Kate Ward: lace

Showing posts with label lace. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 October 2014

Enamelling: Collaborative Assignment Stage 2

This week we drew numbers which corresponded with everyone's enamelled pieces. I got number 5, which happened to be JiHoo Lee's ring. Hoo is from South Korea and on exchange here in Canada for 6 months.

Hoo's ring

I love the design, its a very simple, yet clever and effective ring. It is made from one piece of copper which has been manipulated and threaded through itself to create the form.

One of the reasons why I think it is so clever is because the solder used to form shapes in jewellery often will melt in the enamelling kiln, so designs with enamelware need to take this into consideration.

Hoo modelling her ring, top view

Hoo modelling her ring, side view

Our assignment for this week as to manipulate up to 40% of the surface area.... I wanted to add to it, without compromising the design.

So I decided to use a stencil technique.

Stencil resist using a pressed flower

I have been collecting and pressing flowers recently. I am particularly drawn to the flower that grows wild called Queen Anne's Lace.

Using a pressed Queen Anne's Lace flower, cobalt blue enamel and a 200 mesh sifter I gently sifted the enamel onto the ring.

And this is the result.

Hoo's ring with Queen Anne's Lace flower stencil - in progress.
Image by Thomas Miko

Hoo's ring with Queen Anne's Lace stencil
Image by Thomas Miko

Ill see if I can find an image of the changes to my piece that Hoo made (strangely enough we got each others piece!)

Thursday, 24 April 2014

The Travellers - Antique Kitchen Strainers

The Travellers
Photography by Christina Arsenault

At the beginning of the year I found some delightful antique kitchen strainers and I immediately fell in love with their shape and form. I wanted to incorporate them into my artwork and create something beautiful with them.

Incorporating metal wire (copper, brass and silver plated that has been patina'ed) each antique strainer contains or carries a machine embroidered heart, that is incased in a resin house shape.

They certainly have character and have developed a life of their own. They became the inspiration for some stop motion animation, ending up in my 3 and a half minute animation, The Drive.

Finally I have finished a family of three 'Travellers'. Here they are

The Travellers
Photography by Christina Arsenault

Friday, 24 February 2012

The Good Life

This week I have been:

Day dreaming on my steps

And reading :
'The Best of Jackie French - a practical guide to everything from aphids to zucchini chocolate cake'
'Organic Home - the Australian guide to clean green living'

With a cup of tea I have been writing lists of 'things to do' ... (and admiring the handmade knitted dishcloth which currently is too nice to use for its intended purpose)

Tea Cosy made by Jenny

Making soap from scratch (with various degrees of success)

Soap made from dripping

Soap made from olive oil

Enjoying something fresh from my garden every day.

Squeezed into a 2 x 1m garden is golden zucchini, cherry tomatoes, spinach and capsicum

Today I think I will make parsley pesto.

Thursday, 17 November 2011

Featured in Womans Day

I was flicking through Womans Day (as you do) after a little bird told me that my Paris Balcony Heart cushion was featured in The Style File....

And here it is

You can buy the Paris Heart Cushion online at Blue Caravan - an online site which supports and promotes direct trade with emerging and independent designers. They insist on ethical production both locally and overseas, and love fairtrade or sweat-free certification. Blue Caravan believe that objects ‘warmed’ bydesigners, artists and artisans have aquality like no other… and that ‘ethical’is no longer a choice separated fromstyle and design.

My kinda thinking too :)

Thursday, 18 August 2011

Nets Exhibition at Barometer Gallery

I was lucky enough to have my work Necklace (below) selected to be part of a group textile exhibition which has been shown as part of the VI International Biennial Contemporary Textile Art in Oaxaca in Mexico earlier this year.

Necklace is knitted from recycled plastic bags and then heat is applied to make the fabric rigid. More details can be found in an earlier post on my blog. Click here to go to the post.

The exhibition has travelled back to Australia and was on show at the Barometer Gallery in Sydney in early August 2011. Artists involved in the show are: Catherine Dabron, Wendy Dodd, Gabriella Hegyes, Paula Hilyard, Barbara Jackson, Liz Jeneid, Lynne Johnson, Valerie Kirk, Jenny Manning, Maryanne Mussared, Marli Popple, Nancy Tingey, Monique Van Nieuwland and Katherine White.

Images of the Barometer exhibition are courtesy of Valerie Kirk.

Friday, 22 July 2011

Scarves and unfinished projects

I have been inspired to complete some of my unfinished projects by a friend who posted an entry on her blog about the same thing 'Finish it up Friday' . She wrote a list of all her unfinished projects, and every friday has to post an update of the projects she has finished.

Well, recently I unearthed some beautiful handspun and dyed wool from Wool Dancer I bought about this time last year. Her wools are aptly described as art yarn - and they are truly beautiful and unique.

Inspired, I decided to finish them and this is what they look like.....

I made up the pattern as I went, one was knitted using 1cm knitting needles... 15 stitches wide and about 49cm long.

I just love the soft colours in this - the wool is also incredibly soft too - like being wrapped in cloud....

The other one was crochet using a 1cm hook - I ran out of yarn halfway so I joined in some grey that I had in my wool stash.

This one is also about 15cm wide and 50cm long and made using single chain stitch.

I love the grey spun baubles which are tightly twisted into the pumpkins and purples of this yarn...

My sister modelling her new scarf...

You may be wondering what my other projects are that are on my to finish list? Well, a number of them are knitting projects.

