Book Launch
Gariwerd/Grampians: From the Mountains to the Plains
Art & Photography by Jenni Mitchell & Mervyn Hannan
Tol be launched by
Allan Myers Easter Saturday,
30 March 2024 Sterling Place, Dunkeld.
Please RSVP as the poster by March 25.
This gallery contains 8 photos.
Painting | Pastels | Photography
107 PETSCHELS LANE Hamilton Victoria
VISIT HAMILTON this weekend and stay till Tuesday because it is SHEEPVENTION time at the Showgrounds.
We will be opening our Gallery & Gardens each afternoon for visitors and locals to come and see what we have here. Look to a coming to future painting workshop, be inspired by our gardens, artworks or purchase produce from our orchard. Petschel House is set on 14 acres, a slice of its former rich history in the Western District.
Petschel House is open by appointment during the week and most weekends. If you would like to be sure we are here it is best to call ahead on 0417 585 102. We are very happy to take visitors through our gardens and studio if we are home. Otherwise – three special days coming up.
Petschel House will be open for three afternoons in August for guests to come and visit our Bijou Gallery and have a look around the gardens and orchards. The Studios will also be open. You may find produce to your liking, a piece of art or specialist jewellery.
Join Jenni Mitchell and MervynHannan for a relaxing afternoon of drawing or painting around the extensive gardens, or in the comfort of the painting studio.
Petschel House is set on 14 acres of formal, cottage, orchard and paddocks with sheep and alpacas. The Bijou Fine Art Gallery will also be open as well as the picture framing workshops.
Jenni Mitchell will give a quick demonstration of how she approaches the subject to get a quick sketch down to work on in the field (garden) or later back in the studio. Mervyn will give a pastel demonstration.
Bring your favourite art materials, a hat, sunscreen and anything else you may need for working in the landscape (garden). You are welcome to use the painting studio instead and indeed, if the weather is unkind its where we will all be working.
Limited art materials will be available or you may purchase directly from the studios.
Please Contact Jenni if you are interested in hearing more about the workshop or would like to make a booking. The workshop size will be kept small so there is more time to spend with each student.
We welcome artists of all stages – newbies and experienced artists who would just like to work in a lovely environment with like minded people.
Refreshments will be provided and we will close with a delicious afternoon tea.
.Date: Sunday 15th September
Time: 1.00 – 5.00
Address: Petschel House, 107 Petschels Lane Hamilton
Cost: $65 includes refreshments and afternoon tea.
For all enquiries and bookings:
Contact: Jenni Mitchell by Phone: 0417 585 102
Email: jenni@jennimitchell.com.au
Petschel House will be open during the three day Hamilton Sheepvention Festival this year. Whilst visiting Hamilton; or if a local with visitors in need of a break from the hectic Sheepvention activities why not come out for a walk around our extensive gardens and orchards and visit our fine art Gallery. We will be open each afternoon (Saturday 3 August through to Monday 5 August) between 1.00 – 4.30.
107 Petschels Lane, Hamilton Vic 3300
Phone: 0417 585 102
This gallery contains 10 photos.
New Workshops with Jenni Mitchell & Mervyn Hannan at Petschel House Hamilton. Come visit us in the Western District of Victoria and paint the gardens of Petschel House. We’ve relocated our Eltham Home and Gallery to a beautiful 14 acres … Continue reading
Understanding how to use the Black and White Tonal Scale is one of the fundamental rules of painting. Knowing how one tone affects another tone will increase the painters skill for all painting whether classical traditional work or contemporary abstract. The use of tone is the artists’ friend and the skilled artist has then the knowledge to manipulate the painting to create depth and spatial effect – you will be better able to paint what you see rather than create ‘the happy accident’ and not know how you achieved an effect.
A Country cooked lunch and all refreshments will be provided. Students will be given the canvas and paper to create the Black and White tonal scale. Please bring your chosen medium – oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolour pastel or pencil or purchase quality materials from the studio.
FOR BOOKINGS AND ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT JENNI MITCHELL
New PAINTING WORKSHOPS with Jenni Mitchell will commence in MAY 2018 on Thursdays and Fridays in the Petschel House Studio 10.00am – 12.00am.
