One Woman's Work

Monday 28 October 2013

Australia and the Titanic

Well the title to this post may be somewhat misleading. I don't think there is a connection between Australia and the Titanic except here.........jigsaws.

"The Great Australian Jigsaw" is made up of 500 pieces and is obviously circular. This makes for some very interesting shapes in the pieces. It is 50 cm round when finished and I have now glued it to a board used for cake decorating. You can't see it here but there is actually one piece missing. I plan on getting creative with some textas or pencils to fill it in if I can't find it.

The artwork is by Australian artist Greg Gillespie.

The Great Australian Jigsaw by Greg Gillespie

This next jigsaw puzzle is only 250 pieces and the finished size is 41 x 28 cm. I bought this about 10 years ago when a travelling exhibition came to Bendigo. My daughter and I went to see it in the old town hall. It featured some actual memorabilia from the Titanic, stories about some of the people that sailed on it and costumes from the movie.

Titanic - White Star Line - the largest liner in the world.

Talk again soon

Jeanette

Sunday 27 October 2013

The Bendigo Heritage Mosaic - Rosalind Park

Below the tower, in Rosalind Park, is the Bendigo Heritage Mosaic.

This section features artistic interpretations by the artist using gold as her inspiration

This mosaic represents the atomic structure of gold showing the nucleus and the six shells of the atom with their electrons

This mosaic shows quartz veins winding through the earth, containing gold in its various forms

Designed by Maery Gabriel, The Bendigo Heritage Mosaic was completed in 1987 by hundreds of volunteers from the Bendigo community.

The differing background colours indicate the different ages of the rocks.

This mosaic is a stylised representation of the central area of the main Bendigo goldfield based on a geological plan. It shows the main lines of the reef including the famous Hustlers, Garden Gully and New Chum.

The mosaic depicts aspects of Bendigo’s mining history.

Picked out in quartz are the saddle reefs for which Bendigo was so famous.

A typical cross section of the Bendigo goldfield is portrayed here.

It is designed to be viewed from above, on the first level of the lookout tower where there is more information displayed.

The mine layout in this design features part of the Garden Gully line of reef.

The mining of quartz reefs began in early 1853, and continued for 101 years, yielding about 17 million ounzes of gold.

Shown here is the Ironbark Mine on the Sheepshead reef. It has an interesting pattern of drives, stopes and winzes.

The smaller mosaics are emblems representing some of the groups and nationalities present on the goldfields on those early days. Also included are designs showing local flora and fauna and items of historical interest to Bendigo.

These photographs really don't do the mosaic justice. When you come to Bendigo it is worth the climb up the tower for the view and to get a good overview of the mosaic.

Talk again soon

Jeanette