Wonderings exhibition

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1. Amanda Waterhouse, Turtle 2
61 x 40 x 1.5 cm, collage and painting - collage and acrylic on canvas, $275
Turtles in their pristine environment embody the concept of ‘wonder” for me. I have used light Asian paper, lightly strengthened with wax, fabric and stitch.
Artist’s Statement: Amanda studied art at Alexander Mackie, CAE, and continues, many years later, to study under the tutelage of Gabbi Lancaster, with the online platform, Art of Flow. These sessions allow for an intuitive approach to painting, where the underpainting determines the subject matter: a dynamic and often surprising process. Amanda is prolific in output, always moving onto the next vibrant project. More examples of her work can be found on the Facebook page, Off Beat Aussie Art.

2. Syd Pemberton, Garden Cuttings
25 x 25 cm, mixed media - handmade paper, board, acrylics, $320 

Always in my garden I find excitement in cuttings from the variety of plants I grow throughout the year and feel so grateful that nature offers up such a variety of textures, colours and perfumes. To be able to bring small posies of leaves and flowers inside and enjoy them on a regular basis at no cost as well as helping some plants with light pruning. Cuttings are a gift to give and to swap and there is no end to the joy of sharing.
Artist’s Statement: My studio practice explores the ways of creating unique 2D works and shapes and forms that are inspired from the natural world. My intention is to create textural elements which invite the viewer to engage in the subject.

3. Shelly Rushton, The Journey
80 x 65 cm, free machine embroidery, collage - cotton fabric and thread, NFS
Wondering what’s over there. Inspired by the teachings of Sue De Vanny, textile artist.
Artist’s Statement: Self-taught and inspired by many on a textile journey.

4. Glenn Hunt, Awesome Moon Rise!
44 x 56 x 2 cm, digital photography - digital camera, inkjet printer and paper, $150
I love to visit the beach, especially when there is a full moon predicted to rise near sunset. In this case I was in the right place, at the right time to capture this image at Bondi Beach with an awesome moon rising in the distance as locals watched from the cliff face.
Artist’s Statement: Photographic Wonderings - this year’s theme can be illustrated in many ways such as ideas involving thinking, pondering and awe. I chose a few images I have taken over the years that fit this general theme and concept. 

5. Lynn Pavey, Rock Pools
80 cm x 92 cm, crochet - wool, mohair an alpaca yarn, woollen blankets, $720 

Churning water pools of blues and greens are a treasure chest of wonders. I draw strength and awe from the changing colours created from water depths, tidal swells and the reflection from above. Contemplative moments give us a chance to pause, perhaps momentarily in our future.
Artist’s Statement: Lynn is a passionate advocate for reusing fabric and fibres to create revitalised dimensional textile works. Transforming what is often discarded in life provokes thoughts of intangible histories and recognises the need for environmental harmony combining a sense of communal belonging. Lynn has exhibited works in group and solo shows, undertakes commissions, hosts craft tutorials and teaches both adult and children crafts and textiles.

6. Cathie Griffith, Daytime Wonderings

24 x 24 x 1 cm, joomchi, collage - mulberry paper, hand printed papers, $95
I often wonder what my garden would be like if I had a green thumb. I like to walk around and talk to the plants on a sunny morning and hope that they will absorb my encouragement like fertiliser and grow to their full potential.
Artist’s Statement: I am an explorer, a watcher, a finder, and drawing on what I see around me crystallises my ideas. As a maker, I select media that best expresses the idea I have for each artwork. Is it the material that guides my making or is it the concept that sends me looking for materials to bring the idea to fruition? A little of both… Recycling materials that others have discarded is fundamental to my practice, although in these works, I have used only paper to explore my concept. My work practice may combine drawing, print making, painting, collage, felting, construction and stitch.

