The last WoW related post for a while...

Greetings all. The main focus of my life, the WoW submission, is due but a day or two away. My photo shoot was last Sunday, but since then, on viewing the results, my trusted advisors have suggested a few alterations.

The rear lace up of one of the leather bodices.......

The shoot is usually the first time we get to see the piece all put together on a human, where comfort, fit, and design faults all become apparent - with three pieces, this is even more so the case. Yet calmness prevails, as yesterday I moulded two more leather pieces, today I dyed and painted them, and tomorrow I will do basic photos of the alterations for my submissions.

I have embraced this long weekend as a long overdue opportunity to relax, despite these final adjustments. I spent Friday checking out the Festival of Sails at Suttons Beach, Redcliffe, and Saturday enjoying some long overdue family catch ups.Today we set off for the Eagle Farm markets, which seem to have a lovely new food aisle,

 

 and where I discovered these amazing flowers. So vibrant, they must be fed on dyed water - they look so brilliant! I think they look kind of wrong, but love them just the same.

 At the front of the racecourse is this rather amazing tree, which has the most unusual sweeping boughs. They really twist and turn right across the width of the tree with the most dynamic movements.

 Another highlight was the petting zoo, full of baby sheep, goats, bantam chooks, ducks, and guinea pigs. It was slightly horrific seeing the baby ducklings and guineas being horribly mishandled by small children, but I felt they kind of got their own back by terrifying the kids in return. I could not stop from laughing at children screaming in fear at the goats and their tiny horns, or even the ducks! Bahahahahahaaa! My favourites were the real kids - so playful, locking their tiny horns together and falling all over each other.....

 

4 more sleeps now until Ballarat. Yesterday Miss J and I went through the stash, picking out lovely bits of fibre and fabric, as well as packing the entire box of colourful wool scraps to use up. We also decided to set ourselves a 'neutral' challenge, packing a bag full of undyed merino, alpaca, tussah silk, tencel, silk throwsters waste, and wool knops, as well as natural English Leceister and Corridale fleece. The sheepy smell of these unprocessed fibres was just amazing! Can't wait to play....

Best Wishes to all my fellow WoW entrants - hope to see you there for my 5th year of entering!

The Final Countdown... Again

With less than 2 weeks until the photo shoot for my World of WearableArt submission, all seems in reasonable order. Did I just jinx myself?!! Having extended myself to a three-piece entry this year, I think a lot of people expected me to be three times as painful this year, but I don't think that has been the case. I've learned a lot about manipulating leather, and can't wait to apply this knowledge to a few other projects - perhaps some wearable pieces for myself? I've also learned how to clog up airbrushes with binder medium, and subsequently, how to clean them. I've always wanted to do airbrushing, and can't wait to get to work on the much larger canvas of the kombi.

I don't think I previously posted these pics of last years entry Euphony Iridaceae on stage.. still waiting to see the dvd of the show!

 I also found this lovely pic on FaceBook of BioLumina hanging out in a winery - how appropriate!

BioLumina in the Brancott Estate Winery

Last weekend I visited gallery 54 at Paddington to view Sharyn Halls' exhibition Argentum, which was a riot of colour and texture (featured in this month's Textile Fibre Forum magazine).

Her quirky pieces reference biology, from DNA to sprouting seedss, and I was delighted to be able to purchase a full colour catalogue of her work - it's so nice to be able to take away a decent memento like this. Congratulations Sharyn, and I know you have been inspired through this process towards new directions.
The other countdown is to Fibres Ballarat, with fellow nutcase Miss Jenelle! Here we will in indulge in a weeks workshop with the creator of this variety of felty goodness, Marjolein Dallinga.

Not to mention 2 nights prior R&R in our favourite destination - Melbs!! Bliss!
I hope my fellow International Designers are facing the deadline with calm, and you New Zealand designers with your extra time - I don't want to hear a peep out of you!! :-)
Svenja

Meh...

