About the Artist:

Gill Brooks is a fibre artist who specialises in the ancient craft (with a modern twist) of felt-making. She attended her first workshop in 1994 and has been completely immersed in the medium ever since. She has a studio practise in Marrickville, Sydney where she designs and makes one of a kind and small production runs under her label ‘Feltwilde’.  She also runs regular felt-making workshops from her studio, community centres and local and regional craft groups, thrilled to be passing on the joys of felt-making to a new audience. 
Gill’s work and projects have been featured in various textile books and magazines over the years including Vogue Living, Beautiful Homes, Textiles Down Under and 500 Felts.
Her work is sold in galleries in Sydney and further afield and happily adorns many a convert worldwide.
Gills’ practise creates very little waste as most of her designs are based around re-using and re-cycling her own off-cuts and most of her materials are sourced from remnant and op-shops. The merino wool she uses is both sustainable and bio-degradable and as often as possible sourced from locally.
Website:  www.feltwilde.com.au

Romana Toson is a contemporary jeweller and artist.
A Visual Art degree set me on the Contemporary Jewellery path and it has led to many wonderful opportunities for learning, creating and teaching.  A return to making exhibition work in 2017 has been an exciting direction for my studio practice.
Website: www. romanatoson.com

Meryl Blundell is a Graphic Designer at Voss Design with her partner Ingo Voss. In 2006 Meryl co-established ‘Woodpapersilk’, formulated from a mere idea of having a place to create and sell her own hand crafted wool and silk wraps. It evolved into a Gallery shop showcasing artists of varying disciplines including textiles, glass, paintings, limited edition prints, ceramics, woodwork and contemporary jewellery. Meryl’s artwork or art practice for these years has been sourcing, collecting, designing, curating, displaying and photographing a unique collection of Australian made pieces.
Recently ‘Woodpapersilk’ scaled down to smaller premises, still offering a range of Australian hand-made items and hand-picked vintage collectibles. Meryl now has more time to focus on her own creative practice and is enjoying exploring her passion for creating jewellery.
As part of her contribution to A Handmade Life Exhibition for 2021 Meryl has curated the NEW A Handmade Life website and created virtual exhibitions for 2021, 2020 and a showcase of previous years. She would also like to thank Ingo for putting the website together, especially in such a short time frame. If you are or know anyone who is a maker/ entrepreneur attempting to go online, Meryl would highly recommend contacting Ingo at Voss Design as he can help you create an online presence.
Website:  www.woodpapersilk.com.au

Lorri Evans has worked in theatre costume making, fashion design, and dubious forays into the music industry as a singer and keyboard player. After the arrival of her first daughter Lorri saw a need for a comfortable, practical baby bootie. Leather seemed a natural choice of material for its innate softness and durability. The result was a colourful little shoe, very cute and one that actually stayed on her baby’s delicate feet.  
Being an instinctive textile maker it was a logical progression to rework this familiar medium in new ways, creating artworks and jewellery pieces from what otherwise would have been the throw away bi-product of her baby shoe industry.
Website:  www.shushu,com.au

Ro Cook is a Designer and Visual Artist. Throughout her career as a Production Designer in the Film and Television Industry she always maintained a studio practice in printmaking. She has lectured and tutored at various tertiary institutions including AFTRS, UTS and RMIT. Ro loves textiles and printing – she combined both to create Rokoco Textiles. Her areas of research are culturally specific textiles within Asia and Pacific Regions, and the use of natural pigments. She shares her life with a wonderful family and friends and her over loved Bedlington terriers.
Website:  www.rokoco.com.au

Kim Davies  In this strange year of disconnection which has challenged us all psychologically, Kim has been exploring our understanding of various states of being. There is an interconnectedness between parts of the body- the brain, the heart, the gut, as well as our interconnectedness with ‘nature’,  all layered with our metaphorical language to describe these states. 
This has resulted in ambiguous forms referencing both botany and human anatomy; strange hybrids representing moments of reflection and psychological states.
@taleoftheblackcat

Art Exhibition Hours:

Gallery hours:  daily 10am to 4pm

Art Exhibition Location:

Corner Percival Road & Myrtle Street, Stanmore