Blog Post from Lorne, Victoria 27 June 2023 I left home on June 9 so have now been away 18 days. This has seen my partner drive over 2,000 km with me navigating and route planning. We arrived on June 12 just in time to set up my first Victorian solo exhibition, Paper Hero at The Ladder Artspace, Kew. With […]
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Someone very close to me has produced this beautiful and insightful review. I am humbled. Queensland artist Zela Bissett redefines the meaning of botanical art with her unique works composed of plant fibre, containing actual plant fragments and decorated with inks brewed from bark, berries and fruit. Zela uses plants seasonally harvested from her permaculture garden, or weed plants she […]
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Around 1996 I was forced by circumstances to move my main arts practice from claywork to fibre arts. I had been making reduction-fired stoneware in a wood-burning kiln with fallen timber and mill offcuts, but working full time as a teacher with three children prompted changes. Thanks to a group of active paper-makers around the Sunshine coast, I discovered an […]
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Sometimes events take place which we wish could have been shared by those who are no longer embodied here with us. My research on the life and work of John Sinclair OA has touched on the family of Moss Cass, Australia’s first Environment Minister. His daughter Deborah, whose life ended all too soon, shared an interest with John Sinclair in […]
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After having an operation to repair two hernias on March 4, I have been taking it easy at home. For the first few days after being released from hospital, I was a bit dopey and sore, but came up with a project I could do without hurting myself – a sewing project. I had received a prompt to enter the […]
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Buying a press I took a chance recently and decided that since I have a good supply of my handmade papers it would be interesting to try printing some of my designs onto them. My regular readers know that I like to do things from first principles, such as making my own paper, inks and twine. However in the case […]
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Over recent months, a major project has been taking taking up a lot of space in my studio – the Duets project. This is a local partnership initiative which paired up artists with different practices to see what creative endeavours would unfold. This exciting project has seen me working every week with my Duets buddy and friend, Lesa Bell. Lesa […]
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Lesa Bell interviews Zela Bissett about her arts practice and papermaking among the gardens that inspire her and provide some of the raw materials for her artworks. Zela Bissett’s studio has been a popular attraction over the years at Gympie’s Studio Trails. Zela reports that when visitors arrive they would often be as interested in the garden as the artworks. […]
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This year’s Gympie Garden Expo has been brought forward into April! Saturday April 27 is the date to mark. In previous years I have done a range of activities: last year it was papermaking with garden clippings and prunings, the previous year a panel partnership with Uncle Eugene Bargo, a knowledgeable Indigenous florist. This year I have offered a workshop […]
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I have been asked to present a talk on the theme, My Culture. My Story, at the Gympie Regional Art Gallery very soon (Thursday 14 February). Below is a condensed version, as on the night the presentation will be augmented with 36 images on PowerPoint slides. I’ve lived my life in rather flimsy shelters. As a girl in the evenings, […]
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