Okay, prepare yourselves for a bit of bleat/moan/whinge here. Take it with the grain of salt that I am - this is a recognised and regular part of the creative process, it's just a bit painful. I've got less than seven weeks left, and as usual, everything is falling apart. I'm going mad because I'm working in ridiculously cramped conditions. I won't even grace my old 'studio' with that title anymore, as it is just a giant pile of stuff that I keep tripping over and losing things in. My new studio has stopped - the floor has not been touched - apart from some muddy footprints by persons unknown but highly suspected!!#$%@!!!
I'm stuck with where I'm going with my WOW pieces - it's a 'make-or-break' kind of situation at this stage, and uncertainty can become almost paralysing. I've come this far, it's not quite there, I don't want to lose the magic, how do I not screw this up?
Luckily I have done this enough now to know that despite the deadline, it is time to step back. It's time to stop desperately thinking and experimenting.  Often it is helpful to go back to the ideas and images that originally inspired me, to re-find my direction when I am lost.
Ok, that was quite cathartic - now moving right along!
I always like to have some pictures to show you, so here's some arashi shibori in process on a metallic polyester fabric.

These then turn into lovely springy pleated tubes, which I was going to cut feather shaped pieces out of, but when I was playing around with it, found this lovely way of using it to texture a surface.

And here is a sneak peak of the process of airbrushing the leather with dye, which is nicely disguised with a little ghost imaging!

Quite ethereal, really! And a lovely note on which to end. I'm sure I'll have a more positive report next time, once I have found my Mojo once again!

Did I miss something here?!!

Somehow, not sure sure how, it has become February of 2013!! Of course, my next thought after that is how many days left until the World of WearableArt deadline. By now you all know it is April 1st for photo submissions, so I don't need to spell out the urgency.
However, challenges keep getting thrown in the way to slow me down.... A few weeks ago we had torrential rain, which showed up some weak spots in the new studio, and put a stop to the concrete floor getting sealed.  At the same time, we welcomed 3 new bodies to our home, meaning further space was lost, and the pace of life ratcheted up yet another notch. Tonight I have finished painting the floor ( a tasteful understated whitewash with glitter swirls!!)

Note running stain from storms near fabulous new Air Conditioning unit!

If it gets sealed this week, I might get to move in on the weekend! However, I'm thinking I will just use it as a construction space for the next 6 weeks as I can't get bogged down in creating the new space whilst trying to finish 3 major pieces - these take precedence!! To top it all off, I have received word from Mainfreight this week that my last 2 WOW pieces are at the port ready for pick up. Now where am I going to put those?!!
This is the current state of my upstairs studio/dressing room/general dumping ground!!

Cardboard templates, feathers, leather off-cuts - everything is there!

I thought I'd share with you a delightful image that I wake up to each morning, which creates peace & beauty in my mind, and makes me smile - my beautiful mermaid of serenity, draped in the jewellery that I wear.

Once the WOW deadline has been successfully reached, my immediate reward is a SvenJen adventure (with my partner in silliness Miss Jenelle), this time to Fibres Ballarat, to do a workshop with Marjolein Dallinga. Whooo hoooo!! Can't wait!
Happy Creating folks, remember to give your time to the things that make you happy - this life can be a short one. Make it count.

Aaaaah, another weekend dawns! As you know, last weekend was successful on both the artistic and engineering fronts. Whilst Matt slaved away building the studio, I trotted off to Ikea looking for storage solutions for it. The sea of people was terrifying, but it was a most successful trip. On my return, we had the obligatory session with allen keys, but as it was just some  clothes racks, it wasn't too much of  a challenge!

On my way back, I couldn't resist a stop off at Loot. If I had any room here at all, I would have also indulged - unfortunately, I recently found a massive mirror for my studio in a skip bin for nix!!

