It’s all coming up roses for Julee

A mosaic armchair that took more than 100 hours to make will be a centrepiece of Toyota’s annual sculpture exhibition.

The exhibition, titled All creatures great and small, opens in Port Melbourne tomorrow.

Internationally renowned Altona-based artist Julee Latimer says her artwork, titled Rosaic, is a tribute to her grandmother, Dot Allen.

“It was inspired by my gran because we used to pick rose petals and make rose water when I was little,” she says.

“It’s a mosaic with big roses all over the armchair, so it’s somewhere to sit down and smell the roses.”

The armchair, which was also selected for the Tesselaar Tulip Festival, will be on display in the Community Spirit Gallery at Toyota’s corporate headquarters until March.

Tomorrow night, Toyota will announce the winner of its ‘emerging artist’ award. The winner will become an artist in residence at a studio in Malaysia.

Ms Latimer, whose work has appeared in international galleries, collections and publications, has also started teaching art classes and workshops in her outdoor studio in Altona.

» The Community Spirit Gallery, at 155 Bertie Street, Port Melbourne, is open Monday to Friday from 9am-5pm.