7. Cathie Griffith, Night Time Wonderings
24 x 24 x 1 cm, joomchi, collage - mulberry paper, hand printed papers, $95
I often wonder what my garden would be like if I had a green thumb. I like to walk around and talk to the plants of an evening and hope that they will absorb my encouragement like fertiliser and grow to their full potential.
Artist’s Statement: I am an explorer, a watcher, a finder, and drawing on what I see around me crystallises my ideas. As a maker, I select media that best expresses the idea I have for each artwork. Is it the material that guides my making or is it the concept that sends me looking for materials to bring the idea to fruition? A little of both... Recycling materials that others have discarded is fundamental to my practice, although in these works, I have used only paper to explore my concept. My work practice may combine drawing, print making, painting, collage, felting, construction and stitch.

8. Glenn Hunt, What’s the Big Idea?
44 x 56 x 2 cm, digital photography - digital camera, inkjet printer and paper, $150
On a trip to Kotor, Montenegro I came upon a strange sign that read “IDEA.” What was the meaning of this sign as it appeared out of place? This made me curious, so I asked one of the locals for clarification. Their answer? They had NO idea.
Artist’s Statement: Photographic Wonderings - this year’s theme can be illustrated in many ways such as ideas involving thinking, pondering and awe. I chose a few images I have taken over the years that fit this general theme and concept. 

9. Pamela Reid, Cells of Mental Thoughts
40 x 30 x 3cm, lino printing - black card with lino print, $300
I have been experimenting with different printing techniques on a variety of materials. Each cell represents a trapped memory radiating from birth.
Artist’s Statement: I studied creative embroidery at TAFE. This has sent me into experimenting with incorporating printing onto fabric / different mediums, then enhancing it with embroidery. My designs have a focus incorporating the environment.

10. Jennifer Selinger, All the Questions
27 x 27 x 1.5 cm, abstract calligraphy - ink, paper and markers, $200
What? Where? Why? When? How? Who? Wherefore? All the questions we use when we are wondering.
Artist’s Statement: Pen, paper and ink are all I need to spend a happy time creating - whether it is an attempt at formal lettering or just pure play. Calligraphy is a joy.

11. Alison Muir, Cremation Quilt for Poppa
157 cm x 157 cm x 0.5 cm, hand dyed, layered, hand stitched - crepe paper non-woven medical wrapping cloths, dye, adhesive, NFS
A wrapping cloth for my father’s cremation; using my textile art to wrap his body in love for its final journey. The 900 red crosses signify his early involvement in the Church of England and for which, he expressed, he had no need in his 90’s. He died before the work could be used for him; I may use it myself.
Artist’s Statement: Muir started using textiles as a communication tool in 1993. She developed a fused applique technique and has made more than 80 works raising issues about fresh and salt water, exhibited internationally and nationally. Muir completed a research Master of Design (Hons) in 2010 at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW, using textiles and paper as a communication tool. The exhibition "Fathoming the Depths" is shown on Muir’s website. Recent work has used natural dyes on natural fabrics and papers that continue to impart messages about the environment and water, often political and always passionate.

12. Natanya Haggman, Jellyfish Drift
80 x 55 x 55 cm, crochet - yarn, wire, beads, LED lights, $500
Jellyfish Drift explores curiosity as something fluid, instinctive, and luminous. Combining crochet with internal light, the work transforms soft fibre into a drifting form that hovers between sea creature, lantern, and imagined organism. Inspired by the quiet movement of jellyfish and the unknown depths they inhabit, the piece invites viewers into a space of wondering rather than certainty. The repetitive act of crochet mirrors currents and pulse-like rhythms, with each loop building a structure that feels both delicate and alive. Light becomes a symbol of inquiry: a glow that draws attention toward what cannot be fully explained or contained. Through the contrast of handmade textile techniques and bioluminescent imagery, Jellyfish drift reflects an ongoing exploration of how traditional craft can evoke speculative worlds, emotional responses, and the enduring human impulse to remain curious about what drifts beyond reach.  

Artist’s Statement: Natanya Haggman is a textile artist working across crochet, knitting, spinning, and sewing. Drawing on a background in science, her practice explores curiosity, natural systems, and speculative forms through fibre art. She experiments with unusual materials and processes, combining traditional craft techniques with conceptual ideas inspired by biology, physics, and the unknown. Her work often blurs the boundary between handmade object and living organism, using texture, structure, and light to create tactile works that invite close observation and wonder.

