If you live in Victoria and you are interested in mosaics, or other forms of art, you might be interested in the Nillumbik Open Studios.
It will be running over two weekends in November – 17th and 18th, and again the following weekend -24th and 25th November from 11am – 5pm.

There are 38 artists and 25 studios open with a range of disciplines including painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, jewellery, textiles and photography. (I’m quoting directly from the website now).

An artist whom I am looking forward to visiting in her studio is Shaaron Smith. She looks like having some really interesting mosaic work.

The Nillumbik area was deeply affected by the Feb 7 Bushfires in 2009. If you are in the area you might also like to check out the mosaic seat outside the St Andrew’s hall. It was made by a group of women, many of whom lost their homes during the fires. The seat was made to tell the story of Feb 7 and beyond and to commemorate the event.

Another display of mosaics in the area, which you might like to have a look at, is the Strathewen letter box project. This was another initiative, after the fires, which was started by a local artist, who didn’t lose her house, and who wanted to support her community and all those who had lost so much. The town of Strathewen was substantially destroyed during the fires but these mosaic letter boxes bring a spark of hope back to the town.

So if you have a day free there is much to explore. That’s the plan for my day at least. I’ll post some photos if you can’t make it.