News

Christmas Artist Market at The Pavilion in Fitzroy Gardens

CoLab Arts in the Park is holding a Christmas Artist Market at the Pavilion in Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne, from 10am to 3pm on 4 and 5 December 2021.

CoLab has invited River Studios artists from West Melbourne to join local artists from East Melbourne in this once-a-year artisan market. It will feature a wide range of unique, handmade items – perfect for Christmas gifts for friends and family, as well as Kris Kringle presents for office colleagues.  

Fifteen artists will be displaying their wares in the Pavilion forecourt if it’s sunny, or inside if it’s not – so don’t let rain keep you away. They will offer Christmas ornaments and decorations, greeting cards, ceramics, sculptures, necklaces, paintings, tea towels, glass jewellery, prints, blown glass, invisible mending, serving boards, bags, brooches and much more.

In addition, there is a continuing exhibition of major artworks, fine jewellery and artisan homewares inside the Pavilion, which is open 10.30am-4pm Thursdays to Mondays to 19 December.  

The Pavilion is located just a few metres up the hill from the model Tudor village. The Pavilion and River Studios are supported by Creative Spaces, a program of the City of Melbourne.  

Artists featured in the market and exhibition include:

Pauline Delaney creates blown glass vases, as well as lampwork beads and jewellery. To her, a glass bead is a canvas, which she fills with light and colour.  

Vincenza Fazzalori uses fine white and terracotta clays to produce handmade ceramic beads and components, as well as larger Raku pots and planters.  

Laurie Franklin creates small and large artworks with oils, acrylics and mixed media. Her ethereal works often integrate streaks of gold.  

Roze Elizabeth uses screen printing techniques on textiles and wood. Her tea towels and serving boards are heavily influenced by Italian culture.  

Nancy D Lane (NancyDee Sculptures) creates 2D and 3D sculptures, as well as assemblage brooches, from metal, wood and tiles she finds on Melbourne’s streets.  

Elsa Thorp creates unique botanical sculptures from natural materials that are locally grown or that she has gathered, as well as dried flower arrangements.  

Kerri Ryan uses sashiko, a traditional Japanese way of stitching, and boro, the related discipline of mending and patching, to reuse and repair worn clothing.

Christine Morton creates paintings, sculptures and prints, particularly of wild animals both in nature and constrained settings, as well as a range of greeting cards.

Alissa Duke is a water colour pencil artist. She creates greeting cards, as well as drawing illustrations in discarded books, giving them a new ‘lease on life’.

Odd Studio, comprising artists/architects Lauren O Donnell and Adam Dwyer, produces limited edition drawings of East Melbourne, Fitzroy Gardens and the MCG.

Kimono House, owned by Lea O’ Sullivan, offers silk brooches and an exclusive range of accessories handmade from vintage and contemporary Japanese textiles.  

Redrocket Design has a wide range of vintage and contemporary cards, tea towels, laser cut brooches and prints--from service stations and circuses, to Australian birds  

Nicole Macdonald works across printmaking, drawing, watercolour and mixed media. Her works interweave nature, science and everyday life with her imagination.

Buddy+pal use professional grade natural soy wax to create scented handmade candles. They also offer bath bomb crumble and reed diffusers in a range of fragrances.

Make your Christmas gifts for friends special this year with one-of-a-kind handmade creations, and at the same time, help support our re-emerging creative sector. And while you’re at it, treat yourself to something special as well!