13. Ning Irgen-Gioro, Western Sky
50.8 x 40.6 x 2 cm, gelatin silver darkroom printing - gelatin silver on fibre-based paper, $400
This body of work explores the unstable boundary between landscape and memory. In this image, Sydney Harbour is overlaid with the reflected silhouette of trees from the Hawkesbury River, linking the eastern edge of the city with the wilderness beyond it. What first appears to be sky gradually reveals itself as water, reflection, or smoke — an uncertain space where geography begins to collapse. Rather than documenting a location, the work is concerned with atmosphere, psychological distance, and the quiet tension between the constructed and the natural. The image invites slow looking: a familiar landmark becomes unsettled, as though something distant has already happened, or is still approaching. Printed traditionally in gelatin silver, the work embraces restraint, ambiguity, and silence.

Artist’s Statement: Ning is a Sydney-based photographer working exclusively with black-and-white film and silver gelatin darkroom printing. Drawn to the unhurried pace of analogue practice, his work is a search for moments of unexpected stillness hidden around him — a sense of Zen concealed in ordinary life. Shaped by both Eastern and Western sensibilities, he finds beauty in restraint. The work presented in Wonderings reflected this same disposition: a practice of looking slowly in a world that rarely stops.

14. Frances Ergen, View Through the Window 

134 x 164 cm, pieced patchwork - hand dyed or printed fabric and striped or patterned cotton, $290
Looking through window panes, I wonder which part of the view will appear: which pattern, which blue, which combination of fabrics.
Artist’s Statement: Frances Ergen is a graduate of Hornsey College of London and Kanazawa University of Arts. She is a designer of handmade and industrial produced textiles, and former university lecturer.

15. Midori Furze, Echoes of Melody 

37 x 37 x 6 cm, graphite drawing, handmade paper, fibre formation process using submerged pulp and thread tension, layering and light/shadow projection - pineapple fibre, thread, various paper, graphite and corflute, $350
Echoes of Melody is a shadow-box framed artwork that explores memory, absence, and the persistence of sound beyond the visible and the physically present. The work begins with a graphite sketch of a grand piano, layered with handmade pineapple fibre paper. The paper, formed through submerged fibres and irregular openings, resembles an aged Japanese sliding door, with perforations that both obscure and reveal the drawing beneath. Viewers see the piano only through these gaps, or as a strong shadow when light is cast across the surface. While making the drawing, I listened to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano performance, which informed the atmosphere of the work. It reflects how music continues to resonate even after disappearance, existing as an echo carried through time, image, and material. Try your phone’s torch to explore the work. Move the light and watch the shadows shift.  
Artist’s Statement: I am a Japanese contemporary artist based in Sydney, working in painting, sumi-e, origami, and paper-based practices. My work draws on traditional Japanese techniques, reinterpreted through a contemporary lens to explore themes of connection, continuity, and material presence.

16. Lisa Giles, Snowview - Wondering

20 x 20 x 30 cm, rusting, painting and pastels - watercolour paper, $150
“Wondering” reflects the restless movement of thought, memory, and experience. Constructed as a folded, book-like form, the work invites viewers to move around it, discovering shifting relationships between line, texture, and space. Each surface carries traces of gesture and erosion, suggesting fragments of maps, writing, or pathways that cannot be fully read. The layered marks evoke both searching and recording — an attempt to navigate uncertainty while accepting the impossibility of a fixed destination. The repetitive structure of the folded panels creates a rhythm of pause and progression, echoing the cyclical nature of wondering itself. Earthy tones and raw textures reference weathered landscapes and the passage of time, while the abstract forms remain open-ended. The work embraces ambiguity, encouraging reflection on how we wander physically, emotionally, and imaginatively through the world.
Artist’s Statement: Collections: National Portrait Gallery, Art Gallery of NSW, Reference Library, State Library of NSW, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, Mackay Regional Gallery, Redlands Regional Gallery. Exhibitions: Manly Artists Book Prize, Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, Libris Award - Australian Artists’ Book Prize, Hazelhurst Works on Paper, Blacktown, City Art Prize, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. Education: Master of Arts, Photomedia Major, UNSW, Bachelor of Business, Marketing Major, QUT.

