Adventures at the Tasmanian Craft Fair

My arty friend Jo and I visited the Tasmanian Craft Fair on the weekend. It was a very well organised event with 14 venues around the town of Deloraine. Thankfully part of the entry fee included catching buses between the different venues which towards the end of the day saved our feet! We met some amazing people and discovered some beautiful objects.


Our first stop was The 3rd Door who make beautiful handbound books. We were both so inspired we bought a lovely sketchbook and Im thinking about making a trip down to Tas again to do a book binding course with them!


Next we discovered the delightful quirky stained glass birds created by Diane Brown. We both had to have one of these, and Jo's blue wren is already hanging up on her kitchen window.


I fell in love with Sally Cassanrda's beautiful ceramic jewellery and objects. I restrained myself and only bought a pair of earings and some buttons. Her designs are made from the impressions in clay of lace she has collected over the years. I cant wait to knit something beautiful to attach to my new buttons. It has been raining here for the past 24 hours..... perfect knitting weather - if only I brought my knitting :)


I was looking for a new bag to replace my very worn (and loved) japanese handbag. I found a lovely design from Sashiko Design with lots of pockets (very important to put all my things in)

My last extravagant purchase of the day was some beautiful 'cloud cups' by ceramicist Dean Smith which took my breath away that had light blue crystals floating on an earthly caramel background..........



We also discovered some very beautiful etchings by Joseph Austin, a Sydney based artist. He had a lovely selection of prints and cards. I couldnt resist and bought a card of his exquisite coral tree etchings.

Selected to exhibit at Handmade in Britain and the UK Eco Design Fair

Wow!

My recycled knitted plastic bag designs (plastic lampshade and knitted purses) have been selected to be displayed at the Handmade in Britain Chelsea Old Town Hall from 27-30 October 2010 and the Eco Design Fair Islington Town Hall, 4-5 December 2010 as part of [re]design's initiative to encourage people to consider the provenance of what they consume and purchase over the festive period.

[re]design are promoting how to make and recycle Christmas decorations and gifts and have selected 20 Good and Gorgeous MIY designs (two of my works have been selected!) and are compiling the ‘How to make’ of these designs, with a step-by-step instructions into a small book which will also be available for purchase at the events.

[re]design is a London based organisation which curates sustainable design exhibitions and promote designers who don’t want to make landfill, and at the same time to educate visitors about sustainability in an inclusive and accessible way. [re]design also faciliate workshops, lectures, seminars and publications on recycling and design.

Lake Burley Griffin Cushion Commission

I was recently asked to translate my design of Lake Burley Griffen into a black and white screenprint for a cushion by one of the customers at Shop Handmade in Canberra.

Screen printed using black ink on white linen, the original image has a lot of blank space around it so I decided to frame the print by adding a black border at the top and bottom of the same material (also linen) to match the back of the cushion.

The cushion is being delivered to Shop Handmade today. I loved the design so much that I have also made one using navy ink on a cream back ground (hemp fabric) with a border of navy blue (cotton) and matching fabric on the back which is available to buy at Shop Handmade. They retail at $90 which includes the cushion insert.

All my products are created using quality fabrics, water based fade resistant fabric print paste and are created by hand in my studio.

New Persimmon Tree Design

The Persimmon Tree design has developed into a season of designs, from the winter tree with bare branches and orange spheres of fruit into the summer tree with fresh green leaves.

Printed on 100% natural linen tea towels (70 x 50 cm) the Persimmon Tree design is centrally placed and measures 30 x 35 cm and are perfect for bringing a bit of art and design into your kitchen. Or you could frame it and hang it on the wall.

The tea towels are printed in limited editions, ensuring each tea towel is unique in its placement and colours.

The tea towels can be bought at Shop Handmade in Canberra or from my online store

In the studio.....

This image captures the creative chaos that happens in my studio..... also known as the kitchen bench.

I usually have a number of projects on the go and here you can see the design of a new fabric print, my patchwork project of a lyrebird for an online collaboration, coloured fleece in a favourite cup from a felting workshop I participated in at the NGA earlier in the year, a collection of interesting objects collected on my travels through South Africa last year (I particularly love the giraffe and zebra cutlery), daily living bits n pieces and my goldfish (who are painfully shy and hid whilst I took the photo).

There is a riot of colour where ever you look..... and this creative chaos continues throughout the rest of my home.