open studio, open for business

This year's Dandenong Ranges Open Studio marks 10 years of artists throwing open their doors to visitors over an autumn weekend in the Dandenongs.



It was terrific to see local artist Neil McLeod drop in to the opening
of the Open Studio Group Exhibition at Burrinja, we were
joined by local artist Joy Serwylo, who has been exhibiting as
part of Open Studios every year since the exhibition's inception.
Back in 2000 Neil McLeod donated a significant collection of
indigenous art to the people of Yarra Ranges, a very generous
and wonderful gift.

Be sure to pencil Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 April into your diary for a weekend of art, good food, fine company and gorgeous scenery up in the Dandenong Ranges.

Don't forget to drop into Burrinja to visit the group exhibition, remember 20% of Open Studio purchases at Burrinja go to local emergency relief agency, the Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Service.

For more info on Open Studios click here.

time to get on board again

It's nearly time to get back on board the No Maccas express, the appeal for McDonalds in Tecoma will recommence at VCAT on Monday 3rd of September and is scheduled for 2 days (Mon 3 and Tues 4).

No Maccas in the Hills are coordinating the No Maccas Express, departs Belgrave Station at 8:31am (last carriage), might see you on board.

The hearings commence 10am daily and VCAT is located at 55 King Street, Melbourne.

You can find out campaign info at the No Maccas in the Hills website.

One of our community's more creative submissions, Hambuggery by Joy Serwylo.


HAMBUGGERY
by Joy Serwylo

My Daddy drove me up to see
The forest lush and green,
When I was just a babe in arms

And hardly even weaned.

He held me in his arms and sang
And showed me birds and trees.
He marvelled at the grandeur
Of the forest in the breeze.
Though I was far too young to know
He wanted me to feel,
How precious was this lovely place
How sacred and surreal.

 

Well, I grew up but always longed
for forests rich and green.
To live where good folk knew my name,
To breathe air fresh and clean.
To share in a community,
Believe in what is good.
To put my faith in honesty
And do the best I could.
And part of that, is cherishing
The gifts that we’ve been given.
Not always wanting greater, bigger,
Always being driven.

We’re just a little village
And we don’t want huge and tall,
We don’t need fast food megamarts
Or fancy shopping malls.
We don’t want yellow lights all night
With all their advertising.
Or that awful black box building
Spewing out those fast food wrappings
We’re fighting rampant urban sprawl
And cooperate domination,
That says to us that “we need this”
But feels like strangulation.
And all that extra traffic
Clogging up our little roads.
If we’d had really thought it out
We’d never have cane toads.

Well, its clear I am no poet,

I’m an artist, I just paint.
And the reason that I live up there
Is that its never changed.
Now, I understand there’s “progress”,
And there’s “moving up and on”.
But mega modern fast food joints
Don’t fit our sleepy town.
Tecoma’s far from perfect,
Its a cute and small and neat.
A tourist spot, a family place
A holiday retreat.
Please let our hometown stay the way
that we want it to be,
Without a truckstop mega drivethru
huge hamburgery.

hamburger - fast food vs slow food



Rod Quantock was moderator for the debate, Fast
Food is good for you.



Hamburger, the cultural event at Burrinja over the weeked was a great success. My congratulations to the Burrinja team who were inspired to put it together.

The debating teams...from left to right:
David Jewell - TVAG, Joy Serwylo, Cr Samantha
Dunn, Rod Quantock - moderator, Paul O'Halloran
and Nick Johnson - comedian.

Fast Food Friday saw the debate, Fast Food is Good For You, moderated by Rod Quantock and a screening of Supersize Me. Compelling and many hilarious, if not dubious, reasons were put forward by both sides to argue their case. It was very entertaining, the room was packed with people who brought along their picnic dinner to start the night's entertainment.

Local artist, Joy Serwylo, put foward some
hilarious reasons as to why fast food was
good for you.

Slow Food Sunday was a different affair. Community members came to workshops to learn how to make zines, soft sculptures and collages. The key theme, the proposed McDonalds in Tecoma.

Rod Quantock presenting some of Joy's 'interesting'
graphs to prove her point of why fast food is
good for you on Fast Food Friday.

TVAG provided lunch with a sausage sizzle and scones with jam and cream. TVAG are currently raising funds along with the No Maccas in the Hills group to fund the appeal for the VCAT hearing.

If you'd like to be kept up to date with what's happening with the No Maccas in the Hills campaign you can visit their website here.

Fast Food is Good For You, the Black Box at Burrinja
was packed for a night of hilarity.

open studios coming soon - 28 & 29 may

The group exhibition for the Dandenong Ranges Open Studio opened this week at Burrinja. It was a terrific night and a great way to showcase all the artists involved in this year's open studios.

It was wonderful to catch up with local artists and chat all things art in the Dandenongs. Open Studios is on next weekend, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th May across the Dandenong Ranges. Local artists open up their studios and welcome visitors across the two days.

Joy Serwylo does amazingly intricate work, this year's works feature rusted cars and torn encyclopaedias in a new body of work called "relics". Joy's studio is well worth a visit.

Kirsten Laken is a very well known and loved glass artist. Working with a variety ot techniques, Kirsten uses hot and cold glass, stain painting, fusing and slumping. She pushes the boundary of glass art and always has an extraordinary breadth of work. A must for this year is checking out the solar panelled chook shed with self opening doors!

CJ Baxter and Brent Dakis are newcomers to Open Studios, operating Limerence in Belgrave, they are both committed to Australian made and local art. CJ, under the label Twisted Fig, creates unique clothing and accessories from reclaimed fabrics whilst Brent creates amazingly unique jewellery from found objects under the label Depths of the Never Never. They have created a wonderful space at Limerence in Belgrave, it's well worth having a look.

If you'd like an Open Studio's catalogue click here.

Can't make up your mind who to see? Perhaps a quick visit to Burrinja for a bit of a preview will help.

arts open up

Today saw the first day of the Dandenong Ranges Open Studio weekend. It was a great day out, artists threw open their doors to welcome visitors from near and far to chat, visit the studio, find out more about the artist and perhaps buy some work.

I managed to get around quite a few artists, seven studios in total, all welcoming with artists readily chatting about their work and the creative process.

This is me with artist Joy Serwylo (from Upwey). Joy's work is exquisite, intricate and detailed, using many different media in her creations. She has a great creativity and the political and social commentary in her works is engaging as well as thought provoking. Her studio is always worth a visit.

This year I also visited the studio of Karen Scott in Upwey. Karen does the most amazing mandalas and she has a particular passion for insects in her work. Her work is very precise, the colours rich and vibrant, it's quite stunning.

Here I am with Jenny Rowe, a sculptor based in Tecoma. Jenny's studio, set in a lush gully with towering tree ferns is wonderful. Her works are dotted throughout the garden and set quite a stunning sight. Her work inspires tranquility and her sculptures are steeped in mythology.

Dandenong Ranges Open Studio has a record 24 artists participating this year, their work diverse and covering many different media, themes and aesthetics all based on the theme 'regenerate'. If you want to see a snapshot of all the artists participating this year I highly recommend a quick visit to the Jarmbi Gallery at Burrinja, it's an impressive exhibition and reinforces the Dandenongs as an inspirational place for artists to live and work.