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Workshops held at the Silken Tent, in Braidwood, NSW

Gill Burke trained at Hastings School of Art, UK, more years ago than she cares to remember. She then worked as a Scenic Artist, painting theatre scenery for Repertory Theatre, film sets and pantomime backcloths. From then on however, Gill’s career path took many and various turns until it circled back to art again.

Marriage followed by two children intervened but Gill continued to paint and very occasionally exhibit. Subsequently, involvement in local politics led in to her taking first a Diploma then a Degree in Social Administration and Policy at the London School of Economics. Graduating with Honours she then taught for thirteen years whilst bringing up her boys and studying part-time for a PhD in economics/economic history.

Gaining her Doctorate led in turn to a consulting career, mainly in Southeast Asia, and eventually to Australia in 1990. The pressures of a high-stress job originally brought art and design back into Gill’s life. What started as therapeutic counter-balance became joyous re-discovery. This was re-enforced in 1996 by part-time attendance at Canberra CIT’s course in Fabric Decoration and Screen-Printing

In 1997 Gill moved to Braidwood, in rural New South Wales, where she opened The Silken Tent studio. The Silken Tent specialises in hand-printed furnishing fabrics as well as in decorated cloth using batik, shibori and other resist techniques together with indigo and other natural dyes. Inspired and influenced by the great 19th century British designer and craftsman William Morris and by the vackrare varagsvara (beautiful things for everyday life) movement in Sweden, Gill is deeply committed to the hand-craft process.

During 2008 a grant from the Regional Arts Fund allowed Gill and Canberra textile artist Julie Ryder to work with the Women’s Craft Group at Gundillion (about 45km from Braidwood) on a project using natural dyes. The outcomes were exhibited as ‘Colours from the Land: natural dyes and the rural community’ at Megalo Gallery, Canberra, in March 2009.

Gill Burke is an Accredited Professional Member of CraftACT. She is on the Board of Southern Tablelands Arts; was a founder member and is currently President of Braidwood Regional Arts Group Inc. (BRAG).