FASHION[ing] FORMS : the craft of making exhibition

Tales of a Shipwrecked Jeweller by Helena Bogucki

Telstra Perth Fashion Festival steps off the runway and into Gallery Central with an exhibition of Western Australian fashion objects that is way “beyond garment”, curated by Anne Farren. The exhibition profiles the works of 18 WA practitioners that exemplify the resurgence in appreciation for the finely crafted object of adornment. It sets out to reposition the fashion object by challenging assumptions about the relationships between accessory related forms and the body.

A substantial 65 page publication is available to read on line http://weblity.com.au/fashioning_forms

The exhibition is at Gallery Central from 10 September to 4 October, Monday - Friday 10am - 4.45pm; Saturday 1 - 4pm. There will be floor talks with curator Anne Farren on Fridays 19 and 26 September at 10.15am.

Made on the Left stallholders - JEWELLERY

This week, we are taking a look at the stallholders for the July 27 Made on the Left market. Today, we're looking at JEWELLERY.

1. Clay & Clasp 
2. Little L 
3. MISCII 
4. Charlie & James 
5. Tall Rabbit 
6. Harper + Monroe 
7. Yellow Tree Store 
8. Meraki Designs
9. Bauble 
10. ilyas honey jewellery 
11. Lush Baubles 
12. When Adam Met Eve 
13. Sweet Salvaged Designs 
14. Simonette 
15. Silver Stamp  
16. Eeva Margita 
17. Tangled Fork Designs 
18. One Happy Leaf 
19. Krivya 
20. Dominarum 
21. Marijke Loosjes 
22. Cirkus Charm 
23. Pelava 
24. Enid Twiglet 

Mother's Day Gift Guide

If you want to get something handmade, unique and made in WA for your mum this Mother's Day, here are some gift ideas from our stallholders:

Top row (L - R): Ilya's Honey Toadflax Pastel Necklace $45
Clay & Clasp custom family portrait necklace $49
Tangled Fork Designs Necklace $35

Middle row (L - R): Lavender & Fox handmade paper bouquet - email lavenderandfox@gmail.com to order
K gets organised Floral Notepad $10
Large abstract painting by Jacquie Hughes $50

Bottom row (L - R): Peaches & Clean Owl soap $8.95
Kasumi Beauty Cherry Blossom Luxurious Moisturiser $14.50
Marina's Ambrosia True Love Blush $30

studiOH! Spring Workshops

studiOH! have just announced their Spring Workshops series taking place on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September 2013 in their pop-up space at the Kidogo Art Institute in Fremantle. 

The workshops are:
SCREEN PRINTING: make your own silk screen and use it to print pillowcases & tea towels
FISHBOWL TERRARIUMS: make a beautiful miniature green world to take home
ROPE COIL BASKETS: learn a modern take on the ancient art of rope coil basketry
POLYMER CLAY JEWELLERY: make your own polymer clay beads and turn them into beautiful jeweller

To win a free spot in the rope coil basket workshop, just visit their blog and leave a comment by 5pm this Friday, 6th September.

Stallholder Profile: Spotlight on "Little Mo and Friends"

Little Mo and Friends was the winner of our Best Stall Display for our November 2012 market. Not only did Helena win us over with her display, she also makes the sweetest things for young and old! Let's go behind the scenes...

Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m Helena, creator/illustrator of Little Mo and Friends.

What materials do you use?
Ink and paper mostly when I’m drawing. And if I am making products from my art, I like sourcing out recycled paper and vintage art frames or vintage pendants to frame my drawings.



What steps do you take to prepare for a market?
I try to at least have two or three new products to feature in my market, just to make it exciting for my return customers. When I style my stall, I usually make that new product my feature piece.



What is your favourite part of the creative process?
Getting lost in my drawings and observing my rough sketches evolve into physical products that are worn and cherished by my customers.

What’s been your most popular item or line to date?
For my online shop it’s been my mystery bag. If you’re unsure of what to buy in my shop, grab a mystery bag and I’ll fill it with art goodies; prints, notebooks and jewellery. When I first listed it in in my shop, my husband said nobody is going to buy it because they don’t know what’s inside it. But it’s been my most popular item, so I guess people do like surprises!

For my markets, it’s my illustrated jewellery. I think it’s an affordable way to collect my art and wear it everyday!



What is the most exciting thing that has come out of selling your designs through markets?
Meeting my online customers in person and meeting new friends and new customers! I’m always so grateful for their support and encouragement.



