Creative women
By Hayley Manning
THE TASMANIAN Craft Fair, held annually in Deloraine, is an opportune time for visitors and locals to look around and find the artists who live and work in the Meander Valley all year round.
Deloraine Creative Studios on Emu Bay Road is a hub for all sorts of artists and craftspeople who work from their own creative spaces within the building. Other artists and craftspeople sell their art through the Studios and Pottery Hub.
All photos by Hayley Manning
Karen Scott-Hoy from Hawley Beach is a volunteer at the Studios and a Pottery Hub artist. She is adept at ceramic sculpture and carving large and miniature items from Huon pine, often combining the two to great effect. Karen recently took up needle felting, a technique that involves stabbing felt wool with barbed needles in order to bind the wool fibres together to create a solid fabric. She is currently making a series of Australian birds using locally sourced supplies from Highland Felting and Fibre.
Karen Scott-Hoy
In Studio 10, Leanne Ames of Migrimah Arts completed a TAFE Diploma of Art and Craft Design at four years ago. She creates her pieces with creative knotting, weaving and sumac, using natural, biodegradable materials, inspiration coming from Tasmanian old growth forests, the earth, mosses and ferns. Leanne uses a natural dye process with bush leaves and the use of fire. ‘I feel connected to a very ancient past, that is elusive, spiritual and a wonder.’
Leanne Ames and grand-daughter Alyssa Lord
Marilyn Patton of Studio 14 is a retired social worker who enjoys painting still life, flowers, landscapes, portraits and commission work. She travels from Ulverstone every fortnight and welcomes visitors to watch her paint. Marilyn was a finalist in the inaugural Women’s Art Prize Tasmania last year, and will submit another painting in October this year. ‘I come here quite a lot because I like to be here and interact with others. You know, when you get older, if you isolate yourself so much, it’s not good for you.’
Marilyn Patton
