The Johnston Collection

Today a friend took me to the Johnston Collection.  What a wonderful exhibition!!!
I had heard about the this museum but had never been.  The exhibition we saw today was a Christmas collection.  It runs until February and I recommend it highly.
We met at the Hilton and were driven the short distance to the house.  We were then broken up into smaller groups and taken through the house by volunteer guides who could tell us lots of interesting details about the things we were seeing. Apparently, this is the best time of year to go, the groups are small and you get plenty of time to really look closely at the works.  And they deserve a close look!

Artists or groups (such as the Embroiderers' Group, Handweavers and Spinners, CWA, etc) from different regions of Victoria have been invited to make decorations for the Christmas exhibition over recent years.  This year the display was of many of the works made for the last 5 years.

The works had been designed in response to items in the house and were presented in the rooms where the inspirational artefacts were kept.  It was amazing.  Such varied techniques, such fine detail, so many hours having gone into the works.
There was hand and machine embroidery  (some amazingly fine work - in both senses of the word). There was patchwork and quilting, knitting and crochet, beading, porcelain, sand painting, ceramics, hand made lace, doll making, miniatures, glass slumping (if that's what you call it) and other techniques I don't know the name of.  But that doesn't do justice to the creativity of the designs and how they related to the house.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos, so no images.  You will just have to go and see it for yourself.