What advice would you give someone who wants to sell their crafts?
Make something totally unique and all about you. Don’t copy. Be original.



What goals do you have in store for the future?
Drawing and producing more artworks, drawing a book and having a small exhibition would be nice.

www.littlemoandfriends.com

www.facebook.com/littlemoandfriends

Q & A with Lucie from "Magpie House"

Tell us a bit about your business.Magpie House is an eclectic mix of jewellery made by me, Lucie Basinger, using new and recycled pieces. The name Magpie House came about as I have always had a fascination with Magpies after being told as a child that if you see one alone you must greet it by saying “Good afternoon your Lordship”. Also they are cheeky and like to collect shiny things, which I think is great!

What inspires you?I am often inspired by my friends and by travel. I find odd combinations of shapes and textures intriguing and love animals and the outdoors.

What do you love most about selling at markets?I love the atmosphere; right from the set up it is an exciting energy. I love seeing all the other stalls and the fantastic outfits of all the shoppers!

What materials do you use?I use brass, copper, plastic, recycled bits and bobs found in op shops, all sorts really. I also use paper, card, old books and felt for my card making

What is your favourite part of the creative process?I love coming up with an idea and getting lost in doing trials and making mistakes, making mistakes often takes the idea on a totally new track. I like making a mess and the whole practical element. And then of course the feeling of selling something that you have made for someone else to enjoy is just awesome.

What’s been your most popular item or line to date?My brass triangle necklace or my mint green bead necklace has probably been the most popular.

What new products are you working on?I am working on a few new necklaces and bracelets using a lot of geometric shapes and bright beads. I am also making a lot of collaged postcards and gift tags, using old travel books and cat pictures. I really like to manipulate the old images using patterns, and painting back into them.

Where can we find you? www.etsy.com/shop/lucie2427

www.magpiehouse.tumblr.com
housemagpie@gmail.com

Mother's Day gift guide

Today we have a guest post by Brittany du Boulay of Captured by a Girl. Here are her picks for some great locally made Mother's Day presents.

Clay & Clasp Teacup and Teapot Necklace $35

Captured by a girl Mothers Day Framed Print and Card Pack $28

Carpets for Communities Small Mats 40x50cm $30

Cleanse with Benefits Mothers Day Gift Soap Collection $35

Xquisit Organics Macadamia and Calendula Hand Cream $25

Starzyia Tree of Life Pendant $16.50

(Costs do not include shipping charges)

Q&A with "A Story Of"

Tell us a bit about your business

Everything you buy has a story.  Whether it has come from a factory or handmade; if it's recycled or completely new; the people who have made it.  All these things make up the story of an item, and that's what A Story Of is about.  I create a little over half of the products on my website myself in WA, using things like vintage plates, recycled leather and local wool.  I also collaborate with some fair trade artisans in Thailand on designs and source yet more that have been designed and made by groups working with women at risk.  I try to make the stories of my products accessible and help people to feel the heart in what they are buying. 

What inspires you?

All sorts of things - a good book, movies, architecture... I get most inspired, though, when I travel and get to know different people, cultures, and the arts that are a part of them. 

What do you love most about selling at markets?

I love meeting new people - sellers and customers - finding out what they're upto and what they love about handmade items.  I also love to see the huge range of work on display.  WA has some amazing creativity to offer!!

What new products are you working on?

I'm just starting work on our first clothing collection, actually!! I want to collaborate with artisans in Thai hill tribes and use their traditional fabrics in modern designs.

Apart from that, I'm always working on new jewellery ideas, playing with different bits and pieces I can recycle. My most recent thing is using leather from belt offcuts, and I'm starting to get into cutting wood from naturally fallen branches.

What is your favourite product and why?

I do love working on my necklaces made from pieces of vintage plates. Finding the plates in op shops or receiving broken ones from friends which I can give new life to. They already have such a history, I can only imagine what their stories are!! I love being able to add my own paintings to make them into something new people can enjoy and feel good wearing. Each one is so unique with different pictures and character.

Business name/your name/website

Candice Tout from A Story Of

www.astoryof.com 

Creative Short Courses at Central

There are over 35 exciting workshops in art, fashion, jewellery, textiles & design technology starting August, 2012. Places are limited and on a first in first serve basis, full payment required to confirm place. Enrolments are closing soon so apply now!


Courses include:
Urban Art - Use a brush/roller to create street art graffiti-style images. Larger pieces and stencils will be used and applied with a sponge/roller.


