A mourning brooch from Port Fairy

Directly after Tim Gresham documented From the Bower: Patterns of Collecting at Warrnambool Art Gallery last Saturday week (see previous post) Shane Jones, Kathryn Ryan, Paul Logsdon, Gaye Britt, Tim and I visited Wishart Gallery in nearby Port Fairy. There I discovered this treasure, a striking example of Victorian mourning jewellery. The glass oval inside the gold plated frame contains strands of fine, intricately arranged human hair. It swivels to reveal a cluster of tiny dried leaves.

Some online research promptly conducted by Gaye Britt revealed that they are shamrocks, suggesting that the person memorialised by the brooch is of Irish heritage. This is in perfect keeping with the town's Irish Gaelic roots. (Gaye is shown above examining the brooch in the garden at Wishart Gallery, as Tim looks on).

It's too late to include the brooch in the current leg of From the Bower, but it will certainly be joining my small collection of mourning jewels for the show's Ballarat run from 29 July - 17 September.

Mourning jewels were a key point of reference for my Knots and Braids series (1998 - 2004). Lately I've been thinking of revisiting the imagery, so the discovery of the brooch feels like a kind of omen - at least, that's how I've decided to interpret it!

Judging the Biblio Art Award, an Artist Talk and the Dachshund Dash

From left: Self with Sarah Gubby and former Biblio Judge, artist David Frazer

I’ve just returned from three days of sampling the varied delights of this year’s first Winter Weekend at Port Fairy in South-western Victoria. Jo Canham, Director of Blarney Books and Art had invited me to co-judge one of its main events: the 6^th Biblio Art Awards. My fellow judge was local artist Essie Warmuth.

Essie and I were overwhelmed by the sheer diversity and inventiveness of many of the entries, which made singling out a single work as Grand Prize winner that much more challenging. In the end, however, we chose the artist book What Katy Did, by Avril Makula.

Other award winners were Polyanna Guthrie (Youth Award) Helen Fitzhardinge (Storytellers Award) Anne-Maree Hunter (3D award – sponsored by Bluestone Magazine). Nine-year-old twins Tom and Darcy Lynch also received an encouragement award for their entry.

To learn about Biblio, visit Blarney Books and Art and Bluestone Magazine.

For more about Avril Makula’s prize-winning entry, What Katy Did, visit Moth Woman Press.

The Prize Winners were announced on Saturday evening at the lively, crowded opening of Biblio.

On the following day at 3 pm I gave an artist talk at Blarney Books and Art. We had a full house - and what a wonderfully warm, attentive and enthusiastic audience they were.

Artist talk at Blarney Books and Art. Blarney Books Director Jo Canham is on the far right.

After the talk I enjoyed chatting with my fellow Biblio judge, her partner Susan, and some of the audience members

Over the course of the long weekend I met some terrific people, caught up with several old friends and saw some stunning book art.

Somehow we also found time for sightseeing. We also managed to catch Winter Weekend's only sporting event: the thrilling Dachshund Dash, which was enormous fun (see directly below). Our old friends Jazmina and Jonas entered their dog Trouble in the Mixed Breeds race. There was no doubting Trouble's enthusiasm, but unfortunately he ran in the wrong direction - several, in fact. 

And they're off! The Dachshund Dash

Jazmina and Jonas put on brave faces following Trouble's doomed effort in the Mixed Breeds race

To the lightouse: DK at Port Fairy's most famous landmark

Shane admires the magnificent Port Fairy Lightouse