.au or phone 0439 551 505.

Cary James: Printmaking, painting/drawing

Having attended various workshops and classes in drawing and painting at the ANU Art School Cary James developed an avid interest in the visual arts. This interest has led him to explore the art of printmaking. In particular the etching process. His work shows a close attention to detail using traditional methods of hard ground, soft ground, dry point and aquatint. His objective is to expand his repertoire of method through experimentation of safer and more contemporary techniques and has begun early experimentation with solar plate etching.

Portraiture and the human body are recurring themes in his work. Cary also continues to draw and paint in all media and finds inspiration from travels abroad and the people he meets.

Joan James: Textiles

Joan James is a teacher and she also has an Associate Diploma in Creative Arts - Textiles and Ceramics. She works as a mixed media artist specialising in Shibori (Japanese shaped resist dyeing) and indigo dyeing. She also paints in various mediums, makes books, wearable art and jewellery using semi-precious stones.

She has taught and worked in the Art/Textile field for many years, and has developed considerable expertise in this area by participating in many Master Classes. Joan teaches workshops in Shibori, indigo dyeing, batik, silk painting, marbling, screen printing and wearable art.

She has exhibited internationally (London, Paris, Hong Kong, New Zealand) and nationally with her work over the years. She is the Secretary General of the World Shibori Network Australia and New Zealand and has been responsible for organising exhibitions for the WSN ANZ in Paris, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Her work can be found in the SCOOP shop at Strathnairn and on the web at www.shibori.org in the members section under Australia and New Zealand.

Workshop enquiries durleyjj [at] bigpond.net.au

Belinda Jessup: Textile artist

In my professional practice my work divides into two main areas. - Natural dye and pieced silk for wearable and installation. All works derive from memory and place. - Hand woven production and woven materials for installation work.

My practice encompasses a range of conceptual ideas, starting with landscape and memory which is relayed in constructed natural dyed silk panels incorporating hand stitch and using indigenous vegetation as dyes, imprint and retain a memory of place on silk.

A woven double cloth has been developed with a grid pattern in silk, wool, cotton and using copper as a way of manipulating the textile. This technique is used in a limited range of production textiles. Using these fibres gives the work a connection to the environment and the landscape of memory. Using natural fibres I experiment with and create interesting forms and surface structure.

This technique is now used with wool and silk in production textiles. Using these fibres gives the work a connection to the environment. Using natural fibres I can experiment and create interesting surface structure and shapes. Not always the desired shape but one of surprise.

Moving into new technologies, these are used in experimental installation works a collaboration called Fybermotion. Using new found technology of glass thread, crystal thread, muscle wire and florescent light tubing gives the opportunity to play with large works that give pleasure to the viewing audience. I am particularly interested in innovative materials that can be woven into cloth for installation purposes. The latest thread to attract my attention is florescent light as a thread. Silk and stainless thread is another innovative thread to use in wearable cloth.

Eric Krebs-Schade: Painting, multi-media

Erik Krebs-Schade graduated with Honours from the Australian National University School of Art in 2006. In the same year he was awarded the Art Monthly Prize, and a Studio Residency at Canberra Contemporary Art Space Gorman House - an award under the ANU School of Art Emerging Artists Support Scheme. In 2009 he was nominated for the Qantas Foundation Encouragement of Australian Contemporary Art Award. Since 2004 he has been regularly exhibiting in group shows and had his second solo show GRAND CANON in early April 2011 at blank_space on Crown Street in Sydney. He also has degrees in the Humanities and Design.

Erik can be contacted via erik.krebs-schade [at] anu.edu.au or phone 0408 068 008.

Trenna Langdon: Ceramics

"I relate to the landscape around me and the palette of colours that I use is from that environment. I am developing surfaces and forms in response to the colours and textures of our environment."

Trenna Langdon can be contacted via tlangdon [at] vtown.com.au

Peter Latona: Sculptor   www.latona.com.au

I have been sculpting and teaching sculpture in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra since graduating from art college in 1976.

