Photos by Mike Raymond, Debbie Blennerhassett & Artists
The artists’ space
4 Dec 2026 - 30 Jan 2027
Opening Fri 4 Dec at 5:30pm
East Gippsland Art Gallery
2 Nicholson St, Bairnsdale
This exhibition will feature the Gallery transformed into working artist studios, offering visitors a behind-the-scenes experience into the creative process and a program of art workshops for all ages.
WORKSHOPS & DEMONSTRATIONS
Check our summer program filled with workshops and demonstrations.
There will be free taster workshops, artist demonstrations and for those who just want to watch - an artist will be working in the gallery every day.
Visit again soon as we will be adding workshops, tasters and demonstrations regularly.
If you are an artist and you would like to get involved and facilitate a workshop, please contact us using this form.
Bookings are not essential but recommended as spaces are limited.
Meet the Artists…
pauline crunden
Landscape Artist | Lindenow
Formulated from years of memories, Pauline’s studio is less like a purpose-built workspace and more like a living archive. The space is perfectly suited not only to who she is, but how she prefers to work.
InGE dE KOSTER
Jewellery Artist | Gragin/Raymond Island
The influence of place is everywhere. Bark, flowers, stones and other natural materials gathered from the surrounding landscape find their way into Inge’s silver clay jewellery.
PENny Gray
Mixed Media Artist | Bung Yarnda/Lake Tyers
Entering Penny Gray’s studio - in fact, her home, her bungalow, her property in general - is a delight. It teeters right on the edge of gentle chaos; colourful, but curated and contained.
JILL HERMANS
Contemporary Jewellery | Clifton Creek
Before the tools, before the jewellery bench, before the work in progress - there is the light. It's the first thing anyone notices stepping into Jill Hermans' studio, and it shapes almost everything that happens there.
Deanne Howlett
Artist/Designer | Toonalook/Paynesville
Living in Paynesville, surrounded by waterways, Deanne is drawn to the fragments left behind by the ocean. Marine debris, found materials and objects with their own stories become starting points for new work. There is a sense of care in this process - of noticing what others might overlook and giving it another life.
WENDY REEVE
Ceramic Artist | Nurrung/Eagle Point
Step into Wendy Reeve's studio and it's difficult to know where to look first. Shelves lined with vessels in every stage of making. Tools hanging within easy reach. Clay waiting patiently on benches. It is a place that's constantly in motion; where one piece is drying while another is being trimmed - and yet another is just beginning its life on the wheel.
GAVIN ROBERTS
Sculptor | Stratford
Inside Gavin’s studio holds its own gravity. Eclectic, layered, a kind of organised strangeness that visitors respond to immediately. A central carving table anchors the room; everything orbits around it. Tools sit in a well worn canvas roll - knives, axes, carving implements - carried, opened, used, returned.
Elisabeth Scott
Mixed Media Artist | Wy Yung/Bairnsdale
Although much of the making happens indoors, Elisabeth’s work begins somewhere else. The Australian bush finds its way onto the page, with native plants and natural forms becoming quiet companions throughout her practice. The landscape is less than a subject, but more a constant presence
Cindy Tong
Ceramic Artist | Wayput/Sale
Cindy's studio is exactly what you might expect of a potter's workspace - shelves lined with drying work, buckets of clay, carving tools and a kiln tucked into what was once an ordinary garage. Passers-by often stop to ask what is happening inside.
CALLIE WHELAN
Enamel Artist | Wy-Yung
Every nook of Callie’s studio holds something that sparks curiosity. Tiny enamel test tiles create a patchwork of colour, sitting alongside finished works, tools and unusual approaches to organisation.
Discover more about artists inside their creative studios
For over a decade, Foundry has quietly grown from a small shop in Bairnsdale into a thriving creative community. Our book appropriately titled ‘The Artists' Space’ steps behind the finished work to reveal what happens before it - the studios, sheds, kitchen tables and quiet corners where 28 local artists and makers shape their ideas into being.
Pre-order: The Artists' Space
For the past 10 months, we have been working on an exciting Foundry project - a beautiful hardcover photography book, The Artists' Space.
To help cover the cost of printing, we're offering pre-orders now to secure your copy. Order and pay today, and your freshly printed book will be ready for collection (or postage) around the end of November.
About the book
For over a decade, Foundry has quietly grown from a small shop in Bairnsdale into a thriving creative community. The Artists' Space steps behind the finished work to reveal what happens before it - the studios, sheds, kitchen tables and quiet corners where 28 local artists and makers shape their ideas into being.
Through original photography by Deb Blennerhassett and Mike Raymond, and written profiles by Jes John, our book offers a rare opportunity to step inside the places where creativity unfolds. From purpose-built workshops and converted sheds to home studios overlooking rivers, farmland and coastline, each space reflects the unique relationship between an artist, their practice and the landscape they call home.