COME & TRY: Traditional Circular Braiding with Joanne Russell

🌊 COME & TRY: Traditional Circular Braiding with Joanne Russell

Join Joanne Russell at the BeachPatrol3280 Killarney Arts Residency and discover how discarded fishing rope can be transformed using the traditional technique of circular braiding.

Traditional circular braiding uses unbroken, interwoven strands to create continuous circular forms and knots.

Joanne will show us examples of three different braids and explore how varying the thickness and length of rope and twine can create very different results.

Then it’s your turn to have a go! Using found rope from the BeachPatrol marine debris stash, we’ll each create a ‘thump mat’ – a design traditionally used aboard ships to protect wooden decking from damage caused by ship fittings.

It’s an opportunity to learn an old technique while experimenting with a very contemporary problem: what can we do with the discarded fishing rope we recover from our beaches?

 Saturday October 24th, 2026
 2.00pm - 4.00pm
 BeachPatrol3280 Killarney Arts Residency

PLEASE NOTE: Our Come & Try sessions are offered free to active BeachPatrol members who give their time to caring for and protecting our coastline. This might be through regularly taking part in beach clean-ups and collecting marine debris, or through advocacy and other work supporting better outcomes for our coast and marine environment.

We recognise that not everyone is able to physically participate in beach clean-ups, and that looking after our coastline happens in many different ways.

These sessions are our way of giving something back to the people who contribute their time and energy to this work, while creating an opportunity to come together, get creative and share conversations about the marine debris we collect and the coast we care for.

This Come & Try session is part of Stories From The Sea, a community arts project exploring creative responses to marine debris.

Stories From The Sea is a project by Colleen Hughson (AKA Serial Beachcomber), developed with BeachPatrol3280-3284 and supported through the Regional Arts Australia Practice in Community program.

The BeachPatrol3280 Killarney Arts Residency is proudly supported by Moyne Shire Council through its Creative Residencies Program.

BeachPatrol is a completely volunteer-run organisation, and we rely on donations to help us continue caring for and advocating for our coastline.

If you’re not currently an active BeachPatrol member but would like to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to BeachPatrol. Your support helps us continue our beach clean-ups, community activities and advocacy for a cleaner, healthier coastline and marine environment.