Trains, buttons & beads - Meredie Mee-Ling

Trains, buttons & beads

Meredie Mee-Ling’s workshop is a kaleidoscope of colourful glass rods, tools and jars full of buttons, all housed inside a train carriage in her backyard.

The Temora artist’s fascination for glass was born of simple curiosity, which led her to take classes in glass bead-making under Binalong master glass artist Peter Minson in 2000. After watching Meredie melt long rods of Venetian glass into one intricately patterned bead, it’s clear that beadmaking is as much a science as an art. “I always wondered how they got the hole in the middle of the bead,” she laughs. “When I started out, I wouldn’t eat breakfast until I’d made 50 beads. I knew the first ones I made wouldn’t be any good so I wanted to get them out of the way.” This gung-ho approach to learning has paid off for Meredie, who has won awards for her glass beads at the Royal Easter Show and performed demonstrations in Temora. “A lady who bought a string of red beads at the Rural Museum open day said that if she hadn’t seen how precise it was to make the beads she wouldn’t have thought of buying them. It’s surprising to see the work that goes into it.” Meredie’s family has a long history in Temora - her grandfather opened the town’s emporium, 'Man Sing & Co', which her father continued to run. As a child, Meredie always loved art but chose to study economics before becoming a high school teacher in Sydney, retiring last year. It was fond memories of travelling by rail between Temora and Sydney that sparked Meredie’s decision to purchase the train carriage, which serves as her backyard workshop. “I bought it at an auction in Redfern,” she says. “I used to spend so much time on trains that it just seemed natural to own one!” Meredie plans to convert the carriage into a store to display her jewellery.

Enquire about Imagine Temora, the community committee responsible for promoting the arts and culture in the Shire.

A history of one of Temora’s most popular stores

The Mee-Ling store in Temora was one of the first shops in the town, established by Meredie’s grandfather, George Mee-Ling senior, and his brother. Originally named Man Sing, it was one of the most popular stores in Temora, advertising itself as ‘the cheapest store for everything’. After George’s death in China the store was run by Albert, his brother George Junior, and sister Annie. Mee-Ling’s remained well into the 1900’s, playing an important role within Chinese-Australian society.