Tattoo Design & Illustration - Learn how to design tattoo illustrations, that are thoughtful and look amazing with the curves and shape of the body.


Repairing Furniture: what's old is new again - Gain the skills and knowledge to save and give new life to furniture which has been damaged or is getting a little wobbly.

Bag It: Designer Printed Bags - Sew a bag and screen print it with a design of your own.

Corsetry Design & Production - Learn how to construct a boned and underwired corset.

For more information about the courses, visit the website and download the schedule and enrolment form and scan and reply to enquiry.art@central.wa.edu.au or fax to 9427 1973. 

Behind the Label : Bek from Glass Candy

A big thanks to Bek for showing us inside the world of handmade lampwork beads....

What’s a Lampwork Bead?

As a Lampworker, this is the question I am most asked.

It has nothing to do with lights or lampshades!

‘Lampwork’ is the term used to describe the art of making glass beads using a super hot flame. It’s called LAMPwork because in the olden days, oil fuelled lamps were used to melt the glass rods and make the beads, nowadays, we use a torch hooked up to oxygen and propane, similar to a welding set up, but not quite so hot. So technica
lly, you could say the modern day term is ‘Flameworked’.

I am a Lampworker and it is an addiction. I buy tonnes and tonnes of glass rods, each about as thick as a pencil and as long as a ruler. The glass is the addictive part. There are hundreds upon thousands of different colours, transparencies and reactive glasses out there. The majority of which are sourced from Italy, with companies in Germany, New Zealand & the States also supplying the market.

A Lampwork Bead itself is a miniature work of art. You can only make one at a time, so no two beads are ever going to be identical, similar maybe, but never the same. This is what makes them so unique.

I build my beads on steel mandrels (rods about 2.4mm in diameter) which when removed; give you the ‘hole’ in the centre of the bead.... Lampwork beads are built from the inside out, the first layer is the one in the very middle and the last layer is the ‘surface’ of the bead.

So if I was to make a white bead with black spots, I would firstly melt the tip of a white rod of glass in the flame of my torch, wrap it around the mandrel and then melt down and roll on a graphite paddle into a barrel shape. I add a layer of clear glass over the top of the white, which just gives the bead a little more depth and ‘sparkle’ and melt it down and shape it. The final step for the completed bead is the black spots, which are applied with a thin piece of black glass as raised dots, then melted down flat.

Round beads are one of the easier shapes to make as glass in its molten state naturally wants to form a ball, so with the help of gravity and tools, we can easily shape our beads into balls, cones, cubes or barrels, whatever takes our fancy.

Artisan lampwork beads are annealed in a digitally controlled kiln. This process cools the bead as slowly as possible, to ensure that all molecules are realigned correctly and no stress is left behind which results in cracking. I run my kiln’s annealing cycle overnight and it cools down from approximately 510 deg (Celsius) to room temperature over about 8 hours.

The beauty of what I do is the ability to mimic our surroundings. My latest challenge is to make a set of beads that represent the Mad Hatter, and it is very slowly driving me bonkers! (You can follow my ‘Mad Hatter’ progress on my Facebook page)

For example, you have this stunning top but nothing that matches, I could either create the beads and the piece that mimics and compliments the top or make a piece is the complete opposite, which is good for ‘shock’ value, say a hot pink necklace with a white pants suit. Failing that, you could always buy a piece then purchase the outfit to match.......

Thank you to the team at Made On The Left for allowing me to tell you all a little about what I do. If you would like to learn more or see my work in person, I will be participating in the Made On The Left Winter Market on Saturday 17^th of July at The Saint. 10am – 4pm. Come and say Hi, I’d love to meet you! If you can’t make it, you can check out my work on my website with both finished pieces and loose beads being available in my Etsy stores.

Thanks Bek! xx The Team.

p.s. do you want to show everyone how you make things? Write us an article, take some pictures, email it to us and we'll post it here! xx Lauren

Supplies

Why not make a little splurge on craft supplies today and support creative West Australians?! Nothing beats getting something in the mail. All the above supplies are from West Australian Etsy sellers.

Renee

Guest blogger #2 - Renee G.

Hello all! I'm delighted to tell you that I am your second guest blogger. The lovely Niina seems to be in one piece, so I think you guys are pretty safe? You seem to be a quiet bunch. In fact, where are you? Speak up, people! I need your help as I am not very good at introductory posts. Basically after this introductory I want you to think I am creative, kind, smart, professional and have super hero qualities. So, please feel free to add some bits in to impress you.

