Art blossoms
FOR Koonwarra artist Meg Viney, the proof was in the pudding last week when her series of workshops culminated into a display at Leongatha Hospital.
The accomplished fibre artist took a number of classes teaching environmental art, from basket weaving to plant felting, throughout spring.
The work made over the duration of the workshops is on display Leongatha Hospital reception until Thursday.
“The work on display is of an incredible standard. People have gone home and worked so hard. The skills shown here far surpass the 16 hours of class time,” Ms Viney said.
Jan Martin, South Gippsland Shire Council’s director of community services, launched the exhibition on Thursday evening.
“This project started at the Leongatha Community Garden with Gippsland Southern Health Service to promote community health,” she said.
“It is great to see the garden and these partnerships providing a number of great opportunities and projects in the community.”
Following successful feedback from her first series of workshops, Ms Viney hopes to continue classes in 2016.
“I have been doing fibre art since 1974. I had moved to San Francisco with my husband and found that relationships there were tuppence and nobody stopped to make friends,” she said.
“I found that making things was a really gentle way of managing and healing my life.”
Ms Viney followed her passion and went on to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
“The combination of working as a fibre artist and teaching is fantastic. It is wonderful to watch people realise they are capable of doing artistic things,” she said.
The workshops attracted a group of 14 locals of all ages.
“We had a lovely mix of adults and children come along and it was absolutely wonderful. At first people sat isolated from one another but as the weeks progressed and they became more confident at the art, they started to socialise,” Ms Viney said.
“It is a wonderful group of people and they are genuinely interested in each other’s work.”
Local talent: from left, fibre artist Meg Viney and South Gippsland Shire Council director of community services Jan Martin at the Environmental Art exhibition at Leongatha Hospital on Thursday evening.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Nov 24 2015. Filed under Arts & Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
