What a fantastic turnout there was for the launch on Thursday evening of THREADS, The Stories We Weave at Coal Creek Community Park and Museum in South Gippsland.
I only wish I’d taken more shots of the exhibition as a whole, but we found ourselves so engaged with the works and the lovely people we met, including Olivia O’Connor, whose extraordinary work Always Carry a Handkerchief, timber, oil paint, 2023, hangs next to mine, (pic #6) that time simply ran away from us. No doubt the museum will be posting photos of the evening’s highlights on their Instagram and Facebook pages, so you can head over there. Even better, a road trip is highly recommended.
Last night’s personal highlights included reuniting with old friends, including Kim McDonald (pics #3 and #4). Kim and I go back a long way - we first met in the early 1980s as fellow art students. Kim and Jasmine Susic (seen in pic #7 with Shane Jones) have a terrific collaborative multi-media work in the exhibition, BLOOM - and the Sensate World, 2022.
I first met Cresside Collette (second from left, pic #4 above) soon after graduation from art school. As one of the invited artists, Cresside has several works in the show, including tapestries that were woven en plein air (pic #9). Her tapestry, Revealing Grace, 2000, is on the far right in pic #10.
Huge thanks to curator Rachel Jones (pic #4, far right) for inviting me to be part of THREADS and to Coal Creek Community Park and Museum for their warm welcome and hospitality.