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Local prominent sculptor Matcham Skipper
grew up at Montsalvat, honing his skills in
collecting building materials from demolition
sites and wrecking yards for the early days of
building at Montsalvat.
Matcham used his artist’s aesthetic eye to invoke
a building with authentic texture and feel in the
creation of this remarkable studio on the four
acre paddock that his mother had left him. This
English tithe barn studio is elevated four metres
in the air on massive wharf posts and is heritage
listed for both its architectural and historical
significance. The photograph pictured in this
panel is of the building in progress and the
studio was completed in the early 1970s.
The native orchid represented in this panel is
the nodding greenhood or
Pterostylis nutans.
House
AND NODDING
GREENHOOD
PHOTOGRAPH
Matcham Skipper Studio
with permission of Adam Skipper
and Sue Thomas
INFORMATION
Matcham Skipper Studio
Building
accessed at http://vhd.
heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/63575
‘Eltham art colony’s
knockabout genius’,
Sydney Morning Herald,
March 31, 2011
accessed at
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/eltham-
art-colonys-knockabout-genius-
20110330-1cg6c.html