I specialise in portrait busts, figures, medallions and plaques, cast in bronze [picture: statue of Al Grassby at entrance to the Multicultural Centre, Civic, Canberra]. Commissions sometimes grow into series, like the 25 intricate figurines of the past PMs of Oz, or memorial busts of Country Music heroes in Bicentennial Park, Tamworth NSW. I have exhibited in most Australian capital cities, have commissioned-work in UK and USA, and once organised a national poetry festival.

Vivien Lightfoot: Figurative ceramics   www.vivienlightfoot.com

I have been working intensively in clay since 1986 when I began an Associate Diploma at the Canberra Institute of the Arts. The human form has been my major preoccupation and I have spent a great deal of time studying portraiture. I am constantly exploring surface texture, colour and application to the ceramic sculptural figures, often firing each piece up to ten times to create layers of visual complexity and a rich patina.

Leo Loomans: Sculptor   www.leggegallery.com

"Constructing in welded steel is for me a means of drawing out, expressing and reflecting on ideas, to the best of my ability, into clear, articulate and resonant sculptural form. I find it a highly interactive -and occasionally deeply satisfying- process, both physically and mentally."

Leo is currently represented by : Megalo Access Arts Gallery in Canberra and Legge Gallery in Sydney.

Maryann Mussared: Painting and mixed media   www.maryannmussared.com

Maryann Mussared studied textiles, printmaking and papermaking at the Canberra School of Art for three years before completing her Bachelor of Visual Arts (Applied) at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in 1997. Maryann has worked as an arts administrator and marketer in a number of positions in the ACT. At the same time she has sustained her arts practice, exhibiting nationally and internationally

Her practice combines mixed media and applied techniques, including painting with acrylic glazes, gilding and collage with handmade paper, often combined with spontaneous and repetitive mark making such as subliminal writing and Pitman's shorthand. She explores a number of ideas through her work, such as the pressures of the fast pace of modern life and the daily battle to avoid being submerged by floods of information.

Mussared has spent extended period living overseas including UK, USA, Germany and France. While a student at the Canberra School of Art, she was part of the Canberra School of Art's cultural ambassadors' program to the Kyoto Seika University.

Michael Sainsbury: Fine furniture

Versatile artist and craftsman Michael Sainsbury produces fine furniture, wooden toys, and turned wood articles. He is also well known for his slip cast and moulded ceramics

Examples of Michaels work may be seen in SCOOP in the Strathnairn Homestead gallery.

Michael is able to take commissions for tables, shelving, cabinets and other made to order items. Contact Michael on (02) 6254 2134, Mob: 0439 990 087 or by email - michael.sainsbury [at] strathnairn.asn.au

Nancy Tingey: Textiles

I joined the Strathnairn community in 2007 settling after years of travel between England and Australia.

Trained as a painter, stained glass designer, art curator and educator, I began working with textiles thirty years ago. A passion for piecing thousands of hexagonal cloth patches led to more conceptual work and an MA in constructed textiles examining the issues arising from my experience of living in two cultures and expressing these through installations, digital imagery and film.

While studying in England from 2002 - 6, I experimented with industrial felt making machines and collaborated with spinners to produce continuous lines of textile. Fascination for these making processes has led to a current project researching net making and trapping fibres.

A commission to design logos for a chemical product in 2007 encouraged me to return to mixed media work on paper and explore ways of using the computer as a design tool. I am also playing with ways of manipulating a gift of paper made by a colleague as part of a body of work about living on the edge.

Jenny Robbins: Painting, pastel

Jenny is a local Canberra artist, and art teacher, with over 35 years experience. She has held several successful solo exhibitions.

Jenny works in a variety of media including, pastels, acrylics and watercolours. She is a consistent prize-winner and her work is held in many public and private collections throughout Australia and overseas.

She teaches regular weekly classes at Strathnairn - Holt (watercolour), The Artist's Shed Queanbeyan (pastel), and the Queanbeyan Art Society (acrylic). During the 1990's her house sketches were a feature in the Canberra Times Real Estate section.

Over the last 7 years she has develop an interest in portraiture, and her paintings of children and adults are keenly sought by collectors. For information including bookings for classes phone 0417240668