ISSN 2207-001X – April 27, 2025
Judi Tompkins believes it’s time for her highly skilled and professional Docent Team to show off their talent, so she issued the first annual “Docent Challenge” to be held during the May 2025 Sunshine Coast Open Studios;
Judi’s Studio Palimpsest will be open Fri- Mon (16-19) and by appointment Tue-Fri (20-23).
OR, for those who want to visit again you can contact Judi through this website.
You’ll find Studio Palimpsest on the Foothills Trail guide at (H02) follow the app on your phone or download to keep all the information for future reference.
FIRSTLY, you ask – What is a Docent? A person who acts as a guide, typically on a voluntary basis, in a museum, art gallery, or zoo.
Docents are needed at Studio Palimpsest to guide visitors through the various Galleries –
Mini Gallery – Desktop landscapes & hanging works.
Adventure Gallery with Peculiarities, Visual Puns, Installations & Interactions.
Essential Gallery Eccentric, Abstract, Unique Australian Locker Hooking, Landscapes/Natural Objects, Portraitures.
Challenge Space, a hands-on Fibre puzzle – yes you can do it!
And the Docents Challenge –
Not to be forgotten… the Touch Table. Yes, the artworks are all deliciously tactile and here you are welcome to touch, fondle and handle the silk, cashmere, Alpaca, Merino wool fibres used. (Judi even included a few of her mistakes) Visitors should feel free to ask questions of the Artist or the Docents.
and SECONDLY, the name “Palimpsest” what does it mean? While most definitions talk of reused manuscripts, I find this definition best describes Judi’s work… something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.
Studio Palimpsest features Judith’s ability to reshape existing materials into new works that retain traces of their earlier form. For Judith, writing a story with reworked fibres/textiles takes on new meaning when viewed as a palimpsest. From childhoods hour I have not been as others were; I have not seen as others saw. (E.A. Poe)
Judith’s unconventional, tactile, interactive 2 & 3D sculptural fibre/textile works reflect her ability to weave science, pottery, and literature into whimsical, visual surprises, fibre puns and metaphorical “whacks on the side of the head”, challenging the viewer to see differently.
More of Judith’s works can be seen in the Sunshine Coast Open Studios catalogue here