Image | Michele England leading their Artist-in-Residence Workshop at Ready-Cut Cottage 2024 | Photography by 5 Foot Photography

Open Day + Workshops | 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Artist-in-Residence | Jeffrey Sarmiento, Julie Bartholomew and Lea Durie

Date + Time | Saturday 28 March 2026 | 10am – 3pm

Location | Ready-Cut Cottage, Old Boboyan Road, Rendezvous Creek, Tharwa

Cost | Free Event, Registration Required

Join us for a creative open day and workshop program at Ready-Cut Cottage in Namadgi National Park. This special Open Day features hands-on workshops with the 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Artists-in-Residence, Jeffrey Sarmiento, Julie Bartholomew and Lea Durie.

What you will be doing

Enjoy artist-led workshops and hear about the inspiration and interpretation of the park’s environment and history

Engage with acclaimed artists and gain insight into their creative processes

Participants are encouraged to attend the full event from 10am – 3pm to make the most of all activities including morning tea, artist talks and workshops.
Jeffrey Sarmiento will guide participants in exploring place and identity through layered compositions, alongside a live 3D printing demonstration.
Julie Bartholomew will guide a ceramics workshop creating terracotta vessels inscribed with personal environmental messages.
Lea Durie will lead a sound mapping workshop using clay and paper to capture and record the sounds of the Namadgi National Park.

What you will need to bring

Packed lunch

Waterproof and windproof clothing

Covered footwear

Sun protection

Portable chair (recommended)

Picnic rug (recommended)

Morning tea and all workshop materials will be provided.

Accessibility at the Venue

This workshop will be held at Ready-Cut Cottage, located in Namadgi National Park. Limited parking is available at the top of the hill after you enter through the gate from Old Boboyan Road. From the parking area, there is a short 2-minute walk (approximately 150 metres) down to the cottage. Please refer this image for the parking location.
If you have mobility requirements or accessibility needs, please contact us in advance at membership@craftanddesigncanberra.org
No dogs allowed at Ready-Cut Cottage.
We are an LGBTIAQ+ friendly venue.

About the Workshops

Layered compositions and 3D printing | Jeffrey Sarmiento

In this hands-on workshop we’ll explore themes of place and identity through creative making. Using paper cutting, collage and drawing, participants will build layered compositions that combine shapes, imagery and text in expressive and personal ways. Throughout the session, Jeffrey will also share a live demonstration of 3D printing, offering insight into how digital processes can expand creative possibilities.

Making clay vessels with environmental messages | Julie Bartholomew

The language of ceramics encompasses a significant body and object relationship through traditional and contemporary practices. The workshop explores this ancient interaction by creating hand-held vessels from terracotta clay. The methods of making include simple pinching, paddling, joining and stretching techniques. After shaping various vessel forms, visitors will be asked to think of a personal call to action that will benefit the environment. These messages will be inscribed and painted with white slip on the surface of the handcrafted receptacles, serving as carriers of concern for the environment and its inhabitants.

Mapping the sounds of Namadgi | Lea Durie

Come and tune into the sounds of Namadgi National Park. In this workshop we will be using a process of sound mapping, attuning to the sounds around us and recording through marks on paper, using clay as paint. This mindful activity allows us to slow down and pay attention to the things that are around us that we might not always notice. By making a recording of what we hear, through marks, we add to the collection of maps of a place and create an imperfect record we carry with us.

About the artists

Jeffrey Sarmiento is a Filipino American artist known for his creative practice exploring cultural identity and the graphic image in glass. Jeffrey embeds layers of information in his intricately constructed kiln-formed objects, sculptures, and public commissions.

Dr Julie Bartholomew is a ceramic artist who explores contemporary issues, social debates and environmentalism. Over three decades, Julie has engaged with projects that push the boundaries of materiality and craft processes through her issues-focused sculptures. She has explored global consumerism, female identity, endangered Australian birds, flowers and species extinction, as well as ice core extraction in Antarctica.

Lea Durie is a ceramic artist drawn to the mud of place and the questions of belonging that arise in landscapes of urban expansion. Her work moves between intimate objects and large-scale installations that challenge the nature/culture divide, exploring human and non-human relations through works that examine what emerges when we consider ourselves and our environment as fundamentally interwoven.

About the Craft + Design Canberra Artist-in-Residence

The Craft + Design Canberra Artist-in-Residence program is supported by ACT Parks and Conservation Service. The 2026 research partner is the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA). More information about the program is available on our website. 

Support Artists and Learn from the Best  

Craft + Design Canberra workshops provide an opportunity for audiences to learn from the unique skillsets of our members: individuals who are highly regarded in their fields as artists, designers, and craftspeople.

Craft + Design Canberra prides itself on paying fair rates of pay to our artists as recommended by NAVA (the National Association for the Visual Artists). Our artists are the best in their fields and deserve fair remuneration. Audiences attending our activities learn from the best.

Craft + Design Canberra is a not-for-profit membership-based organisation supporting artists, craft practitioners, designers and makers at every stage of their careers.  Craft + Design Canberra workshops are designed to create opportunities for our members to showcase their skills, engage with community and earn incomes.

Find our full program here.

Donations

Support Craft + Design Canberra to create greater opportunities for our community of craftspeople and designers, and for the growing audience who admire and appreciate the beauty, skill and excellence of their work.

Your generosity supports our organisation as an advocate for contemporary craft and design in Canberra and beyond. Help us to shape a handmade and creative future through exhibitions, events, residencies, professional development and commissions, as well as the biennial Craft + Design Canberra Festival.

Craft + Design Canberra has been endorsed by the Australian Tax Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) and is registered as a charity (as Craft + Design Canberra) with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission ABN: 33314092587. All donations of $2 or more will be tax deductible if you live in Australia.

Thank you for your generous support, even a small amount can make a big difference to those who MAKE.

Contact the host of Open Day + Workshops | 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Artist-in-Residence | Jeffrey Sarmiento, Julie Bartholomew and Lea Durie