Georgia Bourke has proved beauty is not just in the eye of the bee-holder, after coming away with a band six for her design and technology project.
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Combing her interests for inspiration, she overheard her parents discussing the death of 10 million bees in the region and thought, this is it.
"A lot of other people have done projects on recycling and reusing materials, and while it is a really good thing to do, I wanted a project that represented our region, that was unique and interesting," she explained.
"Bees are so important to agriculture in our region but populations are declining, and I wanted to highlight the 'bee aware' campaign."
Using fabric made out of 100 per cent local cotton, she has mimicked the honeycomb pattern found in bee hives in the skirt, a feat which took over 72 hours to complete.
"It wasn't especially hard, however it was time consuming. But I felt so involved in it, I could stay up late into the night working on it and it never felt like a chore," she said.
Creating the outfit without any patterns, the design idea was sparked when she found the right material.
The technique used to make the honeycomb is, fittingly, honeycomb smocking technique.
"I used a lining to base the skirt, added the frills and layers, three in total, the middle is a sheer coat with little bees to make the symbolism really stand out, and the top layer is the smocking again."
With an extensive and detailed portfolio, a massive 73 pages in total, outlining the background and inspiration behind the outfit, she detailed the life cycle analysis, the durability, ergonomics, safety and sustainability of the design.
"I focused on biomimicry, which examines the form and function of nature, as well as using produce from what's around you, so I used Riverina produce which kept it local."
She gave sincere credit to her teachers, saying "as a group we did really well, everyone was happy with their work.
"It doesn't matter about a mark so much it matters most if you are happy at the end of the day with what you've put into it."
While not swapping out her passion for design for a buzz cut, Georgia has decided to head off to the army for her gap year and is excited to start challenging herself in new ways.
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"It's scary, but it'll be rewarding as well," she explained.
"But art will always be with me, and I will always do it in my free time, it's a great way to relax from whatever may be going on."
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