Friday 18 July 2008

spur of the moment


Reading handmadelife over toast and tea this morning I realised that if I didn't go today I would totally miss the Victorian exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery. So I put my day on hold and hit the road. 


Apart from a couple of very strangely wrong descriptions, it was a pearl of a show. This collection is amazing and what was on show is a mere drop in the ocean, tip of the iceberg, seed bead on a wedding dress, of what the collection contains.  


Wedding dresses so tiny they would barely fit a child today. Beautiful fabrics. Beaded shoes. Handmade lace. Dead black mourning clothes. A child's cape of violet velvet. A whole different world.


But probably my favourite piece was a plain chocolate silk Quaker maternity dress with handmade buttons.

Bendigo Art Gallery is seriously kickin' arse with its exhibitions.
Small and perfectly formed.


5 comments:

  1. oh - I am a secrete Bendigo reader of your blog - damn it - it would have been lovely to invite you around for a cuppa and a show off of my studio.
    Glad you had a good day at the gallery but

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  2. excited about your upcoming show!
    sad about the cuppa- started to fade on the way home- only 1 cup of tea in the morning doesn't keep me going!
    (although it means I didn't have to keep having pit-stops!)

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  3. sooooo jealous, but soooo glad you took such great pictures, and that maternity dress just makes me think of deadwood - in the best possible way of course, am also beside self with excitement about the apples! (i'm hoping i'm NOT being too presumtuous - there are a lot of becks out there to be sure but how many of them are knocked up and craving the harcourt goodness eh?)
    you are the beezneez miss penpen
    xxxb

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  4. your quaker dress almost co-incided with my need to be amish!
    Harcourt apples are heaven, next time your there go to Bress winery/cidery and get some pink lady cider... now that is really good... made the same as champagne, but cider......

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  5. I love that there is an alpacary and a cidery on that road! -ry words too cool!

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