Classes are suitable for beginners and advanced and practicing artists’ looking to increase their skills.
Students will be encouraged to work with the FUNDAMENTALS OF PAINTING – TONE and COLOUR to improve their understanding and skills to enable the artist to paint from Observation and Life. With an understanding of how to ‘see’ through an artists eye you will be able to more readily paint a Classical Subject or a Contemporary Abstract. Knowledge of Tone and Colour and how to use the various materials will be covered and make the production of a fine work of art more simple.
Jenni Mitchell & Mervyn Hannan will be demonstrating how to paint the essence of the subject quickly using different materials. Jenni will work using oil paint and gouache and Mervyn soft pastel.
Workshop will be based on one to one tuition. There are many beautiful subjects around the cultivated garden and lake with a variety a deciduous trees and shrubs. It the weather is unkind we will work in the studio and under shelter from the deck and verandahs.
Bring your own favourite painting materials – or purchase quality art materials from studio. Bring your lunch. Refreshments will be provided.
PETSCHEL HOUSE – 107 Petschels Lane Hamilton Vic. 3300.
Petschel house is a historic bluestone homestead built circa 1856 with a rich history. Jenni and Mervyn purchased the property in 2016 and this event is the first painting workshop to be held at their new home.
Please contact Jenni or Mervyn on 0417 585 102 for further details.
ARTISTS’ PICNIC 15 April (click for details)
We are having an Artists’ Picnic in the gardens of our new Hamilton Property. After 15 months of relocating our house, studios and gallery to Hamilton we are finally ready to welcome artists into our new gardens and studios.
Artists picnic is an introduction to our new space and an opportunity to showcase the studios and picture framing workshops. We have a small gallery showing our work and offering quality art materials for sale. Picture Framing is up and running and all enquiries welcome.
Bring your own materials, picnic and rug to relax and enjoy the day of creating.
Bookings and RSVP to Jenni on 0417 585 102 or email – jenni@jennimitchell.com.au
We have now well and truly re-located to Hamilton in the Western District of Victoria.
It’s been quite a journey and many removal trucks to relocate 256 human life years of goods and chattels collected and art works made on the family property hillside at Mount Pleasant and Fordhams Road Eltham. Two houses and several workshops and sheds as well as the garden and gallery. What was not given away or sent to recycling depots is now in Hamilton. Pieces of our Eltham garden are now growing in a new soil, just like us. There were not too many casualties along the way.
We also want to thank the many friends and students who stopped by to give us a hand with this daunting task.
So what’s the future?
We’ve begun discussions and drawing plans for the next painting studio and planning how we will promote our beautiful new grounds in Hamilton. There are thinking plans ahead for painting workshops around the beautiful new garden, lake and orchard. The property is everything we had in Eltham; but on a larger scale and the land is FLAT! And that’s is beauty – no more garden or working like a mountain goat on the steep hillside of Eltham South.
Eltham South Fine Art: Studios & Gallery will be opening our doors for the last day next weekend.
We close Saturday 19 November.
We ask all items held in the gallery on LAYBUY to be collected before or by this date as we will be packing the gallery for the Hamilton Relocation.
We thank our many friends, students and supporters of the gallery who have made it a pleasure over the years to present our work and various events. The Gallery will be a huge hole in our lives and the garden greatly missed. We are only 300 kilometres away, a three hour drive…
After a lifetime of living and working in Eltham Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan will be relocating Studios & Gallery to Hamilton in the Western District Victoria in the New Year.
Both the Gallery and the Mudbrick house on the adjoining property are now on the market for sale.
Mervyn and I have bought a property in the Western District at Hamilton and will be relocating the Studios & Gallery at the end of the year. If you know our property you will realise we have a huge task with packing up the studios and our family goods and arts works.
We have begun to set up a studio clearance of art books, artworks and studio items to help us ‘downsize’ before the move.
We will also be holding our LAST ELTHAM EXHIBITION later in the year – details to be posted in the near future.