---

My name is Renee G. (not affiliated with Andrew G.) and I reside in cute little town in Western Australia where I let my imagination flow.

My inspiration is drawn from nature, culture and vintage history. I am the jewellery designer and 'maker' of the brand Cocoa Pod - Botanical Jewellery. I enjoy expressing my creativity in many genres. I am fortunate that jewellery designing is not only my occupation but also my passion!

Unfortunately due to bad health Cocoa Pod has been put on somewhat of a standstill. I was (until now) sharing my energy on both equally, which works out to be an unproductive amount for both of them. As Cocoa Pod is not like work to me (some say it's more of an obsession ;), as you can imagine, it’s really hard to have a 'break' from it. However, the plan for this month is to put most of my energy into health and share some creative inspiration with you.

xo
Renee---

My blog: www.the-pod.net
My website: www.cocoa-pod.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Cocoa-Pod/101232051209

Faces behind Made on the Left - Part 5 - Rosanna Elizabeth

Rounding up our introductury series is our highly valued regional Made on the Left founding member, Rosanna Vinci. Rosanna has introduced you to all the other committee members as Made on the Left's 'Blog Queen' but went all shy when it was time to show herself, so I had the pleasure of interviewing her about her lovely jewellery, life at the doorway to WA's wine region, and her plans for the future - allow me to present Rosannna Elizabeth:

Tell us a bit about yourself & your craft.

Hi, I’m Rosanna and I create jewellery under the brand Rosanna Elizabeth.

I grew up on a farm in Donnybrook (the apple capital of Western Australia!) and now live in Bunbury, two hours south of Perth. I studied at Murdoch University and graduated in 2005 with a degree in Media Studies. After working in radio for a couple of years, I became a fundraising campaign coordinator for a not for profit organisation during the day, and a jewellery designer by night! I love creating jewellery that is a little bit different, like button necklaces and jewellery that incorporates vintage pieces. Something a little bit out of the square I guess that no one else will have. I have a driving need to keep learning new things and improving my craft.

What made you want to get involved with organising the Made on the Left craft fair?

I originally wanted to organise a market in the south west around the Bunbury area, but it was a little difficult by myself. So when Dara kick started the first event, I thought that I could learn a lot from it, and I have! I hope that we can extend our events to other regions of WA, including the south west, and also through to the northern regions of WA if there is a market for it.

What do you cherish most in your life?

I cherish life in general. You never know what can happen in the space of a day, or in 10 seconds for that matter. Life is too short. I also cherish my family, I wouldn’t be here without them, they are the best and I love them dearly.

What could you not live without?

My GHD hair straightener! I have really curly hair and if I let it dry, it’s a frizz ball! So I need to blow dry it straight after I wash it, which takes almost an hour (I have really thick hair), then spend another half an hour straightening it with my straightener…it works though and everyone thinks I have straight hair. If only they knew : ) If I’m being slack I just let it dry over night and then go over it with the straightener in the morning, but it doesn’t look as nice. My sister is a hairdresser - I blame her for me wanting to have nice hair all the time!

What inspires you?

Anything and everything! Colours, fashion, nature, people and personalities – I love it all! Colours are a huge thing for me though…it sets my mind off in all directions and I tend to mix different colours together, which makes for cool combinations!

Do you think being in Western Australia affects your craft in a negative way?

Not really. I think the internet makes it a lot easier these days to put your work out there. I have my jewellery in a boutique in the U.S. and without the internet, this probably would not have happened. I also think a lot of my creativity comes from the relaxed atmosphere here in Bunbury, so that’s certainly a positive!




What is the most important thing to you when you create your work?

I need to have some inspiration while I’m creating and be in a creative mood. If I don’t have that creativity in my mind, I just can’t seem to put anything together, or things just don’t work. I went though a creative drought not long ago, I didn’t make anything for about three weeks and I was starting to doubt myself. But thankfully the spell has been broken and I’ve found the motivation to get my groove back!

What are your plans for the future?

I hope to have my work in boutiques around the world and also making my mark locally with both my jewellery and bags.

I am learning to sew at the moment and I’d like to use this in the future to expand into making other crafty things. While doing this I’d also like to continue learning new jewellery making techniques. I am currently learning more about wire work, but I’d really love to get into Precious Metal Clay…I just need to remind myself to stick with one thing at a time!

In the long term, I hope to expand my jewellery range and launch a line of bags and possibly even clothing! My plan is to establish myself locally first and then go from there.