Jodie Goldring was invited by Glenlyon Progress Association to be Artist in Residence along the Glenlyon Biolink Walking Trail during late October and through November in 2018. The walking trail meanders along the Loddon River for approximately 3 kms and has been replanted and tended by Landcare for over a decade.
Nature Devours Art will involve the Artist guiding participants through a series of activities that focus on getting to know plants along the river and using them to learn weaving techniques. Some of the artworks will be left in situ to create visual interest along the trail and due to the ephemeral nature of the work will disintegrate over time.
Friday October 26 was a slow start to the project but the twined surface within the exisiting branches of a tree started to take shape by the end of the day and will be continued during the project…
Sunday October 28 was all about participants learning to make string! A small number of Glenlyon residents came and became very involved in string making. It was lovely to see the group take a simple but invaluable basketry technique and make a discovery of their own, by using native messmate bark to make really strong and beautiful string. At the end of the day we walked along the trail to the chosen site and started the installation. No better way to spend a spring day…
On Sunday November 4, perfect weather for boat making bought a bigger crowd to the project. During the day there were 3 groups who learned how to use grass (collected from the walking trail) to make boats. Grass was cobbled (stitched) and wrapped using colourful wool into boat shapes and then wax was painted on the bottom to encourage sea worthiness! A perfect rapid was located and we dropped boats into the Loddon River and watched them shoot down the rapid into a pool below and gradually beach themselves on the bank. A very enjoyable day with a lovely sense of community, creativity and fun.
The morning group chatting as they make their boats.
Let’s arrange our boats together and admire them!
It was great to see families come and make boats in the afternoon.
A boat to be proud of!
A boat shoots down the rapid and into the pool below.
Boats at rest after a big day.
A little bit more twining was completed within the existing branches of a tree.
On Sunday November 11 participants worked really hard to make random weave birds! It took about 4 hours of weaving to make them entirely out of wild willow involving a little bit of sculptural engineering during the process. The birds were installed at the foot of a beautiful tree on the Glenlyon Biolink Walking Trail.
On Sunday 18th and Monday 19th November participants picked lomandra longifolia from along the Glenlyon Biolink Walking Trail and used it to create fine nests with bespoke tools (fids) made especially for the workshops. The nests were then installed in a beautiful young tree. Two young magpies visited and stayed – one gave us a great compliment by endorsing our project!
On Sunday November 25 participants started a wire work from discarded fencing wire found along the trail. The Artist also installed 2 of her own randomly woven baskets in a beautiful tree to create the work “2 birds in the bush is better than 1 in the hand”.
On Wednesday October 28 the local playgroup attended the project with young children and their mums making mud and grass nests inspired by the local chough’s.
Friday October 28th was beautiful warm weather for the last day of the project. Participants worked on individual projects such as looping wire over a rock, random weaving with lomandra, wreath making with a variety of plant material, coiling bullrushes and finishing the twined surface within the existing branches of a tree.
“Thank you to the Glenlyon Progress Association for inviting me to work along the Loddon River as I had a very enjoyable experience working with locals and others from around the region. The numbers of people who attended were lower than expected but the people that participated spoke highly of their experiences.
I would particularly like to thank Joy Durston for her efforts writing a successful grant application and administering the project, Margaret Lockwood whose work with Landcare has maintained the trail for a decade and Kaye and Elizabeth for generously hosting me for a night during the project.”
Jodie Goldring 