MEET OUR ARTISANS

Virginia is a textile artist who uses vintage domestic knitting machines and innovative dyeing techniques to create original colourful scarves, earwarmers and mittens from natural fibres such as fine merino and alpaca .

She also uses her hand-cranked (reproduction) antique circular sock machine to produce one of a kind socks, perfect for our cool mountain weather.

Virginia's love of colour and high quality fibres is further showcased in her brightly coloured hand-dyed sock wool collection produced using a fine merino sock yarn base from Nundle Woollen Mills (NSW).

Owen Dwyer is a retired builder with a long standing love of wood. He finds great enjoyment working with the beauty of wood and relishes a challenge!

Owen has learnt many different techniques over the years from wood turning to intricate marquetry.

He uses a combination of these to create anything from small items of furniture to kitchen utensils and serving boards.

The wood selected to make these items is repurposed / salvaged wood collected from the Blue Mountains area.

He takes commissions and really enjoys being asked to make something that is different from the norm.

Lanasa Fabric specialise in hand dyed silks of unique style and brilliant colouring. Every piece they dye encompasses a little of the Blue Mountains, as the silks are dyed outside with the weather influencing the movement and blending of the colours on the silk.
Lanasa Fabric concentrate on producing scarves, but also dye lengths of silk or cotton to be made into other accessories. Various dyeing techniques are used. Their primary techniques are painting, shibori, and heliographic, but numerous other techniques including pot dyeing, dip-dyeing, stamping, LWI and resist are also used.
They make jewellery using Swarovski crystals and/or pearls, and also using leather and paracord. Small leather and paracord accessories are also part of their range.

Andy started to research and write history when, as a bushwalker, he took an interest in the journeys of an early explorer, the Frenchman Francis Barrallier. One of his journeys traversed what is now the Kanangra-Boyd Wilderness of the southern Blue Mountains. Andy enjoyed the process of research both in archives and in the bush. This led to his first book, a biography of Barrallier, in 1993.
Andy does his own historical research, writes the stories that arise from that research, and designs and publishes his own books. In all there have been five books, one of which he has been produced in a second edition. They all carry a strong environmental message.

Ayako designs simple, classic and long lasting style that chase no particular fashion trend and can be worn for years without fear of going out of date. Ayako makes women’s clothes and accessories. She uses good quality natural fabrics that are sourced from her home town in Japan and also from local suppliers.

Elizabeth creates a range of ceramic items from earrings to bells and travel mugs to bowls. Her work is often inspired by nature and she is connected to living here in the Blue Mountains.
Elizabeth generally gas fires to 1280 degrees and use stoneware clay bodies. This allows her work to be dishwasher and microwave safe and daily used. However sometimes she deviates and uses alternate firing methods such as raku, lustre and pit firing.

Jane makes contemporary jewellery and objects including spoons and boxes. She predominantly works with sterling silver but also include other metals, both precious – gold and non precious – copper, brass and pewter.  She enjoys adding the occasional pop of colour with semi precious gemstones, vitreous enamel (glass fused to a metal base) or non precious materials such as plastic or wood.

Jane loves the point at which a design or idea transforms into metal. Often the change from two to three dimensions produces unexpected outcomes, which can enrich the final product.

She also finds great satisfaction in finding seed pods that she believes will make great jewellery. It's the start of a long journey as many do not successfully transfer into metal and the anticipation is tantalizing!