Creative adrenaline rush at Crafts Council

FOR almost thirty years, the Crafts Council of Ballarat has brought vibrant life, creativity, colour, texture and enterprise to the historic Adam Lindsay Gordon cottage.

Set up by the City as a community for artists and craftspeople within a 75-kilometre radius of Ballarat, the Council has 50 members, with about 45 makers selling their hand-made products in the cottage.

Secretary June Waterhouse, a unique jewellery-maker, said the group’s base in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens is “beautiful and calm,” full of artistic inspiration, and interesting tourists to meet and greet.

When visitors do pop into the cottage for a browse, they experience a diverse range of arts and crafts by makers who are often multi-skilled.

“We have absolutely everything. Anything to do with paper, like cards with artists’ imagery, jewellery of all different varieties, and all textiles, from knitting to art textiles, fine embroidery, and even preserves,” she said.

“We’re all in it because we simply enjoy making things. We aim not to duplicate what our exhibitors offer, so we don’t have three shelves of the same thing.

“It’s an adrenaline rush for your creativity to see what others are making. We just like to sell our crafts so we can make more,” Ms Waterhouse laughed.

President Liz Cocks said the cottage constantly “reinvents itself” as fashions, crazes, interests and members come and go.

“It’s important for a business to change and watch trends, and when we put a new person on the Council, a new range of products come into the cottage,” she said.

The Crafts Council operates on two tiers. Some members simply join for a small fee and can assist in the running of the cottage, while others pay a little bit more to exhibit and sell their work there.

Members are put on a roster to serve cottage customers and sell the work of their fellow creatives. They have quarterly social events, and an annual themed exhibition during the June long weekend.