The Cooktown Creative Arts Association Shop is located in the Old Cooktown Railway Station building in Charlotte Street - opposite the West Coast Hotel.
Being in the main street of Cooktown it provides local artists and crafts people with a wonderful venue to display and sell their hand made arts and crafts.
Located in the Old Cooktown Railway Station opposite the West Coast Hotel, 97 Charlotte Street, the Cooktown Creative Arts Association is a show case for local artists and craft people.
In 1991 a new arts and craft group was formed in Cooktown. The Cooktown Creative Arts Association - C.C.A.A. held its first meeting on 13th February, 1991.
The number of members quickly rose and by the years end was close to 80. Many workshops and classes were held and well attended. Without a central building to operate from, classes were held throught the town.
In February 1999, the group took on an Artspace of the lower ground floor of the Kindergarten. Located in the old Railway Station in Charlotte Street when the Kindy moved to another location the building was leased from the Cook Shire Council. In September 2001 the new CCAA Art and Craft Shop opened its doors for the first time. We had a home at last!
The shop is manned by the artists and volunteers and the Artspace is still used for workshops.
Today the CCAA members have their original art and craft for sale in the shop. This provides local artists with a source of income, as well as a wonderful venue to showcase their talents.
We have displays of wood work, furniture, paintings, jewellery, stained glass, quilts, cane baskets, silk paintings, T-shirts, post cards, etched glasses and photography.
The friendly staff welcomes customers to browse through the shop and enjoy the wide range of art and craft produced by the talented local artists.
Phone 07 4069 5794 to enquire about our arts and crafts for sale!
Gail Walker's original pottery is eyecatching.
Her artistic journey so far would make a very absorbing book. From early childhood her creativity has been part of her. She loved to draw insects and mushroom houses and was fascinated by the art and craft ladies at the CWA.
She once knitted a purple, pink scarf that startled her mother with her colour choice.
Raising a family in Weipa Gail taught herself to tan crocodile skins using the tannins from soaking mangrove bark. Different barks dyed rich colours ranging from the purple brown of black wattle to the rose pink of ironwood. Highly decorative vests, belts, handbags, purses and wallets proved popular.
In the mid 1990's after purchasing art supplies Gail took up acrylic painting. From her first painting she produced superb realistic nature, bird and reef paintings.
Gail's paintings are in collections in Australia, UK and USA. Unfortunately Gail became ill and never returned to painting.
After her recovery she took an interest in pottery with local potter, Shelley Burt, helping her start in this new medium.
Once again a natural artistic talent was immediately apparent.
Her wonderfully quirky cups, teapots and sculptural works sell as fast as she makes them.
Jan Forster is a jewellery designer who shows inspiration in her techniques and ideas in assembling components to create unique handcrafted jewellry. Jewellery impacts on individuals in an emotional and symbolic way. We love to adorn our bodies, A unique piece of handcrafted jewelry can be almost magical.
I live near Helenvale near Black Mountains, south of Cooktown. I’'ve lived in this region, for twenty-five years and everyday am inspired and awed by the beauty, energy and majesty, of the natural world that surrounds me.
My art is an expression and reflection of this awe, I feel so lucky to be living in a place that is so abundant with the vibrancy of the wilderness.
I was born in England in 1959, and grew up in Suffolk, East Anglia, where my parents were artists; we lived on a small holding, growing our own fruit, vegies and poultry. My parents held annual art exhibitions in a converted barn and inspired me to paint. As I spent days roaming the Suffolk countryside, my love of nature was born.
As a child I dreamed of travelling to India and Australia. When I was 20 I flew to Bombay and travelled overland through India and SE Asia to Australia, flying into Perth, WA in 1981. I felt like I had come home. My spirit felt free, Australia was my home.
While exploring my new country I travelled to the Red Centre, I met some Arrernte women in Alice Springs, they taught me to batik on silk, and so started my love affair with Silk. After travelling around Australia for several years, I settled in F.N.Q. with my growing family. Teaching my children through school of the air, I attended a Distance Education Tutor’s camp at Ravenshoe on the Atherton tablelands. I joined a class doing silk painting. I loved it immediately, the beautiful colours, the way they flow onto the silk, the light, almost ethereal quality of the finished painting. I continued to experiment with painting on silk and held my first exhibition in 1995. I have now held several exhibitions and painted many scarves and sarongs each one is an individual piece of art.
Exhibitions
2003 Gentle Earth, Joe’s Place, Atherton, Queensland
2004 Nature’s PowerHouse, Cooktown
2005 Silk and Paper, Ink and Pencil, Foyer Art Gallery, Atherton, Queensland
2005 Inner Light Nature’s PowerHouse, Cooktown
2006 Nature’s PowerHouse, Cooktown
2007 It’s Elementary, Nature’s PowerHouse, Cooktown
All silks are hand washable in warm, soapy water. A teaspoon of vinegar in the final rinse conditions silk. Cool iron.
Commissions and orders accepted. E-Mail waratahstar_gmail.com or Mobile 0429695533
I have lived in and been inspired by the North Queensland rainforest for forty years.
I have built most of my tools and developed most of my own techniques and manufacturing processes.
I have always marveled at the variety and form of nature, how one shape flows easily into another, the texture of different tree barks, the grain in a piece of waterworn wood or the lines of formation in a stone.
I take the materials that the earth and the forests provide and try to bring out the natural beauty and enhance the original form.
I specialize in making mirrors from rainforest timbers that I mill myself from plantation and windfall trees.
You can find my works at the Cooktown Creative Arts Association (CCAA) gallery right in the heart of Cooktown.
I can be contacted by phone 07 40603004
E-mail donnycroft_bigpond.com
My love of the environment around the McIvor River area north of Cooktown is my source of inspiration and provides raw materials for my craft.
I enjoy finding burls on trees and making unusual pieces with them. Some large burls can be cut into slabs and used as tops for coffee tables, and smaller ones are carved out to make a bowl or platter.
The interesting organic shapes and natural grains of the timbers make each piece individual.
The popular red cedar found in this area is a much sort after timber. Red cedar can be made into almost any piece of furniture or is just as spectacular made into a small bowl.
Other timbers I use include, bloodwood, Cooktown ironwood, acacia cedar, black bean, eucalypt, mango and white cedar.
ADDRESS
Cooktown Creative Arts Association Inc
97 Charlotte Street PO Box 642
Cooktown Queensland 4895 Australia
Ph 07 40695794
All images and content © Cooktown Creative Arts Association Inc. Ph 07 40695794
