2nd annual th'ink tank project

2nd Annual Th'INK Tank Project

CJ and Brent from Limerence have announced the time has come again, for their annual hills community illustration competition. The Th'INK Tank Project has come to a close and it's time to present the entries, and winners, to us, and I for one can't wait. 

It's a terrific project, last year's inaugural project was a great success and showcased some amazing ink art on t'shirts.

Each year Limerence open entries to anyone who lives in the Shire of Yarra Ranges to submit a work in the form of a black and white image, of any medium on a particular theme - This years theme is 'Forest'. 

Limerence proprietors and artists CJ and Brent, they
are the driving force behind the Th'INK Tank Project.

Now that entries are closed Brent and CJ begin the arduous task of determining a winning design (or two) to be printed on a limited edition series of 100% organic fair trade cotton t-shirts, and as of this year, 100% organic cotton hoodies also.  It is a community event is designed to get locals excited about art, to help be a platform for young and emerging artists, and to create some truly enique and exciting clothing to be sold from their store. 


Be sure to mark Friday August 31st between 6pm and 8pm in your diary to celebrate the fantastic work of our local artists.  Limerence are located at 2/1642 Burwood Hwy, Belgrave. On the night the Limerence team will be announcing the winning design and releasing the t-shirts and hoodies for sale.

It's sure to be a great night, I'll look forward to seeing you there. 

If you need any more info check the Limerence facebook site or email  info@limerence.com.au.

limerence announces 2012 th'ink tank project

It's great to learn that Brent and CJ from Limerence (in Belgrave) are running their second Th'INK Tank Project.

The Th'INK Tank Project is a community based t-shirt design competition that centres itself around local artist exposure and promotion while also providing the winning artists with display space with some unique, limited edition pieces of clothing.

This year's theme is FORESTS. Entries close 2 March. The two winning designs will be printed on a series of limited edition, organic cotton t-shirts exclusively available through Limerence, each labelled with the artist's name. Entries are limited to 'hills folk' - you know who you are.

If you want to know more, check the event page on facebook.

Last year's Th'INK Tank was a great project and not only provided some very exclusive and funky clothing but gave winning artist Nina Maskiell an alternative venue to display and sell her work. It's terrific to see business support local artists and locals support this terrific boutique business in Belgrave.

belgrave abuzz

It was wonderful to be able to celebrate the success of two new small businesses in Belgrave.

Last Friday saw the launch of the very first Th'INK Tank project at Limerence. Twice a year Limerence opens entries for the Th'INK Tank project, a competition for interested artists to submit designs to be printed on a limited run of Australian made, organic cotton t-shirts. An exhibtion of the finalists is currently on the wall at Limerence and well worth a look. The pen and ink work is just extraordinary.

Pictured left to right in front of the winning art work: Winning artist, Nina Maskiell, Cr Samantha Dunn and Limerence owners CJ Baxter and Brent Dakis.

CJ and Brent intend to run the Th'INK Tank project twice a year to provide local artisans with an opportunity for great exposure and also provide access to exciting and high quality pieces of wearable art.

On the same night owners of Through the Looking Glass, recycled book shop celebrated their first birthday with music, wine and song. I had the great pleasure of being barrel girl for the raffle draw and was delighted to pull out the names of some well known locals.

Pictured with me are business owners Sarah (left) and Margo (right). They've done a great job with their book selection and have really found their niche in the town.

Both businesses are a terrific additions to Belgrave and well worth a visit whether you be a local or a visitor.

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.

selbyfest a hit

Congratulations to organisers of Selbyfest. It was a great community festival with something for everyone. From the fantastic rocket launches, through to the fabulous fashion parade, everyone was catered for. The organising committee have put in many hours of hard work, and it showed.

Many groups were represented on the day including the Dandenong Ranges Renewable Energy Association, Sea Shepherd, No Room for Racism, TVAG and the Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group. Supported by the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the Belgrave Community Bank (Bendigo Bank) Selbyfest was a wonderfully organised event, featuring a plethora of local musicians, it was wonderful to share that great sense of community and see Selby Community House feature as a central point of the festival.

Well done to Julian, Leanne and everyone involved, you did a great job and I hope there are many more Selbyfests to come.

hillscene zine – ed 2 out now

It was terrific to go to the official launch of The Hillscene, a maga'zine' about all the interesting people and things happening in the Dandenong Ranges.

Here I am pictured with Hillscene Editor, Adriana Alvarez, I was pleased to be able to support Hillscene get off the ground with the first edition.

Local artists and writers joined with designer/editor Adriana Alvarez to celebrate the second edition of this new zine at Limerence in Belgrave.

It’s terrific to see the development of zines aimed at local community and culture. Hillscene gives local people the opportunity to write about their passion and at the same time let people know about what’s going on in this vibrant arts community.

You can get your copy of Hillscene at local shops and cafes around Belgrave, Tecoma and Upwey.

banksia business

It was terrific to learn that the Shire of Yarra Ranges Sustainable Business Program has been listed as a finalist in the Banksia Environmental Awards for the "Education – Raising the Bar" category.

The Banksia Environmental Awards are regarded as the most prestigious environmental awards in Australia. It's an honour to be selected as a finalist in the awards and is a credit to the Economic Development Department who work with local businesses and the Sustainable Business Program.

The Yarra Ranges Sustainable Business Program assists local businesses to embrace sustainability. The program empowers companies to use new tools and thinking to drive environmentally sustainable practices in their businesses that considers people and planet, and it's good for the bottom line too. As a direct result of the Sustainable Business Program, program participants have introduced energy saving initiatives that have saved up to 3,300 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (not including the 2009 program).

Other notable sustainable practices that program participants have introduced into their businesses include adopting significant behaviour change strategies that have allowed a number of participants to reengage with staff and strongly boost staff morale, in turn reducing staff turnover and empowering key staff to take leadership in their organisations and implementing best practices for marketing sustainability and for formulating sustainability policies that pertain to tendering for public contracts which have significant export operations.

The Banksia Awards Ceremony will be held on Friday 15th October 2010 at the Sydney Town Hall.

Here I am pictured with Brent and CJ, proprietors of Limerence, at the opening of their new store in Belgrave. Small business plays an important role in the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the Sustainable Business Program is one of the ways council supports small business. 59.7% of businesses in Yarra Ranges consist of only the owner/operator, whilst 28.2% employ between 1 and 4 people, combined these businesses make up a large proportion of the business community in our local economy.

Limerence is well worth a visit, it is a unique retail space located at 1642 Burwood Hwy, Belgrave. Brent and CJ strive to provide an environment, which brings the local community together to celebrate all things creative. They are committed to keeping it local, and keeping it fair and aspire to provide the community with Australian, hand made fashion and jewellery, as well as be a commercial exhibition space for artisans of all kinds.