GAI NIEUWENHOF

Gaye has been creating and exhibiting her work for many years along with teaching various techniques to help inspire others to accept the unexpected. Her inspiration is always the environment and although the imagery is abstract in nature, that echo remains. Always searching for the unexpected and accepting that not all work will be pleasing, but forever learning from the experience sees exciting, new and before unseen work to present itself. Combine paper and textiles to achieve new outcomes. Come along for the journey.

SUE BUTLER

Art has always been a huge part of my life since childhood and has at times in my life provided me with an income. As a young woman in Sydney I’d pack my milk crate full of Fimo jewellery, strap a fold up bike to one side and a collapsible stand to the other, attach the whole lot to the back of my ex-posties motor bike with octopus straps and make my precarious way to Paddington markets. Quite the sight!

Over the years I have experimented with a multitude of mediums and art styles from life drawing to sculpture, printing, painting and collage. I am a certified Paverpol and Contemporary Clay instructor.
For the past few years I have become passionate about paint pouring – the alchemy of mixing mediums, melding of unexpected colour palettes and big, fat, juicy cells.

MELANIE DILDAY

Melanie has been a senior instructor at the Contemporary Clay Instructors Program for two decades. She has taught at TAFE colleges, the Fremantle Art Centre in WA, Grafton Artfest NSW, McGregor School Qld, Territory Arts and Crafts NT, Community Arts Bribie Island Qld, Camp Creative NSW, Woolgoolga Art Gallery NSW, Shambala Estate Mount Tamborine Qld, Trycan Two Rocks Art Centre WA and Byron College, Mullumbimby. She travels up and down the east coast in Presence, her campervan, running her popular intuitive painting course which often sell out quickly.

The author of Buddha in a Red Dress, Melanie has years of experience teaching meditation, running free community dance groups and intuitive painting classes.

Have a look at her Facebook page for examples of inspirational participants' work.

LARA LE REVEUR

Lara Le Reveur is a multi-disciplinary artist. Or she just has a stubborn child locked away in there somewhere. Her art practice spans across her entire lives. Traces of her can be found in the courtyard of her childhood home, in the DNA of her children and on the road down the street where she fell off her bike in the winter of 2019. She worked commercially with porcelain and ceramics for many years. Her current practice contains the blood, sweat and tears borne of circumstance (not always bad ones) and some are deliberately put there by design. This does not make her an artist. As a child, Lara - like most young children who grew up in Australia - was encouraged to sing songs, make melodies and create marks with things, and half a century later she continues to pursue the infinite possibilities that a simple mark, sound or motion presents, and takes much delight in investigating how harmony can be achieved through combinations of these three expressions. She draws inspiration from travel, identity and cultural practices seeking balance, ideals in an imperfect world, and gaming technology. She holds a diploma in Jewellery design and three different metal clay teacher certifications. She has shared her crafting knowledge extensively throughout Australia and South East Asia, and recently spent 5 1 ⁄ 2 years on sabbatical in northern Germany. As she can not afford to study a fine arts degree, she uses too many different materials and experiments and creates beads, dolls, jewellery, paintings, sculptures and books. Now that she is back in Australia, she is developing her private teaching practice and has rejoined The Gallery Mt Macedon. Her current activities are painting based on the flow state and intuitive gestures, using them to create both 2D and 3D subjects, including jewellery (using paper, contemporary metals, craft and found materials from her travels across Europe) and learning historical martial arts.

PAULINE STEVENS

Pauline has been interested in craft since early childhood, starting with sewing, crochet & knitting. Other crafts, such as paper tole, ceramics, stamping and patchwork have been part of Pauline’s creative journey.In the early 1990’s a TAFE course in Brisbane started her on the path of beading. She shared her newly acquired skills with friends, teaching many classes on her back deck in Brisbane.The lampworking journey started when she wondered ‘how do they get those flowers encased in glass’? Now she knows. After many hours of practice, and tutoring from lamp work artisans within Australia, Pauline has her own following, selling her beads individually or in completed jewellery pieces.Progressing on from flowers, her skills have been put to the test making owls, birds, turtles, foxes, octopi, Christmas teddy bears and mushrooms.Having retired, Pauline now spends her extra time making lamp work beads, designing and teaching workshops at Scattered Arts.

Other info………….Pauline is the artisan known as Sew Bead It, which you can find on Facebook. This is her hobby, so creating comes before promotion, as you will see by her scarce posts.Pauline has a unique and distinctive style which includes using various mediums. Fabric often finds its way into Pauline’s designs along with seed beads, crystals, charms, Czech glass beads and semi-precious stones. Of course many designs include her beautiful and unique lamp work glass beads.Pauline has a following of students through the workshops she has conducted at Scattered Arts. Starting with ‘Beginner Earrings’ and learning different skills with each workshop, her students ask, “what can we make next”?She is also the president of the beading group Sunshine Beaders. Along with her committee she organises a workshop weekend event each year.In 2022 Pauline was asked to teach 2 of her original designs at The Yarn Retreat at O’Reillys Rainforest Retreat.

