The Half Dozen Group had set up a sketching booth just inside our fabulous new doors – complete with the beautiful mural created by the staff and students of Lilley-Lee Gallery and Art School. Trevor Downes is as old as the HDG itself, and he was set to sketch anyone who felt the need for immortality. Sitters were welcome to take their portraits with them. Well done and thank you Trevor, Cindi, and Derek.

Papermakers and Artists of Queensland were in a bit of a mess, but that was all under control as well. Joanna and Kris dipped small screens into their gluggy stew of pulverised paper. The screens came out clogged with this gunk, but Joanna and Kris were not dismayed. They were excited – or if they weren’t - the gunk was returned to where it came from, and another slosh and dip occurred. Papermaking, and the products this group creates are eternally interesting and variable.

Julie Shepherd is a member of Ceramic Arts Queensland but is also renowned Australia wide for her sought after delicate pierced porcelain pieces. She was demonstrating and explaining her technique at the Brisbane Visual Arts Community Open Weekend – for free. You just had to sit, watch, and listen – and yes, she answered questions.

Anna-Margot is the doyenne of Enamelling in Queensland. A trained silversmith, Anna-Margot leads the Queensland Enamellers Guild and throughout the day was demonstrating enamelling techniques and answering questions.

Western Suburbs Clayworkers invited visitors to take a seat and Play with Clay. The take up was impressive. The group provided examples and the individual interpretations of these were very creative. David kept an eye on anyone wanting to have a “go” at real pottery – i.e. on the wheel. Even the very well dressed were prepared to don an apron and try. There were many WSC volunteers on hand over the weekend to demonstrate techniques and then lead the beginners on their journey. WSC supplied a pottery wheel and clay for the activity.

The Watercolour Society of Queensland provided an interesting, hands-on activity that allowed visitors to experience the joy of playing with paints without putting too much pressure on their visitor’s creativity. The group had prepared simple outline drawings for the activity and demonstrated basic techniques before letting the visitors loose. Those who took up the challenge learned that Watercolour was not all about hard caked blocks of colour activated with water. Very impressive.

The Bookbinders’ Guild ran one of the most intriguing workshops – “secret Belgian book binding”. Just shows how inquisitive human beings are – this was one of the first paid workshops to sell out. Just put secret in there and we want to know what the secret is. The result was a colourful, yet unobtrusive little notebook that had the fabulous property of opening flat – no matter what the page. How is that possible? Unfortunately, we’ll now just have to wait until next year or watch for Bookbinder’s workshops.