Jumper knitted using blue/green variegated wool (knitted and unraveled twice so far)
Jumper knitted using raspberry / chocolate variegated wool (knitted and unraveled twice as well!) - I fall in love with wool and buy it without a project in mind and then find it incredibly difficult to find a pattern which suits the wool.
Lace scarf using 2 ply grey mohair
lace scarf using special NZ wool

Some of them are cooking projects:

Finish making Noccino (green walnut liquor)
Make some Lemoncello (lemon liquor)

Some are sewing projects:

Make a quilt - put together patchwork blocks from a Patchwork Bee I participated in (also organised by Jules from RelishAustralia)
Sew curtains from my handprinted fabrics for my house.

I promise Ill post updates on how I get on finishing my projects - but it may not be as regular as every Friday! x

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

La Nina in The Edge

Last week I completed La Nina - a dress made entirely from knitted and crochet recycled plastic bags - which was selected to be in the sculpture show 'The Edge' at the Belconnen Arts Centre.

The sculpture is life size and approximately 1m high and 50cm diameter. She gently twirls and dances as she catches the breeze as you walk past ...... La Nina was created using over 100 recycled plastic shopping bags, mainly from Woolworths. I enjoy using discarded objects to create something of beauty and to change perceptions of the materials used.

La Nina also creates beautiful shadows and I captured some in the afternoon light - it's going to be an interesting study to watch the shadows as they dance over the gallery walls from early to late afternoon.

The Edge is an interesting exhibition. Although it is a sculpture show, many of the pieces in it are created using textile techniques - fascinating and well worth a visit to the Belconnen Arts Centre.

There is a Meet the Artist talk at 2pm, Sunday 22 May. The exhibition runs until Sunday 29 May 2011.

Saturday, 7 May 2011

La Nina

Yes, another knitting project using recycled plastic bags......

This time its a life size dress for The Edge, an exhibition at the Belconnen Arts Centre of sculptural works by the Canberra region's top emerging and established sculptures.

The brief was to respond to living on the edge, questioning how does place influence us? How does space affect our responses, our actions our dreams? How do we interject ourselves into the universe? How do we live on the edge?

My response was La Nina.

Peruvian fishermen named the extreme weather condition la nina (the girl, the gift giver) because the cold water brought to the South America's coast a flux of marine life which increased the fisherman's catch. Meanwhile on the other side of the world, countries like Australia have experienced severe flooding. Thought to be an effect of global warming, Earth is on the edge of climate change. The garment refers to Peruvian traditional dress, and the net-like knitting alludes to the nets the Peruvian fishermen use to catch the fish.

I have lost count of how many plastic bags I have recycled for this project, but its definitely well into the hundreds....

The exhibition opens on Friday 13 May at 6pm and continues until Sunday 29 May 2011, at the Belconnen Arts Centre.

Come along to see how the twelve selected artists have responded to the topic.

Thursday, 21 April 2011

Recycled Lace Lampshades

This week I knitted the final stitches, cast off, ironed and created two recycled lace lampshades using recycled plastic bags.

About thirty bags were recycled and you can see the different hues of greens and greys in the image above. The heat process seems to intensify the colours in the plastic. In keeping with the recycled ethos the lamp bases were found in second hand stores around town.

The shades were commissioned by an avid collector of objects made from recycled bits'n'pieces and when I delivered them I was shown her extraordinary collection: bags made from woven recycled paper, old chip wrappers and the pull tops from aluminium cans.

Its amazing the clever and beautiful things people can make from rubbish!

Thursday, 23 December 2010

Fantastic Plastic

How cool is this - Im featured in the Canberra Times Times2 lift out from Monday.

Click on the image below to read the article.

Sunday, 31 October 2010

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.

Thursday, 14 October 2010

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.

Monday, 6 September 2010

Recycled Plastic Knitted Lamps exhibited in the Belco Bizarre Exhibition

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to have my photo taken and interviewed about my hand knitted recycled plastic bag lace lamp by the Northside Chronicle in Canberra which was part of the Belco Bizarre exhibition, one of the many events which make up the Belconnen Arts Centre first year anniversary celebrations.

The idea to create plastic lace lampshades hand knitted from recycled plastic bags developed from my fascination of space and light and the interplay of the two. The shadows created by the lace lamp cast create a rippled pattern reminiscent of the sunlight sparkling on the lake.

I enjoy the juxtaposition of taking a discarded item and giving it value through recycling and transformation.

Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Paper Lace

I am experimenting with some more ideas for the Netwurking exhibition which relate to lace and in particular the lace from Elizabethan times. The images above explore the construction concepts of lace (usually they were folded in a figure eight pattern) and shape of the ruffle. I like the idea of turning these paper lace drawings into small books or wearable paper art.....

The text on the concertina folded piece contains interesting facts about lace in the 16th Century - for example in some places only people of a certain rank were allowed to wear lace and then only a certain width according to their status. It was also a dangerous profession to be a lacemaker as they were not allowed to make lace in rooms with open fires because the smoke would discolour and stain the lace. So lacemakers would fill clay or metal pots with hot coals and position them under their skirts to keep warm. Often these hot coals would set fire to the lacemakers clothing!

Saturday, 1 May 2010

Neck Lace

Inspired by objects that interact with light and an age long fascination with the word ‘neck lace’, and its literal meaning, was the starting point for this peice. It is created by knitting recycled plastic shopping bags, and then heat and pressure is applied so that it the end result is flat and rigid - which creates a material quite different to the original flexible and tactile knitted fabric.

The artwork references the lace collars of Elizabethan times. Traditionally the collars were somewhat dangerous and an uncomfortable piece of clothing to wear. Straight pins, which pointed towards the neck, held the ruffles together and often caught on the neck, piercing the skin. Through the use of recycled plastic bags 'Necklace' alludes to the waste and frivilous excesses our society produces, questioning what are we prepared to endure for the fashion of convenience?

This object was created for the Netwurk project http://netwurks.wordpress.com an exhibition proposal masterminded by the Textiles Workshop at the ANU which revolves around networking via the internet and engaging with other artists online.