17. Robyn Lukeis, Shape and Shadow

81 x 10 x 0.4 cm, tapestry weaving - wool (Shetland and tapestry) weft, cotton warp, wool felt backing and synthetic hanging trim, NFS
The coloured shape on a dark background is easily appreciated. The shadow shape draws us in for a closer look. Both the colour and texture of the yarns are worked to create complementary compositions with evolving shapes in six individual tapestries.
Artist’s Statement: Tapestry weaving and lapidary have become my focus for creative practice, and I enjoy the strong technical and artistic challenges both present. Both have the quality of the slow reveal and a tactile element that extends the visual appreciation of the finished pieces. My background is in biological sciences, and the patterns in nature have informed the evolution of my creative memory.

18. Loretta Janice Moy, Wonderings
30 x 30 x 3 cm, abstracted landscape painting - acrylic paint on canvas, $300
Loretta is keen to have the North Sydney Olympic Pool re-opened and has pondered its development and opening date. She is a keen swimmer and can’t wait after a five-year closure for renovations and a hefty cost. The ‘Wonderings’ painting hopes to express these thoughts.
Artist’s Statement: Loretta is a self-taught artist who has done numerous professional art workshops. She enjoys water whether paddling, swimming, snorkelling or painting it. She likes to capture light and colours in the landscape in an abstracted style and include figures in her paintings to express some active connection with nature.

19. Lisa Walton, Gathered Wonderings
76 x 63 cm, wool felting - wool felt and found objects, $195
Inspired by the Kyrgyz tumar — a protective amulet carried through generations — this felted work reflects on the theme of Wonderings: the objects we keep close, the stories they hold, and the quiet ways memory travels with us. The triangular form suggests shelter and protection, while the hand-cut motif echoes traditional nomadic symbols. Hanging below are recycled ornaments and found objects, each carrying traces of another life and place. Together they become small markers of journey, belonging and curiosity. Made with warm wool and earthy colours, the work wonders about connection — between past and present, people and place, and the meaning we give to treasured things.
Artist’s Statement: Lisa Walton has been creating art with textiles for over 35 years. Beginning with traditional quilting, she quickly developed a love of breaking the rules and exploring colour through dyeing and surface design. An award-winning teacher and author of Beautiful Building Block Quilts, Lisa is a former President of Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA). She teaches & lectures internationally, leads Textile & Food Tours with Aahilya Holidays, and shares her passion through workshops, lectures and her Quilt Stories series on YouTube.

20. Bev Myers, Gold Dreams 

51 x 40 x 3.5cm, paint and pen - acrylic paint, pen on stretched canvas, $250
The wonderful artist Klimt is my inspiration on this painting and his love of patterns.
Artist’s Statement: I am a self-taught artist who has attended various workshops over the years.

21. Julie Scobie, Drawing with Threads
60 x 30 cm, gelli printing, embroidery - linen, acrylic paints, embroidery threads, NFS
Using linen offcuts, I printed on the fabric and then sewed free hand embroidery on the piece. Threads were used as if I was drawing!
Artist’s Statement: I have been quilting and embroidering for 40 years. I get enormous pleasure from both!

22. Pam Murphy, Looking Out
43 x 53 x 2 cm, digital print from scanned negative, on photographic paper, NFS
At the time this photo was taken in April 1977, when asked how old he was, Josko would reply “three and three quarters”. The attention to detail was important, he was nearly four, which was much, much older than three. And like most children at that age, he was full of curiosity and questions with plenty to wonder about. He is looking out of our kitchen window at the jetties and boat sheds of Berry’s Bay, Eaton’s Timber Yard, which was then still a noisy working timber mill, and trains about to enter or exit the McMahons Point railway tunnel as they went back and forth to the sidings behind Luna Park.
Artist’s Statement: Pam has been a member of Primrose Park Photography since the early 1990s.

