Creative Women's Circle

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. As I suspected things have been ramping up with the move. We had a Garage Sale (car boot sale) on the weekend in an attempt to off load some of our stuff (I'm a bit of a collector of "things" with "possibility") but it wasn't all together a hit. Three potential problems. 1. I forgot to advertise in the local paper (doh!) 2. it was terrible weather 3. the extension of our street was closed for road works.....yep, probably not a good combination for a successful sale. ANYWAY..... moving along. Tomorrow morning we are having our house photographed to advertise for lease, so I'm now madly trying to put all the non-sale objects back into hiding spots in an attempt to give the house an uncluttered, spacious look! This is a challenge in itself given we have 2 toddlers & at times feel we're living in a play centre.


I've been asked to speak this Saturday to a group of women called the Creative Women's Circle who get together every 2 months here in Melbourne. As the name suggests, they are like-minded artistic women from varying backgrounds who all enjoy doing creative things. I have been a sporadic member of this group for 3 years and of course now that I am moving away wish that I had been a little more regular, as it is fantastic way to meet people & share ideas. The group discussions vary from meeting to meeting but there is generally a couple of speakers who talk for about 30 minutes each. Always presented in a relaxed informal environment (mostly over a coffee & muffin) the topics have ranged from "legal issues around copyright" to "what do you think of my new prototypes?" If you are in Melbourne and would like to come along it is held on the first Saturday every second month (next meeting April 5th) at the MARS Gallery Cafe Space, 418 Bay St, Port Melbourne from 11am to 1pm. Contact Dearne for further details or to RSVP.


Last year I was fortunate to be involved in a series of workshops the CWC held in conjunction with the Queen Victoria Women's Centre. CWC members volunteered to run 6 workshops over a couple of months, for a group of Eritrean refugees and African migrant women. My sister & I put together a session on making cushions. There were also workshops on jewellery making, knitting & crochet, painting & embellishing textiles. The idea behind the series was to share our knowledge of both traditional & contemporary crafting skills which resulted in Entwine: Crafting Cultural Connections Exhibition. It was a fantastic experience being able to all enjoy a common interest that so easily communicates regardless of language or cultural backgrounds. The women were very inspiring - it sure puts life into perspective meeting people who have had such difficult lives and yet still remain happy & content. That smile is priceless!


So this got me thinking that I can share a few links of other members of the CWC who are already online in some form.
Emma Greenwood has a blog called Aprons & Hammers. Emma is a Footwear & Accessories Designer who has her own label called Emerge.
Dearne Herrenberg is the founder & organiser of the group. She runs her own Interior Design business & also has a jewellery label called Mainichi. (I'll be featuring Dearne in a Mini 10 very soon so keep an eye out for that one).
Christina Jonsson is also one of the very early members and has a label called SO! indesign. She is a graphic designer who uses her eye for aesthetic to create beautiful bags & clothing.
Candice Molnar of CDM Photography volunteered her time for every workshop to photograph the Entwine participants for the Exhibition. Her photos were stunning and created a pictorial journey of the women over the course of weeks.

As there is such an interesting mix of women in the group I will endeavour to put together a list in the left column to other CWC members online. Stay tuned!