By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] F[/dropcap]or a dedicated op-shopper and sucker for the secondhand like me, walking into the Fletcher Jones Markets is overwhelming to the senses.

And I am not the only one.

Since Bluestone Magazine moved into a small office above the markets, I have been privy to the comings and goings of the dozens of people who venture in for a look around. And they all do what I did on my first visit: stop, stare and sort of slowly exhale when they realise this is second-hand heaven, market Mecca, op-shop overload.

“When I first saw the place, I fell in love with the place,” says stallholder Eric van der Wal, a retired federal public servant who has collected antiques all of his life and is now selling off a few pieces as a hobby.

Eric is one of 26 different stall holders who, between them, have filled two levels of what was once the Fletcher Jones factory floors with an eclectic and colourful variety of collectables, antiques, clothing, vintage, vinyl records, ephemera, furniture, dining wear, trinkets, soaps, wind chimes, musical instruments, artworks and a mind-boggling array of bits and bobs.

“People can wander through here and find something whether they are a serious collector, or whether they are just looking for some nice little piece to take home that is cheap,” Eric says.

But it wasn’t always as alluring.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] M[/dropcap]any of the stallholders remember the “difficult days” when the markets were part of the Mill Markets group, run by the then-owner of the Fletcher Jones complex, Ian Ballis, whose company went into administration in mid-2012.

While the future of the Fletcher Jones site hung in the balance, the markets stalled and then barely clung on as the derelict factory began to continue to fall apart around them.

But then businessman Dean Montgomery, who hails from Geelong but now lives in China, bought the 2.3ha site in early 2014 and began an entirely new chapter for the factory.

Fears the markets would be “moved on” were not only put to one side, but the entire space has seen significant amounts of money spent on repairs and making the markets look clean, water-tight and professional.

As one stallholder says, snapping her fingers, “we were so used to being told things would get done and they would never happen, to now being told something will get done and it happens like that!”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] O[/dropcap]n-site manager Troy Kelly, who began 12 months ago, said the markets were part of the long-term vision for the complex, which will centre on the Warrnambool Motor Museum that is now under construction at the far eastern end.

“We would hope to continue to make the markets bigger and better as part of a mix that will bring a whole variety of different people here, and who can make a day of it,” Troy explained.

That mix will include the car museum, scheduled to open in 2016, the markets, the art studios at Factory Arts, and the new Outlaw Gallery, all overlooking the refurbished Pleasant Hill gardens that now have the help of paid gardeners provided through Western District Employment Agency (WDEA).

“In just the time I have been here we are starting to see a real increase in foot traffic and that is only going to get better,” Troy said.

Eric has noticed the same shift.

“Everything is looking and feeling a lot better,” he says.

“There is so much enthusiasm around what can be done and it is great to be a part of that.”

[box]The FJ Markets are at the western end of the Fletcher Jones factory, Flaxman St, Warrnambool. Open seven days from 10am -5pm. You can also find them on Facebook here.[/box]

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Uncovered: Rena Jones’ lovely letter to the people

True love: backyard hens and the egg factor

 

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] I [/dropcap]n that funny way of life, a painful and unexpected event can often lead to a fresh start and a new way of doing things, which is exactly what happened to Warrnambool chocolate maker Natalie Marshall.

It is almost 10 years since Natalie suffered a work accident at the former Nestle’s factory, in Dennington, and was eventually unable to return to her job because of chronic back pain. It was while undergoing rehabilitation, however, that she thought about taking a new path in life.

“I used to make chocolates at home when I was a kid and I started to think about possibly doing this as a proper business,” Natalie explained.

“After all, people love chocolates!”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] N [/dropcap]atalie spent 12 months investigating how to start a small business and drew up a detailed business plan for Natalie’s Hand Made Chocolates that included a start-up menu of 12 different chocolate varieties all made from a Cadbury chocolate base.

Finally, about three years ago, she went public with her sweet treats at her first market and proved her theory right: people really do love chocolate!

Actually, it was not her very first market, as Natalie once sold some chocolates at a Port Fairy market as a 16 year old, after being invited along by a friend.

“I turned up with a plate of chocolates that I had made in my Mum’s kitchen and I had them spread out on a plate with some Glad Wrap over the top: that was it,” she laughed.

“And you know what? I sold out!”

 

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] M [/dropcap]arkets have certainly evolved since the days of Glad Wrap covered plates, with savvy customers now looking for hand-made products that are beautifully presented and packaged and that keep up to speed with changing tastes.

Natalie still makes her chocolates from home, which she shares with her mother and co-worker, Virginia Marshall, but it is now a registered commercial kitchen that produces not 12, but 35 different menu items including two of her best sellers; a white raspberry chocolate and a rocky road.

“I have been really, really pleased with how it has gone and how we have grown,” she said.

Natalie, Virginia and two friends are familiar faces on the south-west Victorian market circuit and will often attend up to four markets a weekend between them, stretching from Willaura, to Geelong, to Port Fairy. It can be exhausting work, but Natalie is determined to keep growing.

