Here are some lovely examples of new pieces that Brenda Coleman has been working on recently.

Brenda Coleman- Earrings, oxidised sterling silver, 18ct gold, peridots

Brenda Coleman "Elephants 1" necklace and bracelet - Sterling silver, carnelian

Brenda has been a member of the NSCG since 2006, skillfully creating unique jewellery pieces particularly glass beads, kiln formed glass and silver jewellery.  You can find out more about Brenda and see further examples of her work here.

Helen MacRitchie has had a colourful spell recently with new scarves and a sneaky peak at a felt handbag that will be making an appearance at this year’s Royal Easter Show in Sydney.

Trellis Scarf (detail) H MacRitchie

Twirling Colours (detail) H MacRitchie

Twirling Colours (detail) H MacRitchie

After our Christmas exhibition we had enjoyed a lovely Christmas party at our President’s house in December looking back on the year and taking the opportunity to involve our long suffering partners in our socialising.

During the summer holidays, however, our members were far from inactive.  Many were involved in exhibitions and workshops locally and internationally.

Barbara Schey, a regular tutor with Handweavers and Spinners Guild NSW as well as an active member of NSCG, gave a workshop on Buttony during the Guild’s Summer School workshop program.  Barbara has long been an exponent on the history of button making and maintenance of the required skills and techniques through education of such.  Her dorset buttons are simply to die for!

Buttons created during workshop by student Brigitte Sieber

Barbara was also involved in the World Shibori Symposium recently held at the Hong Kong University in late December 2011.  19 works measuring 30cm square were sent from Australia under the theme “Out of the Box” including this work (below) by Barbara.  She was unfortunately unable to travel this time to Hong Kong to attend herself due to her busy schedule especially disappointing as she had been to the previous 5 Symposiums in Chile, Melbourne, England, Japan and France.  The artists decided to donate their beautiful work to the University who expressed their thanks for this gift.

"Out of the Box" exhibit 2012 by B Schey

Also at the recent Shibori Symposium in Hong Kong, Barbara’s colourful kimono (below) was exhibited in Energy Nexus Exhibition.  This work was selected to be exhibited at the ancient temple at Foshan in Ghanzhou, China opening on 17 February 2012 - would love to be there.  Philomena Hali from Alice Springs was the only other Australian artists accepted.  The kimono is dyed silk organza and measures approx. 2 x 2.5m.  It could be worn on a catwalk perhaps but is primarily a wall piece.

Kimono by B Schey

You can see more of Barbara’s work along with work of other NSCG members at our upcoming Contemporary Craft Exhibition and Sale in June 2012, Ku-ring-gai Town Hall. Pymble.  Follow this blog for more details.

A big thank you to all those who came along to the NSCG Christmas Sale at Thornleigh community Centre last weekend, and supported our members and the charity Dial-a-Mum.

The hall looked amazing as usual, with a Christmas themed stage area full of beautifully made decorations and cards displayed to a backdrop of quilts by Val James.

In a just a matter of a few hours the hall was transformed thanks to all the members working together, and the effort was evident in a very successful weekend.

For a few new members of NSCG this was their first exhibition and sale with the group, and their craft attracted a lot of well deserved attention.  The outdoor ceramics of Ruth Fugar, a ceramicist from Dural were very popular, her birdhouses practically flew out the door on Friday!

Joy Dodds, a new weaver with the group, had some beautiful scarves that didn’t remain on display for long either.

If you unfortunately missed the event, the Group’s next exhibition will be in June 2012 at Ku-ring-gai Town Hall, Pymble as usual, but in the meantime keep an eye on our blog for updates on our members’ work and hints of our Challenge theme for the June exhibition.

This year’s exhibition will be officially opened by

Peter Whitehead

Horticultural Consultant and Journalist

We take pleasure in inviting you and your friends

to enjoy our exclusive craft.

Opening Night:

Wednesday 22 June 2011 from 6.30pm to 9pm

At Ku-ring-gai Town Hall, 1186 Pacific Hwy Pymble

Exhibition Hours: Thursday 23^rd to Saturday 25^th 10am-5pm

Sunday 26^th 10am-4pm

Zodiac Challenge 2011

Members challenge for 2011: “ To create a special exhibition piece inspired by the Zodiac Theme”

Entry: by gold coin donation to Charity “Dial-a Mum”

Vote in our “people’s choice Award” before 4pm Saturday for a chance to win $400 to spend at the exhibition. The winner will be notified for shopping on Sunday.

Guest Exhibitors:

Jan Clark (Textile)

Jo Wood (Ceramist)

Peter Minson ( Glass & flame worker)

Ron Smythe (Wood Artist)

Ulric Steiner (Metal Sculptor)

Enquiries:  0418 867 583

Demonstrations Xmas sale

 Click to view slideshow.

Please place these dates in your dairy.

Thornleigh Community Centre (next to Bunnings)

Cnr Phyllis ave & Central Ave – Thornleigh

Friday 19 November 1pm-6pm

Saturday 20 November 9am-5pm

Sunday 21 November 9am-5pm

It was wonderful to see so many people turn up. Thank you so much for all your support!

Back to the studios and work hard to make all those lovely present for our Christmas show.

Keep posted, we will have more things on the blog until Christmas.

Until then, from all of us:

Thank you and goodbye!

Click to view slideshow.