23. Shamim Cachalia, Remnants
35 x 35 cm, gelli printing, paper making and sewing - handmade paper, gelli printed paper, found objects, fabric and thread, NFS
The assemblage explores the theme of 'Wondering' through a collection of small contained moments. Using handmade paper, gelli prints, found objects, fabric and thread I have created a series of boxed arrangements to encourage the viewer to be curious and wonder about what is imagined, remembered or felt and to find small moments of awe.
Artist’s Statement: Shamim Cachalia is a member of Primrose paper arts, interested in the making and using of handmade paper, printmaking and collage.

24. Lydia Fegan, Wondering
30 x 21x .01 cm, gel print overlaid with digitised, enlarged photo, watercolour pencil - gel print, digitised photo, watercolour pencil on Arches paper, $180
For a very young toddler, the world must be an amazing, inexplicable place.
Artist’s Statement: Lydia is a printmaker of many years.

25. Leonie Wright, What was he Wondering?
52 x 42 x 2 cm, reverse appliqué, machine stitching, embroidery - hessian, pleather, linen, cotton threads, NFS
I got to thinking about the theme ‘Wonderings’, and the classic sculpture ‘The Thinker’ by Rodin came to mind. Maybe the model was wondering what was to become of this session with Auguste Rodin. So, I have thought along the lines of the model, not the artist or the sculpture, and there was a man sitting still, letting his mind wonder.
Artist’s Statement: I try my hand at lots of different techniques for manipulating fabric, including embroidery with my machine or by hand. I am a jack of all trades and master of none. The important thing is to enjoy the process and have fun.

26. Syd Pemberton, Vase of Flowers
25 x 25 cm, mixed media - handmade paper, board, acrylics, $320
Always in my garden I find excitement in cuttings from the variety of plants I grow throughout the year and feel so grateful that nature offers up such a variety of textures, colours and perfumes. I am able to bring small posies of leaves and flowers inside and enjoy them on a regular basis at no cost as well as helping some plants with light pruning. Cuttings are a gift to give and to swap and there is no end to the joy of sharing.
Artist’s Statement: My studio practice explores the ways of creating unique 2D works and shapes and forms that are inspired by the natural world. My intention is to create textural elements which invite the viewer to engage in the subject.

27. Julie Gissing, The Wonder of a New Dawn
45 x 40 x 3 cm, wrapping with long/short stitch - recycled wood/metal and hay bale twine, raffia, grape vine, $40
Giving new life to found objects, to create the beauty of sunrise.
Artist’s Statement: A member of Basketry NSW since 2021, I love to work with natural foraged fibres and recycled materials.

28. Jane E Kent, Alhambra
26 x 52cm, formal Italic letterforms written in gouache with a chisel nib - HP watercolour paper, gouache, watercolour and shell gold, NFS
Words used to express the essence of the prose through the use of beautifully spaced letterforms which display harmony and grace. Words which express 'wonder'. The illustration of the flowers painted to create the wonder of the gardens at the Alhambra.
Artist’s Statement: I am a calligrapher who always wants my finished compositions to express the beauty of classical letterforms in balanced compositions; in other words, 'Calligraphy as Art’.

29. John Russell, Soca River Detail
43.5 x 53.5 x 2.5 cm, digital photography - inkjet photo print, Panasonic G9, 12-60mm@50mm, f/8, 1/320, ISO 200, NFS
I wondered how to turn a fast-flowing river into a still life of water and rock.
Artist’s Statement: John is a member of Primrose Park Photography.

30. Lisa Giles, Wondering Mind
50 x 50 x 6 cm, gel printing - acrylic paints and fabric, $150
“Wondering” speaks to the quiet tension between movement and stillness, certainty and ambiguity. This work explores the act of circling through thought — returning repeatedly to fragments of memory, emotion, and place without arriving at a fixed conclusion. The translucent overlapping forms suggest conversations, echoes, and pathways that intersect and dissolve. Their soft edges and muted tones create a sense of suspension, as though the image is continually forming and reforming in the viewer's mind. The circular composition acts as both boundary and portal: a contained space for reflection while also suggesting cycles, repetition, and wandering attention. Layered linear marks create a woven structure that holds the shifting shapes together, referencing mapping, tracing, and the invisible systems we use to navigate uncertainty. Rather than presenting a destination, the work embraces the openness of inquiry — the experience of wondering as an ongoing process of observation, searching, and becoming.
Artist’s Statement: Collections: National Portrait Gallery, Art Gallery of NSW, Reference Library, State Library of NSW, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, Mackay Regional Gallery, Redlands Regional Gallery. Exhibitions: Manly Artists Book Prize, Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, Libris Award - Australian Artists’ Book Prize, Hazelhurst Works on Paper, Blacktown, City Art Prize, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. Education: Master of Arts, Photomedia Major, UNSW, Bachelor of Business, Marketing Major, QUT.