“One day, I hope to be able to open my own chocolate shop here in Warrnambool: that’s the five-year plan,” she said with a smile.

[box type=”bio”] Natalie’s Hand Made Chocolates can also be found in florists and select stores around south-west Victoria, including Cheeseworld, Allansford. Visit the Facebook page here.[/box]

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[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] G [/dropcap]iven it is almost Christmas, we thought we would highlight some of the wonderful creators around South-West Victoria who have featured so far in Bluestone Magazine and who will be appearing at either a market or a gallery over Summer.

Bluestone Magazine is a strong believer in art and creativity as a vital ingredient in any community and we have really enjoyed bringing you the stories behind some of the region’s best known artists who exhibit widely, but also the stories of those who are just starting out and, in some cases, working from a tiny studio or their kitchen table.

This includes people like Alesha Carter and Narelle Smith, sisters from Warrnambool, who this year started 2bird Designs. They create affordable jewellery using largely scrapbooking materials and carefully selected fabrics and have been delighted by the response to their work.

“We only started in March, but the markets have been going really well. I think it’s because we aim for everyone between 16 and 80,” Alesha said, laughing.

Rather than spend your hard-earned dollars on a mass produced product for Christmas, please think about purchasing a piece of locally made art or craft: there is nothing quite like it. For inspiration, see some of our creators below.

[box type=”bio”] Some of the artists and creators featured below will be at The Artery Christmas Market, this Sunday December 15, 224 Timor St, Warrnambool.[/box]

Rachel Peters is a well-established artist in South-West Victoria, with her most recent exhibition at Scope Galleries featuring works inspired by a ‘Healing Walk’ along the Fiery Creek. (You can catch up on that story here). Rachel, however, also creates cards and jewellery inspired by the landscape, that are for sale through The Artery markets.

 

 

 

Merran Koren creates large-scale sculptures from Mt Gambier stone that she bends to her will with the  help of some fairly industrial-strength tools. One of her most significant works, Nurture, is displayed at the entrance to Lyndoch Residential Care, Hopkins Rd, Warrnambool. She also has a studio space at The Artery. Read our full story on Merran here.

 

 

 

 

Helen Bunyon has been a part of the South-West Victorian arts scene for more than 20 years, since relocating from Melbourne. Apart from running the Customs House Gallery in Hawkesdale (formerly in Warrnambool) with her husband Des, and being heavily involved in The Artery, Helen also creates her own jewellery from recycled watches and found objects known as the Time Flies series.

 

 

 

Surrealist photographer Berit Hampel is part of an artists’ collective who exhibit and sell their work through the Whale Bone Gallery, Bank St, Port Fairy. Her work is evocative, yet often playful, and it is her manipulation of the images that creates their engrossing stories. You can catch up on Berit’s full story here.

 

 

 

 

 Jon Hayes is a heavy metal man. The Timboon sculptor takes rusty old farm tools or discarded hunks of metal and transforms them into one-off garden ornaments or  industrial-size braziers. You’ll find Jon, who works under the name Tomrtoe Designs, at local markets most weekends including Port Fairy, Trentham, Daylesford, Birregurra, and Port Campbell. Visit his Facebook page here or website here.

 

 

 

 Yambuk artist Sarah Gubby recently held her first solo exhibition at Blarney Books & Art that featured photography, textiles and intricate baskets. (You can catch up on that story here). Sarah, who has a studio space at The Artery, also sells her photographic works at The Artery markets.

 

 

 

 

Meg Finnegan is a Port Fairy sculptor who works with ceramics, copper and limestone to create works from the very large to the intricate. Meg also runs the beautiful Limestone Gallery in Port Fairy, that is open to visitors. You can read our story on Meg here and visit the gallery Facebook here.

 

 

 

 

 

Rosebrook artist Clare Fennessy creates ceramics under the name Claybody and her unique way of combining the rustic and the delicate make her work instantly recognisable. You can usually find Clare at the local art markets, but her work is also available to view online.

 

 

 

 

Ella Webb is becoming something of a phenomenon around South-West Victoria with her intricate drawings of the natural world. Since picking up a pencil several years ago, she has not looked back and now sells her work through gift shops, markets and online. Read our story here and find her on the web here.

 

 

 

 

Johanna Glennen is part of a major shift in how young mothers balance parenthood with making a living from their craft, and that is to sell online. Johanna creates infant and children wear under the joeyjellybean label and incorporates many of her own designs that are screenprinted onto the fabrics. You can often find her at local markets, including The Artery, and via her Facebook page. You can find our full story on Johanna here.

 

 

 

[box] * Next week we will feature a wrap up of local food producers that we have profiled this year in Bluestone Magazine.[/box]

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] K [/dropcap]ate Bouman has taken the long way round, but she has finally come back to creating the delicate art she first began to explore as a child.

Growing up in Pomonal, a speck of a town between Halls Gap and Ararat, Kate loved to draw realistic pictures of the people and things around her and, at the age of 12, displayed her paintings in the Pomonal art show.

