Cheryl’s works pure exotica

The exotic home of artist designer Cheryl BridgArt is the ideal venue for exhibiting her “unfinished Journey” exhibition as part of  SALA Festival of Art Lovers 2012 event (South Australian Living Artists).

All wall spaces of Beltana House are hung with an extraordinary collection of 50 of her artworks.  The opening is a special night for Cheryl because she is showing to her Adelaidean fans the works she created on her Australia-wide solo tour  in Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Launceston and Melbourne this year.

At each venue she demonstrated her innovative technique of freehand machine embroidery on paper to more than 200,000 people.

The house itself is a showpiece, being historic converted stables, once used by Pikes Brewery’s drafthorses, who carted beer to town and who needed to rest overnight before returning to Oakbank.

It is an exciting unconventional living environment and immediately opens up into a large open space with red brick walls and a pitched timber-lined high ceiling line.
A permanent not-for-sale item is a full-sized black and white zebra at the entrance and Cheryl has mischievously plonked one of her zany hats onto its long ears. It begs a touch.

The crowd mingles in the huge courtyard or move throughout the two side wings of the house where much of the artworks are displayed.

The opening is also a celebration of what has been an exceptional year for Cheryl since she won a competition by decorating a small sewing machine.  She won art appearances and demonstrations of her works in all capital cities.
And we Adelaideans are the lucky ones to view the whole collection of dynamic, vibrant acrylics on canvas, or linen and her flambuoyant fashion items, such as the “Lorikeet Song” Coat and Hat.

Cheryl’s own hand-made fashion garments and her stylish, unique hats, which she always wears, are a feast for the eye, too.

However, when she steps onto the stage, which displays her fashion items, she tells us about her fine art freehand machine embroidery and explains that the price tags which range from $7,500 – $9000 reflect the time she spends at her machine sewing her magic. She uses no computers, no cameras, no photographs and no paint.  She begins by machine embroidering freehand on fine paper and spends about 300 hours twisting and turning her work until mass stitching creates mainly faces of human beings and animals intermingling to reflect her dreams for harmony between humanity and the animal kingdom. They are stunning works of unusual art.

One of Cheryl’s colourful acrylics .

Small pieces – such as Beltana, Platypus and Merry-Merry are less expensive, at $350 each, being freehand machine embroidery in black thread on white paper.Her FAFME works are truly unique art created with thread only – and her beloved sewing machine.

Cheryl’s path to international fame  continues because she has been chosen as one in 12 Sala artists (from 4000) to feature in a documentary to be used as advertising in Australia – and China.

 

 

 

 

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