“Every time I move between Ireland and Australia,” Farmer reflects, “the birds are the first to tell me where I am.” It is this migratory rhythm, a personal symphony of feathers and songs, that pulses through her art.
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Jobbo was struck by the creative power of barbering, “with building I was always adding, but with cutting hair I was always subtracting. It’s very sculptural.”
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"Choose a favourite piece, it doesn't have to be the focal piece, but something that's going to be an important piece for that room. You can then arrange your colour palette around that item.'‘ Says Kali
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Glen orchestrates his symphony of craftsmanship. Each tool, weathered with the patina of decades past, bears witness to the dedication and artistry that permeates every corner of the workshop.
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“I’ve always been a tinkerer, a maker, someone who loves to pull things apart to work out how they got put together in the first place.”
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“I was equally terrified and excited, as was my partner! But I jumped in head first, and so far, I’m loving the ride.”
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While peering into the sky, after being absorbed by its immensity in James’ work, the lines from Hegel come to mind, “Art has the task to reveal the truth in its sensuos form.
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Since Katherine moved to the region, her approach has shifted. The quieter pace helps Katherine stop and look at things. “I think seeking out what is best for me, what is the best way to live, how to live well with what you have, and what surrounds you.”
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The motif that runs beneath her work is about working with nature, “a theme that's coming through is indoor gardens because when I was having a tough time, the thing that pulled me through was nature, and just watching life grow.”
Chandra sits at the wheel to unwind the lost pieces of herself, before finding her strength in the process.
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“From day one, I’ve relished the simple act of sitting at my drawing board, thinking through the pencil, testing out design ideas, staying loose and not getting too fixed on an outcome - this is the true joy of design for me,” explains Chelsea. “It has been the same for 20 years, and I love the history these simple implements hold for me in my design career. I still use them today.”
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“I was trying to find something to scent my house,” says Adrian. “Something other than floral or really sweet smells and there wasn’t much on the market then.” Adrian began experimenting with oils, “I like my candles to have a woody base or a heavy base,” he says.
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“My style is much more loose, uneven and natural looking. That’s wabi-sabi. I like knowing that it’s handmade. That it’s ceramic and really slow art. It takes time and you just have to be patient and slow down. And a lot of stuff doesn't work out. And you just have to let it go. And it's been really good for me to learn that. Acceptance. Accepting that it is what it is and letting it go.”
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While looking at Peter’s paintings, we realise that life is at the mercy of nature. “These storms can kill you, they’re lightning strikes that can kill you. I like to put that shining light of hope in there somewhere.” When poked about how much of Peter Watts is on the canvas, he quipps, “Trust me, it doesn't reflect my mind. My mind is clear and sunny.”
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Ruby Pilven is a Ballarat-based ceramic artist who creates dazzling porcelain ceramics riddled in coloured patterns.
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“I'm from a small town as well. So, this move for me, back to Daylesford, is a desire to give back to the grassroots community and really help people in a more human sort of way. That's the essence of Greywoods,” explains Blair. “It’s back to basics. It’s very family centred, it's about enabling communities and small businesses to do well with a cleaner, more professional, efficient marketing experience, but at an affordable price.”
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Daylesford’s Black Gallery, might look like a toast to Cubism from the outside but on the inside, the paintings of Cristina Doyle marvel in the emotional marriage of colour and emotion. “I love the freedom of Abstract painters,” says Cristina. “I love that it didn’t have to relate to the real world. Their paintings have movement, they have energy.”
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As we peer into Manteau Noir in Daylesford, a bunny dressed in shreds stares back at us, puzzling our imagination, the sculpture looks as though it has been dug-up from a grave. It’s gothic, mysterious and beautiful.
“Hip Hip Decay!” is the anthem of Ballarat artist Suzanne McRae, whose doll-like sculptures discover beauty in the grotesque collage of animals, Victorian fashion and fairy tales.
“We lived in Invermay, before it was fancy. Dad built an A-frame house. And so we had five acres of bush and paddocks and I would just go off by myself and play in the bush,” says Suzanne. “It was a great time.”
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“You've got a song you're singing from your gut, you want that audience to feel it in their gut,” writes Johnny Cash. “And you've got to make them think that you're one of them sitting out there with them too.”
As singer-songwriter Sean Dixon strums his guitar, his voice welcomes you into his past. On live stream videos he posts online, Sean stands barefoot with shaggy hair that sways as he wrestles with his guitar and cries out a poetic lament. “I can only do the best that I can,” sings Sean, “I find it hard to know what it is to be a man.”
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In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde writes, “I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.” In another time, Leah Johnston would circle Wilde’s orbit, draped in lace Victorian dress with Irezumi tattoos blossoming up her back. “My small farm is surrounded by various gum trees; I like to bring our local fauna into the grazing tables to really showcase the land element.” At Musk Farm, Leah glides around a table with leaves and owers that blossom on the ends of an opulent feasting table. A decadent assortment of soft cheeses dripping with honey, caramelized crackers and buttery pâté ow from the centre. She's launching her new catering business, Daylesford Grazing. As people pass by the room, littered with Renaissance paintings and French curtains, they quickly snap a photo.
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