There were no major prizes to be won, but the high praise she received for her work encouraged Kate to keep going and, after finishing secondary school, she applied to study art in Bendigo and Ballarat.

Unbelievably, an administrative mistake meant that Kate was assessed as a Year 11, rather than a Year 12 student, and was rejected by both universities, so she applied to study childcare at TAFE instead.

“Childcare wasn’t really for me, so I ended up getting into horticulture (her parents owned a nursery in Pomonal)…by this stage I had come to believe that to make it as an artist you had to be either completely mad or dead, so horticulture seemed like the best option,” she said with a laugh.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] K [/dropcap]ate, 25, is now an orchid grower with Warrnambool Orchids, but this year she has also returned to her first love of creating beautiful things by hand and, in September, started a market stall as Pip & Lily Boutique crafts.

The care, patience and precision required for growing orchids is reflected in Kate’s creative work, which includes hand-drawn and painted cards, hand-painted jewellery, hand-made dolls, felt work and hand-drawn designs on clothing.

“I wanted my main point of difference to be the hand-made element, in that everything I do is hand drawn or designed,” she said.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] K [/dropcap]ate’s collection of hand-drawn cards, including a range designed for Christmas, pay homage to classic children’s books such as the Beatrix Potter collection, Noddy and Winnie the Pooh, and she is unashamed to admit that she owns more children’s books than adult books.

“I love the characters, the little animals, and the incredible illustrations,” she said.

A love of small animals also explains, in part, the choice of name: Pip & Lily.

“When I was a kid, I always wanted two zebra finches that I was going to call Pip & Lily, but then I came to realise that keeping birds in cages was not such a good thing, so I have kept the names, but I never got the birds,” Kate explained, laughing.

“And I also tried about 10 other names, but they were all taken, so Pip & Lily it is.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] A [/dropcap]lthough Kate has only been selling at local markets since September, she has been delighted with how well her work has been received.

“I make things for the love of it and as a creative outlet, rather than as a money making thing, but it has actually gone a lot better than I expected, which is wonderful.”

[box type=”bio”] Pip & Lily Boutique crafts will be at the Made by Me Market, Saturday November 30, 9am-4pm, Pavilion function room, Warrnambool breakwater. You can find also Pip & Lily on Facebook. [/box]

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No time limit on this wearable art: Helen Bunyon

This jellybean is really jumpin’: Johanna Glennen

Stitching it all together: Joella Hill

Udderly beautiful: Make Mine Milk

The sensational drawings of Ella Webb

 

 

 

 

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] C [/dropcap]reators like Johanna Glennen have found a way around balancing their craft with raising their children: they are taking their work online.

Johanna, of Warrnambool, is behind the hugely popular joeyjellybean label of children and infant wear that she makes at home and sells, mainly, through an online store and Facebook.

The funky outfits – including bibs, baby onesies, hoodies, t-shirts, bandanas and dresses – have sold by the thousand since Johanna started her business about five years ago.

At that time, she only had one child – Ezekiel – who provided the inspiration for joeyjellybean.

“It was after I had my first born that I realised there wasn’t a lot of interesting clothing out there for babies, and especially for boys, there was a real gap in the market,” Johanna says.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] W [/dropcap]hile Johanna’s mother, Oriel Glennen, is an established artist, Johanna says she “missed out on the artistic gene”, but she did teach herself how to sew.

She began her venture by making children’s clothes from interesting and eye-catching fabrics, but has soon branched out into drawing her own designs and screen-printing them onto plain fabrics.

“I grew up with a lot of Native American Indian stuff around the house, so I have a lot of those types of designs in my work,” she says.

“I am obviously not an artist – I can’t draw that well – but I think the naivety of the designs have become part of their appeal. They are a bit quirky and a bit different.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] S [/dropcap]ince the launch of joeyjellybean, Johanna has had another three children, including her first daughter, Esmae, who was born just a couple of months ago.

With four children aged six and under, Johanna should technically not have much time for anything, but she has proven to be the ultimate multi-tasker.

“I taught myself how to screenprint and bought a screenprinting kit that can be set up on the kitchen table,” she explains.

While the children are sleeping, Johanna sets to work filling orders and making new lines: by the time they awake, the kit is packed away and the kitchen table has been restored to its normal self.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] A [/dropcap]side from screenprinting, Johanna has decided to also design her own fabrics -that are digitally printed by another company – before she sews them into gorgeous garments.

While Johanna sells through the Baby Bird Boutique in Warrnambool and at various art and craft markets in the area, the vast majority of her sales come from online.

It is a micro-business model that is being repeated around Australia.

“There is definitely a trend where there are a lot of young mums getting into making their own products and selling them on the Internet,” Johanna says.

Life may change, however, when Johanna’s children are older.

“I actually have a commerce degree and I am supposed to be an accountant,” she says with a laugh.

“I love accounting, so when the kids are older, I will probably go back to that.”

[box] The online store for Joeyjellybean can be found here and on Facebook. [/box]

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