31. Primrose Paper Arts, A Book of Wonderings
40 x 55 x 15 cm (container) 29 x 21 cm (individual artworks), gelli printing, collage, printmaking, handmade papermaking, stitching, 

embossing - handmade papers, prints, mixed media, NFS
Wondering: showing curiosity, inquisitive, questioning, speculative. A collection of Primrose Paper Arts members’ interpretations of ‘wonderings’, encased in a

container vessel (handmade clamshell box). Visitors are invited to look at each ‘page’ of the Book of Wonderings, in order to explore and contemplate each artwork separately.

Artist’s Statement: The major focus of Primrose Paper Arts is to promote handmade paper as an art form in its own right. In the creation of unique and beautiful paper for application in 2D and 3D artworks, equal use is made of recycled material and plant fibre. Printmaking and the book arts are encouraged and, while not all members are dedicated papermakers, all appreciate and like to work with handmade paper. Our members come with a wide range of skills and expertise, from the very beginner to highly qualified paper makers. Each has their own speciality, or interest, and all are open to both sharing their knowledge and learning from others.

32. Glenese Keavney, Is it Really a Handbag?
30 x 30 x 15 cm, twining - Bangalow palm sheath and inflorescence, wood, dyed cane and copper wire, $195
My journey with basketry began when we moved to a new home with Bangalow palms in the backyard. I loved the inside of the sheath – the part that hugged the trunk; and the inflorescence carrying the seeds. It seemed so wrong to treat them as garden refuse. But how could I use them?
Artist’s Statement: I use traditional basketry techniques of coiling, stitching, and twining. More recently embellishment has been introduced to add my story to the substrata of the fibre. My major materials are natural fibres, including Bangalow palm (leaf, inflorescence, and flower sheaths). I was joint founder of Basketry NSW Inc.

33. Katherine Henry, Experiments in Texture
40 x 75 cm, knitting machine short rows - wool, $175
Tremors in my left hand have reduced my ability to use knitting needles. So this piece explores a deep dive into knitted structures that can be produced using a knitting machine.
Artist’s Statement: Katherine has been knitting since she was four. More recently a tremor in her hand has made hand knitting slow. So Katherine, an engineer who enjoys machines, pulled out and repaired a vintage knitting machine and began to play.

34. Alison Muir, Nature's Plan
3.5 x 18.5 cm diameter, shaping of roots in a colander - Spathiphyllum roots, NFS
It is amazing what lengths a 'Peace Lily' will go to to get access to water. The inner pot holding the plant was inside a dress pot and the roots had passed through the inner pot's drain holes and congregated into the base of the dress pot. When they were chopped off and placed in a colander to drain, this shallow bowl of roots formed.
Artist’s Statement: Muir started using textiles as a communication tool in 1993. She developed a fused applique technique and has made more than 80 works raising issues about fresh and salt water, exhibited internationally and nationally. Muir completed a research Master of Design (Hons) in 2010 at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW, using textiles and paper as a communication tool. The exhibition "Fathoming the Depths" is shown on Muir’s website. Recent work has used natural dyes on natural fabrics and papers that continue to impart messages about the environment and water, often political and always passionate.

35. Kirsten Jakobsen, Topologicadoodle
15 x 15 x 15 cm, fabric painting, embroidery, sewing - cotton fabric, cotton, wool, and synthetic threads, acrylic paint, $120
There are many interesting concepts within the field of topology, and physical models can assist with understanding their properties. Sometimes it’s just fun to see what can be realised and how many concepts can be incorporated together; here, knots meet Möbius strips, meet Borromean rings.
Artist’s Statement: I enjoy playing with textiles in many forms and trying many techniques, especially combined in less conventional ways.