Classes will continue until the end of October and the Picture Framing with Mervyn @ STUDIO FRAMING will continue until the end of the year unless settlement takes place sooner.
Do come and see what we have on show – we will have works that have not been see before as well as selected Studio Pieces of the family including: Jenni Mitchell, Grace Mitchell, Mervyn Hannan, Joe Hannan and Sonia Skipper.
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A special book launch will be held in conjunction with Eltham Bookshop, Text Publishing and Eltham South Fine Art Gallery
Wednesday 10 August
Entry: $60 includes a copy of the book or a $45 gift voucher, a glass of wine and refreshments.
Book by phone: 9439 8700 or elthambookshop@bigpond.com
When he died in 1992 Brett Whiteley left behind decades of ceaseless activity—some works bound to a particular place or time, others that are masterpieces of light and line.
Whiteley had arrived in Europe in 1960 determined to make an impression. Before long he was the youngest artist to have work acquired by the Tate. With his wife, Wendy, and daughter, Arkie, Whiteley then immersed himself in bohemian New York. But within two years he fled, having failed to break through.
Back in Sydney, he soon became Australia’s most celebrated artist. He won the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes in the same year—his prices soared, as did his fame. Among his friends were Francis Bacon and Patrick White, Billy Connolly and Dire Straits. Yet addiction was taking its toll: Whiteley struggled in vain to separate his talent from his disease, and an inglorious end approached.
Written with unprecedented behind-the-scenes access, and handsomely illustrated with classic Whiteley artworks, rare notebook sketches and candid family photos, this dazzling biography reveals for the first time the full portrait of a mercurial artist.
The gallery has been re-hung with paintings and works on paper after our return from our painting trip.
Winter is a lovely time to come and attend a painting class or workshop in our warm gallery environment. There are currently vacancies in the Thursday and Friday morning sessions. If your are interested in Saturday afternoon please contact the gallery and we will will resume that session too.
We will run a series of exciting workshops in the coming weeks – details soon to be finalised.
Usual gallery days for gallery viewing, classes and Picture framing (Studio Framing) are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We are generally contactable and available for viewing and picture framing outside of these days too by arrangement. Please phone Jenni (0417 585 102) or Mervyn (0411 423 886) to make a time.
Look forward to seeing you soon in the gallery.
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Our first exhibition for the year is a collection of recent works on paper by Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan. These works have been made in the field on travels to the Outback Queensland gem fields of Sapphire, Emerald and Lightning Ridge, Tibooburra and White Cliffs North West New South Wales, Digby and Portland in Victoria’s Western District.
Included are watercolour, pastel, gouache and photography.
Do come and join us for a celebration treat on Sunday, 21 February from 2.00pm or come anytime soon for a preview.
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Also on exhibition are a number of Exotic Textiles, Silks, Silver and precious stone Jewellery, Bronze Sculpture, Photography, ceramics and many other wonderful things.
Painting Classes with Jenni Mitchell and held at the Gallery Studios weekly on Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings and Thursday afternoons. As needed we also hold a special Saturday afternoon class and have spaces available for private tuition one on one. Contact Gallery for further details.
We have been operating STUDIO FRAMING Custom Picture Framing for our location since 1988. Clients and artists needing picture framing may now come directly through the gallery at 6 Mt. Pleasant Road Eltham when the gallery is open or phone for an appointment and call directly into the framing studio at 19 Fordhams Road Eltham (same property access from back on Fordhams Road). Mervyn can be reached on 0411 423 886 or phone Jenni 0417 585 102 or gallery on (03) 9439 3458.
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Summer Break Dates
Eltham South Fine Art Gallery will be closed between Christmas and New Year and open periodically throughout January. Look for the Red umbrella or phone for times. M. 0417 585 102.
We wish all of our friends, students, colleagues and new visitors to our gallery a Happy and SAFE summer period and look forward to seeing you in and gallery in the New Year.
Jenni and Mervyn
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Stairway to Heaven: Exotic Textiles & Other Beautiful Things is an eclectic collection of beautiful hand woven and embroidered textiles from around the world along with local ceramic works by Geoff Davidson, paintings and works on paper by various Mongolian artists, Jenni Mitchell, Grace Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan. There are colourful Turkish Ceramic pieces, garden porcelain and African carved wood pieces.