 In the current state of disarray, this is the neatest part of my current upstairs studio. This is my desk where I have been tooling, dyeing and painting leather. It and Betty Bernina are the two constants at the moment as everything shifts around them, as the studio accommodates my dressing room, and starts to move downstairs.

This week on the way to work I found some fabulous 'Footpath Fruit' - a black metal shelving unit which has become the perfect mobile interim storage for my shoe collection! It wouldn't fit any which way into the Kombi, but was only around the corner, so I popped it in and had it hanging out of the sliding door whilst I carefully drove home! Luckily, discovering footpath fruit is a valid excuse for being late for work around here!!
Just look at the studio progress this week - and as of tonight it's even further along! This wall has been sheeted, and the third wall has been half sheeted. Just that and the doors to go before I start painting - so exciting!!  It's starting to look like quite a decent room now - I just want in!

I thought Matt's tools and the offcuts made rather a lovely image..

So, this has been just a quick update before this weekends adventures which start at 8:30am tomorrow (before the heat gets crazy!) with a visit to MacLace for rivets for my leather.
 Happy creating, folks!

Studio Progress Report

One week until there will be three extra humans living in our house! No more for me the luxury of spreading my work throughout the entire house. Currently the entire lounge is filled with 6 mannequins, 2 heads, a torso, cardboard patterns aplenty, and a multitude of moulded leather pieces drying on towels on the floor, not to mention a pile of leather scraps down the hallway! I don't think this will work with a full house. I have worked hard today to get past this stage of designing the shapes for my pieces, which creates this incredible mess! I feel I have been pretty successful in this - I've really only got two headpieces left to design and cut. Unfortunately I can't show you the chaos, as it will give too much away, but here is a picture of the leather as I cut it into shape with a stanley knife - hard work indeed! Then I soak it in the bath for a while before I mould it into shape and let it dry.

Back to the building of StudioSvenja. Last weekend and during the week, I spray painted the roof of StudioSvenja. Stained hardwood, it would never be pure white, but I am happy with the result of 'shabby-chic' white! It already looks so much lighter.

From this.......

Today, whilst I was working upstairs in the air-conditioning, Matt was out picking up more building materials. When he dared rest for a while, I said "How's that construction going there?". (Cruel, yes, but after all, I need to move in ASAP! As it is, there are going to be racks of outfits and bolts of fabric cluttering up the  house for a few weeks yet!) Guilted, he went down, and did great work, and now my fabric stash shelves are finished. So too are the seven fluorescent lights!

....to this!!!!

\

 

The man at work.

Over the last few weeks, I have been practicing my leather-working skills on a special commission - an armband designed by photophilanthropist. The first version was too thick and flat - it had no life. The second did not allow for the shrinkage that occurs after I discovered how I could mould it - and so became mine!

The third encorporated all the lessons I had learned, and is ready to present to the designer for his birthday tomorrow.

It has been really good to have a practice piece with purpose - I have learnt moulding, dyeing, edge burnishing and finishing - all knowledge to be applied to my WoW designs. With ten weeks to go, I feel as though I might manage to finish my three entries! For the first year ever, I hope to enter more than one. It will be the 25th year of The World of WearableArt, and my fifth year as a designer. A special year indeed.
Happy Creating!
Svenja

2013 begins

After a civilised evening with friends, ending with a most welcome gift of Moet & Chandon, 2013 has begun. It has been a beautiful, quiet, and peaceful day for me. Just what I needed. I enjoyed starting the day by working in my long-neglected wet studio, making the new diary cover as is now my annual tradition. This year I have incorporated materials from my nuno felt bridal collection, and have used new techniques I learned at Viltes'workshop, which seems such a long time ago now!

The initial layout....

The final product!

Done by 11am, it was brunch time with Matt, and a toast to the new year with some Veuve - no better way to start! We admired the fantastic progress of StudioSvenja by Mr Matt - it won't be long now! I'm looking forward to the opening party already!
I think it's going to be a cracking year - Best Wishes to all for the same!
Svenja