BRONWYN STUART

Throughout her life Bronny has enjoyed a cross section of crafts including dressmaking and clothing design with a keen interest in free machine embroidery, crochet, and knitting. Other crafts she has dabbled in include paper weaving, silk painting and collage.

A chance meeting at a workshop with an old boarding school buddy, Lex Sorrentino, introduced her to Paverpol and a way to incorporate many of her acquired skills into her creative work. Bronny is the proud owner of Paverpol Australia, supplying sculptors and artists across Australia with Paverpol products to create their own masterpieces. She is a certified Paverpol Instructor and Trainer and enjoys teaching creative Paverpol sculpturing at the Contemporary Craft Retreat. Using a versatile fabric hardener like Paverpol enables her to incorporate a variety of mediums like Artstone, Paversand, Plaster of Paris, and air drying clay into her teaching and sculpting.

Early in 2024 she was awarded the prestigious prize of “Champion of Champions’ at the Canberra Show Craft Expo after becoming Champion of the 3D Figures section with a unique air dry clay sculpture of a leafy sea dragon.

SARA FEENY-MARKS

Arts and Crafts have always been a passion of mine, for as long as I can remember, but I lost touch with it until the late 1990's where I re-established my love of all things crafty as a form of therapy. I quit the IT industry and established my Craft and Wedding Stationary business. I also taught within the Mental Health Industry, teaching various crafts as therapy to help patients find a sense of self gain after illness or major personal trauma.

Working with mixed media I find inspiration in everything I see and do. 

Some of my favourite mediums are Friendly Plastic, Angelina Fibres and Tyvek.

I have dabbled in Jewellery making and cards, also making mirrors, photo frames and Funky Wonky clocks.

Pam Annesley 

Pam is creative; she constantly works with her mediums to produce innovative work. She is a mixed media artist and jewellery designer using metal and polymer clays. She is interested in promoting culture and creative pursuits and also sharing her vast knowledge and experience with her students.

Pam, a former high school art teacher and Art Lecturer at TAFE College, helped in the development of the national certification program, the CCIP or Contemporary Clay Instructor Program and is a Senior Instructor and a Precious Metal Clay Level 1 Artisan.  Her work has been published extensively in Quilting Arts & Australian Beading Magazines, Polyformer, ‘Encyclopaedia of Polymer Clay Techniques’ by Sue Heaser, ‘Mixed Metal Jewelry’ and ‘The Handbook of Metal Clay, Textures and Forms’ by Hadar Jacobson and ‘Textiles Now’ by Drusilla Cole.

Pam lives in the coastal town of Two Rocks, just north of Perth, where she holds weekend retreats and studio workshops and classes.

LEX SORRENTINO

This dynamic and exciting contemporary clay artist continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in the contemporary clay world. Senior CCIP and Paverpol Instructor/ Trainer; Diamond Gold Seal NODAAA Member based in Canberra. 

Lex has 27 years of Polymer Clay Sculpting experience and holds weekly classes and workshops in Polymer Sculpting and Caning, Silver Metal Clay and Air Dy Clay sculpting. She also holds regular workshops in Paverpol Garden Sculpture.

She recently started working with and teaching a liquefied form of Makin's Air Dry Clay dipped in fabric with spectacular results.(The Makin's Clay Company have purchased a few of these sculptures.)

 She has won numerous awards for her Polymer Clay work including winning the Australian Doll As Art Judges Choice Award - twice. 

Being self- taught,  the minimal training leaves her free to approach clay sculpting with no preconceptions as to how it ought to be used. Ignorance can be genuinely constructive, particularly in a medium as adaptable as clay.

Her tutorials and amazing work have featured in multiple publications including the Australian Doll and Bear News and Dolls Bears and Collectables, Australian Beading Magazine and the USA Publication Polymer Café, Mixed Media & Steampunk, plus Passion for Polymer magazine.
 Lex is one of 3 Aussies published in the Prestigious Polymer Journeys Book 2019 and came second in the International Polymer Clay Association Global Exhibition 3D section 2022.

  In 2023 she came First in 2D Works in the IPCA Global Exhibition and Second in 3D works.

JANICE LAURENT will have a break in 2024

Janice has been creating Art Dolls and sculptures for several years at her previous Victorian studio and most recently in her new studio "STONECREST CREATIONS" at Murrumbateman just north of Canberra. Her work has been featured in several National and International Craft and Art magazines. Over the years Janice has worked with all sorts of mediums, including Paverpol, Apoxie Sculpt, Makins Clay and Polymer Clay to name a few, however recently Pal Tiya and ceramic Clay have been favoured.

Over the past couple of years "Gourd Art" has started to feature and been included in her designs. Gourd Art is becoming popular in Australia and Pyrography, (wood burning), is an enjoyable and satisfying form of art. "It is important to know how to prepare and use the gourd" Janice says.

Janice feels very humbled to be invited again to join all these talented ladies at the Contemporary Craft Retreat, Canberra. It is probably the highlight of my craft year to be able to teach and also learn, surrounded by so many talented people.... "it is wonderful and such fun"!!

A Certified Instructor for Paverpol,  a Gold Seal member of NODAAA and also the CCIP (Contemporary Clay Instructor Program).