We are also introducing to the gallery White Cliffs jeweller Linda George. We met Linda recently while on our painting trip to Tibooburra and White Cliffs. She is an extraordinary artist working with gold and silver using both local and other Australian Opal in her settings along with pearls and fine gemstones. Linda works from her underground opal mine home.
We have a selection of jewellery in our showcase by Linda.
The exhibition will continue through until end of December and is open Thursday to Sunday. Hours Thur – Sat 10.00 – 5.30 and Sunday 11.00 – 5.00. (Note: Please check first re: Sunday as on occasion the gallery will be closed on a Sunday).
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Hal Barton (1927 – 2015)
Hal Barton, a former Eltham artist identity recently passed away. Hal had been living in Noosa on the Queensland Sunshine Coats for many years where he has continued to paint and exhibit his work. Hal was fine Australian Landscape painter and Portrait painter; becoming a finalist in the Doug Moran Portrait Prize in 1992. He was very much part of the artistic community during the heady days of Eltham in the 60s and 70s.
TWO NEW ORCHARD GARDEN PAINTING WORKSHOPS
SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER & WEDNESDAY 11 NOVEMBER
The Orchard Garden was first established in 1948 by Arthur & Grace Mitchell to grow produce for the family and their pastry shop business. Today still in the family the garden is maintained by Jenni & Mervyn for food, beauty and a pleasant way of life.
The workshop will commence with a demonstration by Jenni Mitchell followed by one to one tuition around the garden. The large garden has plenty of corners to set up an easel or drawing board in comfort.
The focus is to capture on paper or canvas the essence of the garden quickly using your chosen materials. You will be shown how to view the subject using your Artists’ Eye.
These workshops are suitable for all student levels including beginners & experienced artists who like to work with nature in a colourful garden setting.
* Bring your favourite painting materials: oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolour, pencil or pastels. Lunch and refreshments provided.
*basic art materials available for purchase at gallery.
Cost $155.00 each or $285 for two workshops. includes home cooked lunch and refreshments.
All enquiries:
Jenni Mitchell 9439 3458 or M. 0417 585 102 jenni@jennimitchell.com.au http://www.ElthamSouthFineArt.com.au 6 Mt. Pleasant Road, Eltham 3095 Mel. ref: 21
Special Event –
Late Sunday Afternoon Poetry Reading – 28 June 4.30pm
Mark O’Connor & Luke Whitington will be travelling from Interstate to read at the gallery Sunday Afternoon 28 June.
If you would like an invitation to this event please book now through gallery:
(03) 94393458 Mob. o417 585 102 or email jenni@ElthamSouthFineArt.com.au
Click here for details & bookings:
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Mixed Media Workshop with Jenni Mitchell – Sunday 26 July 10.00 – 3.30
Limited Places – please book with Jenni (03) 94393458 M. 0417 585 102
click on images
Eltham South Fine Art: Studios & Gallery will be closed Sunday19 April and re-open Thursday 30 April.
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Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens Field Sketching Workshop
Come and join Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan on an all day field sketching workshoop in Melbourne’s beautiful Botanical Gardens.
Date:Monday 6th April (last Monday of School Holidays) Map inside Gardens
Time: 10.00am – 3.00pm
Meet: The Melbourne Botanical Gardens Terrace café.
Cost: $110
Lunch: BYO or have lunch at the Café.
Link to Bookings: Jenni Mitchell jenni@jennimitchell.com.au ph: (03) 9439 3458
This workshop is designed to help prepare the artist for a ‘day out’ sketching. You will take just enough materials for easy management and carrying in the field. No need to bring easels.
Bring what you can easily carry – think visiting a foreign country, a train trip, a visit to the beach, city or landscape and plan to come home with some field sketches to work up in the studio, or not.
Suggested materials include – pencils, pen and ink, watercolour and pastels. You will need a sketchbook or drawing board with paper cut to size and fixative if using pastel.
