Mudgee group, the Second Wednesday Weavers has spent the last couple of months working on the 8-foot tall sculpture they've dubbed Madame Merlot, so named for her material's origin, that will be displayed at Rosby Wines as part of Sculptures in the Garden.

Liz Mayberry who is part of the group that created the sculpture said the COVID project came about when they saw they would have time to create and submit something ahead of the Sculptures in the Garden cutoff date.

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"We went out, we found what we actually sought the grapevine from Yeates Wines this year, because they hand prune. So all of the canes are nice and long, so we just drove out and gathered literally a ute-full," Liz said.

"We got an old wheel arch for the hem of her skirt. And we got two local guys to weld the armature. So we drew up some plans and gave them some measurements. And they built up a skeletal frame for her of metal. And then we wove the grapevine into that.

The group always uses natural materials in their projects and so the locally-sourced grapevines went a long way to making this Mudgee-centric project feel right at home.

"It's a challenge. It's a lot harder to work with than - in England, they use a lot of willow, which is easier to work with. You have to soak the grapevines for about a day to make it more pliable and easier to work with," Liz said.

Madame Merlot will be one of many sculptures that are set to be on display at the event which is celebrating its tenth year in 2020.

This year's event is also ticketed with tickets available for purchase online before entry to the event Tickets are $5 per person. More details here.

As with most events this year, to comply with COVIDSafe guidelines, Sculptures in the Garden will have extended dates. The event will begin on the Saturday 10th October with the exhibition then taking place every day for the following two weeks, closing on the 25th October.

So there's plenty of opportunity to check it out.

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