36. Jan Hook, Pink and Grey Basket
19 x 19 x 4.5cm, figure of eight stitch - dyed raffia, $50
I've been making baskets for a while now and love to experiment with different stitches. This figure of eight stitch is very simple, and the rhythmic action is mesmerising.
Artist’s Statement: Originally from Warrandyte, Victoria, Jan moved with her family to Sydney in the late 1970s. She worked for Better Homes & Gardens for 10 years, creating craft works and styling the photographs for the magazine. Jan has been a maker since early childhood. Now in her retirement, she enjoys painting in oil, watercolour and acrylic, basketry, bookmaking, collage, gel printing, embroidery, knitting, crochet, and gardening. She exhibits with the Basketmakers of NSW, Primrose Paper Arts, the Australian Society of Miniature Arts, the Mosman Art Society and the Mosman Art Gallery’s Artists of Mosman exhibitions.

37. Cleo Higgins, Wonderings in the Forest
31.5 x 28 x 23 cm, hand embroidery, sashiko, appliqué, beading - felt, denim, polycotton, wool & polyester mix, embroidery cotton, rasant, polyester organza, glass beads, penny weights, board, beading wire, NFS

I wondered what a group of fairies in the forest would live in; these three are the exploration of those thoughts.
Artist’s Statement: Cleo is an avid Textile Artist and Designer with an Honours Degree in Fashion & Textiles from UTS. She has worked at Edward Li Textiles and taught classes at Ku-Ring-Gai Art Centre, Sydney Community Centre, as well as Textile workshops in Sydney and Canberra. After decades in the corporate world, she came to her senses and returned to what she loves best: to explore fibre, fabric, colour, texture, pattern, design and expression. 

38. Cleo Higgins, Forest Moons
83 (string length) x 8 x 10 cm, hand embroidery, appliqué, machine stitching, knotting - denim, polycotton, wool/polyester mix, felt, embroidery cotton, poly cotton thread, metal ring, polyfill, NFS
Do you dream in pattern and colour? ‘Wonderings’ is an opportunity to explore ideas. ‘Moons’ are created here, which pair with the fairy houses, an extension of the idea of fairies at the bottom of the garden.
Artist’s Statement: Cleo is an avid Textile Artist and Designer with an Honours Degree in Fashion & Textiles from UTS. She has worked at Edward Li Textiles and taught classes at Ku-Ring-Gai Art Centre, Sydney Community Centre, as well as Textile workshops in Sydney and Canberra. After decades in the corporate world, she came to her senses and returned to what she loves best: to explore fibre, fabric, colour, texture, pattern, design and expression. 

39. Jan Hook, Black, White and Red
17 x 17 x 2.5cm, collage and gel printing - repurposed book cover, various papers, acrylic paint, elastic, linen, NFS
This little book was the result of a demonstration I did for the bookmaking group. I've used a variety of different types of paper and kept it to a simple palette, including a selection of as many different textures as I could. It's tempting to keep adding bits and pieces.
Artist’s Statement: Originally from Warrandyte, Victoria, Jan moved with her family to Sydney in the late 1970s. She worked for Better Homes & Gardens for 10 years, creating craft works and styling the photographs for the magazine. Jan has been a maker since early childhood. Now in her retirement, she enjoys painting in oil, watercolour and acrylic, basketry, bookmaking, collage, gel printing, embroidery, knitting, crochet, and gardening. She exhibits with the Basketmakers of NSW, Primrose Paper Arts, the Australian Society of Miniature Arts, the Mosman Art Society and the Mosman Art Gallery’s Artists of Mosman exhibitions.

40. Marg Aiken, What’s in the Basket? 

20 x 20 x 18 cm, coiling - found fibres, $195.00
This basket was made using found fibres including old ribbons, raffia, wool off cuts, bailing twine, cord, corn husks, string etc.

Artist’s Statement: I have been enjoying basketmaking for the past six years, trying to reuse rather than buy any new materials.