The world is an amazing place. Just when I thought Id better try looking for a 'proper job'*, though a friend of a friend of a friend, I heard about a fantastic opportunity at the wonderfully local St Josephs Catholic Primary school in Crib Point who had teamed up with the equally wonderful SongRoom to turn a plain looking cow into something special for the Picasso Cow project. A couple of weeks later and I was busily knitting away with a posse of suitably crafty individuals to create a a colourful coat for "Woolameana". I think shes rather gorgeous...

* That's an entirely different blog post and someday I'll endeavor to express my feelings on promotional work, sustainable art practice, hobbists and what its all about...

Way back in the early part of the year, I began putting together a proposal for a Community Art project to present as part of the Mornington Peninsula Shire's Placemaking Grants program. The concept built on a previous pop up Art experience presented as part of Balnarring Village Common's 2010 World Environment Day Celebrations, where participants expressed their hopes for their environment and displayed those thoughts on a tree. The new project continues the idea, using the form of Tibetan prayer flags to express the community's hopes and dreams.
Fortunately - the grant application was successful, so in July planning began for community workshops to be held throughout winter and spring. From the beginning, the plan was to display the flags as part of the Balnarring Spring Garden Festival in October - but with the Balnarring Community Sustainability Fair scheduled for the previous week - wiser heads prevailed and we decided to combine the events... such a good way to reach a broader audience all the while staying sane with the amount of effort needed to put on this kind of thing. Phew.
Test workshops began in July with the Presentation Family Centre Holiday Program and continued with the Balnarring Quilters and local brownies having fun with text, printmaking techniques and stitching.

The next workshop happens at the Balnarring Hall on Friday August 21 4-5.30 pm... stay tuned.