Watercolour, gouache and ink artists will need a bag that will carry a palette, brushes, water container, rag or paper towel and water. This may include a bottle of drinking water that can be refilled from a tap in the park.
You may like to simply come with a pad and pencil. Suggested black led pencils include a variety of sizes from H to 6B, ie: hard and soft black lead pencils. Coloured pencils are also useful including watercolour pencils. You may like to use charcoal.
Wet ones are useful for cleaning hands in the field. You may like to bring a cushion, light blanket or something to sit on if planning to work on the ground. There will be seats throughout the gardens – but you may need to be quick to secure a spot.
It is a public holiday and if the sun is shining the gardens will have more visitors. This can add to the subject material – and the need to sketch quickly.
Bring enough paper and materials to last the day. There will be panoramic subjects to paint and exquisite close up work to do. The choice will be up to you.
Bring a hat.
I will give a demonstration of a variety of subjects in different mediums and then help each student as a one on one with your chosen subject.
News:
The Etching Press will be available this Saturday Afternoon 21 February 2pm – 5pm for students and artists who attended the recent LinoPrint workshop. It will be available once a month for printing.
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Painting the Yarra River with Jenni Mitchell
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Two upcoming events for Eltham South Fine Art include A LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON LITERARY with SIGMUND JORGENSEN. Sunday 15 February 3.00 – 5.00. For further details and bookings click here… Late Sunday Afternoon with Sigmund Jorgensen.
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Two Orchard Painting Workshop for February will be held on Sunday 8th and Tuesday 17th. More information here…
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The Eltham South Fine Art: Gallery & Studios will officially re-open for 2015 Thursday 29th January. (The gallery will be open on other days before the 29th if we are working in the studios.) The gallery will be open regularly Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Sundays – please check first. Eltham South Fine Art is an artist-run-space and to enable us to pursue our own artistic life will not be opening every Sunday in 2015. Eltham South Fine Art is a working studio, gallery and the family home of artists Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan. The gallery space permanently exhibits the family works of painting, print, sculpture, textile, jewellery and books by the Mitchell, Hannan and Skipper family; Jenni Mitchell, Grace Mitchell, Mervyn Hannan, Joe Hannan, Sonia Skipper. and Sigmund Jorgensen. The gallery also exhibits our contemporaries and has work from the early Eltham artists for a sense of Eltham history; Alan Martin, Leslie Sinclair, Peter Glass, George Chalmers, Piers Bateman and more. As well as the studio and gallery visitors are welcome to wander through the orchard garden which was originally established by Arthur and Grace Mitchell in 1948. Textile and jewellery from Afghanistan, Mongolia, Nepal, Timor and Turkey. We also offer custom Picture Framing and have been framing as Studio Framing since 1988.
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Painting classes are held with Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan and will be commencing for 2015 from Thursday 29th January.
Thursday 10.00am – 12.30
Thursday 4.30am – 6.30
Friday 10.00am – 12.30
Saturday 10.00 – 12.00
Saturday 2.30 – 4.30
Private sessions by arrangement.
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Painting and Drawing Workshops are organised throughout the year and held at the Studio, The Orchard Garden, The Yarra River and other Landscape locations. These will be posted at they are organised. There are currently places available in the Orchard Garden Workshops for February.
The Lino Print workshop for January is full at this time.
November is looking good at the Eltham South Fine Art: Studios & Gallery.
The Orchard Garden is in full bloom and producing an array of Spring Flowers and vegetables.
Several Garden Workshop dates have been organised for painting in the Orchard through to February 2015 and during the Summer break in January a two day linocut printmaking workshop will be held in the gallery. Bookings are now being taken for these workshops.
Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan’s private studios will be open for the next two weekends as part of the Nillumbik Shire Open Studio program. Come into the gallery studio and through the orchard to the visit their private working studios.
The current exhibition in the gallery is a selection of works by Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan.
New into the gallery are some beautiful silver and gemstone jewellery made by artists and craftsmen from ethnic Hill-tribe communities and work by several Nepalese women’s communities. We also have new work from Mongolia, Timor, Nepal and India.
