Red and white beanie wins in the red centre
Drouin artist and master beanie maker Joan Price has won not once but twice.
Her latest win came in last month’s festival, in which she won the vintage-retro section with a red and white kid’s beanie decorated with kittens and made from one of her mother’s patterns.
Ms Price said she was surprised to win with a relatively unflamboyant entry.
“The beanies up there are creative works of art, amazing and crazy and creative all at the same time.”
The Archibald Prize of the beanie world, the annual festival attracts more than 6000 beanies from all around Australia.
Ms Price first decided to enter after visiting Alice Springs about 10 years ago when the festival was on.
“When I saw the entries, I said to Noel ‘I’m going to enter’.” After several years of trying, her first section win came in 2010, with another red and white beanie, titled “My Passionate Hearts”.
“It was such a thrill,” she said. “You never expect to win because they have so many entries.”
The win brought her $300 in prize money and $100 worth of wool.
On top of that, her beanie was displayed with the other winning entries at the festival art gallery and sold for $200.
“The whole thing is quite prestigious in a funny sort of way.”
Ms Price, who teaches at Jindivick Primary School, said she had always enjoyed knitting and crocheting and was now incorporating that in her other artwork.
A combined exhibition of her work alongside that of her students is showing at the Red Tree Gallery in Jindivick.
Joan and the Jindi Kids runs until the end of July and includes several of her beanies.