New Painting Workshops
A series of four new workshops have been planned to work with Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan both in the Artists Orchard Garden at the gallery and in both Wingrove Park Eltham and along the Yarra River in Warrandyte.
Click here for Workshop details…
Wingrove Park Details & Bookings
All Workshop Dates Spring/Summer
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Students from the Studios
September News
Jenni Mitchell’s Painting Students Exhibition.
The first exhibition by 27 of Jenni Mitchell’s Eltham Studios painting students will open Sunday 28 September at Eltham South Fine Art: Gallery & Studios.
This is the first student show at the gallery since moving the teaching studio from Montsalvat to the studio and home of the late pastry cook and sculptor GRACE MITCELL. The last exhibition of Jenni’s students was held in the Long Gallery at Montsalvat several years ago.
I am excited at the breadth of the work in this show. Most of the students are from the Eltham and Nillumbik area and range in ages from 11 – 76. Some of my students have been working in my studios for eight years and others just a few months. The diversity of the work also ranges in styles and materials from works on canvas, paper, oil paint, pastel, pencil and water based paints.
The Exhibition subjects include simple black and white studio studies to complex and intricate still life paintings, the orchard garden at the studio and paintings from recent plein air workshops in Wingrove Park and the Yarra River.
The quality of the work in show is excellent due partly to the disciplined basis of the tonal painting technique encouraged in the studio.
My philosophy is to encourage them to spend the time in developing good painting skills through a formal understanding of tone using first black and white to understanding how to ‘see’ the subject objectively. By using these classical early techniques the artist students are able to develop their own methods in which they may ‘express themselves’ through any medium and will have knowledge of how make their art with conviction rather than by using the hit and miss approach.
Many students will be hanging their work in a gallery for the first time while others have been exhibiting regularly. The idea of the show came from the students who wanted to experience the complete process learning and making art through to the exhibition.
Also on exhibition are works by Mervyn Hannan’s pastel students. Mervyn has been taking classes also this year. Students are able to take classes with both Jenni and Mervyn.
This is an opportunity to show support for the thriving artistic community in our area as well an opportunity to make a purchase from new and emerging artists who may become our Finest Artists of the Future. Some works are for sale and are reasonably priced.
The Exhibition will be opened by Councillor Helen Coleman 2.oopm Sunday 28 September and run until 12 October – Wednesday’s to Sunday 10.00am – 5.30pm.
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Further Background –
Eltham South Fine Art: Studios & Gallery grew out of the Mitchell family property in Mt. Pleasant Road. My parents, Grace and Arthur Mitchell purchased the property in 1948 – an old rambling weatherboard cottage stood at the top of the block. When my father became ill Grace built a small tearoom and pastry shop, as a way of earning an income to support Arthur and her young child (Jenni) then. Together they built the large orchard garden that survives today. (Mervyn and I maintain the garden as well as run the gallery and teaching studio to help preserve this little piece of Eltham history).
After Grace retired from the shop, age 67 she got a driving license and completed a fine art degree at RMIT. The ‘tearooms’ then became her home and sculpture studios. The old cottage is now a mudbrick house and Jenni’s painting studio. When Grace passed in 2011 at nearly 95yrs Mervyn and I decided to turn her home and studio into what is now ELTHAM SOUTH FINE ART: Gallery & Studios.
Prior to this I rented the Studio at Montsalvat by the pool as my teaching studio. Seemed wasteful to continue to pay rent to Montsalvat when I was also paying rates for Grace’s house; and we didn’t want to sell to a developer; which was suggested.
Grace would be delighted to see her home being used as a gallery and studio today. She loved to teach too and used to teach pottery and bee keeping at the Eltham Living and Learning Centre.
We have had several shows at the gallery in the last couple of years including an important RETRO ELTHAM SHOW in which we exhibition 61 artists who were working in the Shire during our youth (1960s – 1980s). Mervyn and I both want to continue to show the art and history of local region. Both Eltham born and with strong ties to Montsalvat from an early age we have a sound knowledge of the arts history in region, and how quickly it can disappear.
Jenni Mitchell
Painting photography & pastels
JENNI MITCHELL & MERVYN HANNAN