For something new - Antlers!!

The mood has shifted in StudioSvenja as the epic WOW journey of 2015 draws to a close - for now. Nights spent stitching until 2am when I can no longer feel my fingers are no longer in the foreseeable future. (To the left is a detail shot which I have played with in photoshop - I have to keep doing it so I don't forget everything!!) The Svenja support team have rallied, bestowing positive feedback on my work, some even saying 'best work ever'! I do always need a few pats on the head by this stage! As usual, I am glad to see the end of it, and look forward to embracing new projects.....
Like the large antlers I agreed to make for a shoot for Chantal BrennanPhotography, late one night, full of champagne fueled enthusiasm and good will. With such a busy month coming up, I seriously questioned my sanity the following morning in agreeing to do this. Turns out to have been a great decision. I made them this week, and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.  I can't wait to see the results of the Easter shoot! 

On the right is the inspiration pic she sent me, to the left is what I have made so far. I am still wrapping them in cord to give a ribbed, horn-like appearance.

The WOW shoot itself is booked for the 19th of April, but of course, I will not be able to share those until after the event in September.

On Thursday night, mother Jacqueline and I went to the QldBallet's performance of La Sylphide,

 a ballet I've never seen before. I had booked the
tickets for us, and clearly got a bit confused - Row F was not, as I had thought, in the stalls, but in the balcony - but what fabulous seats they turned out to be! We had a full view of the orchestra, which I have to admit, totally distracted and fascinated me. As did the costumes. Several times I felt as though I was looking at a Degas painting. The absolutely beautiful shades of green in the tutus, the darkness of the set - it was like watching a painting.  Oh, and of course, did I mention the exquisite dancing?!

Jacqueline recently visited the BVAC hub to do some printing with Sandra Pearce, after enjoying a workshop with her at the Redland Art Gallery.  It sounds like it was a great day, and the resulting monoprints have inspired us both. The depth of layering in the images just begs for the further step of drawing in what may be suggested by the print, and I for one can't wait for a play day in her studio in early April!  Including a roast lamb dinner, fabulous NZ wine, and a sleepover in the beautiful home I grew up in. Yeh, not much to look forward too, eh?!! 

Today was well spent, starting to pack for the Oz Tour, getting requirements together for our trip to ConTEXTart, and packing up the suitcase of supplies for the workshop with Hervey Bay Spinners and Weavers at the end of April. Organizements - I can do it!!

Cyberloxed!!

The week started with an early delivery on Monday of these bags of goodies, (right) which was a great boost for my motivation as I plug away for the final weeks at finishing the beasts for WOW. Also known as tubular crinoline, these are sold as cyberlox, (left) a techno/goth/club version of dreadlocks. Unfortunately I am using most of it in my pieces, but, oh, gee, the bag of lavender/pink isn't getting used...... ;-) heh heh heheh!!

More hair accessories are being utilised - here are some dismembered and painted ibis clips which will provide finishing touches to both pieces.

Iridescent organza is being pin-stitched for both to give it a bit of body and life - another arduous process, although it is greatly improved by the music and air-conditioning in StudioSvenja! I DO love my space!! Sadly, this stage is almost pure drudgery, as I simply try to complete the vision which began, what seems now, so long ago!

Enough of this moping!! Today I had a diversion from the  drudgery, as I picked up my travelling home (Chrystal the Cage) for the Craft & Quilt Fair tour (left) around Australia. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit anywhere near StudioSvenja, so I am going to have to negotiate with ShedMatt for a couple of weeks storage whilst I prepare it!!

This is probably the last you will hear from me for a while, as April is an insane month, starting with a trip to ConTEXTart, where my Bunneh and I will be participating in Anne Leon's 2-day workshop. We have, however, booked the entire week away - cunning, no? We arrive home in time to enjoy Cirque du Soleil with our boys. Then we have the WOW photo-shoot, packing the beasts up for WOW, packing Chrystal the Cage for the tour, and ending the month with a trip to the Hervey Bay Spinners & Weavers  to teach them my Precious Fragment wrap. Phew!! Remember folks - if you want to catch up with me this year for any artist talks or workshops as I travel around with the Craft & Quilt Fair, make sure to let me know in good time before I book my flights!! Ciao for now!!

Craft & Quilt Fair 2015 - I'm on Australian Tour!!!

Well, I think it's about time we announced that I have been invited to tour with 'Australia's No.1 Craft & Quilt Fair' as a Guest Artist for 2015! Following a successful and very enjoyable stint at the Brisbane Show in 2014, this year I will be found at:                              WA: Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre - May 20-24                                                  NSW: Sydney Exhibition Centre - June 17-21                                                              TAS: Silverdome, Launceston - July 10-12                                                                    VIC: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre - July 23-26                                      ACT: Exhibition Park, Mitchell, Canberra Aug 6-9                                                         SA: Adelaide Event & Exhibition Centre Nov 5-8 

I will have many of my wearable art garments on display, including those that have been finalists in The World of WearableArt, and will be demonstrating some of the many techniques I use to create them. From feltmaking, to screen-printing, to free-motion embroidery, to leather moulding, it will all be there! 'Isolda', (left) my entry into the Avant Garde Section of the World of WearableArt 2014, made almost entirely from bridal offcuts from the studio of  award winning bridal designer Wendy Makin, will be there, as will Fimbria Figura, (right) my 2011 entry, featuring hand dyed and screenprinted silk organza.

I will also have a selection of dyed and printed silk scarves, shawls and camisoles for sale, as well as some of my felted creations.

I am also available to present workshops and artist talks in these regions before or after these dates, so do let me know if you are interested, before I book my tickets!! I'm looking forward to meeting everyone at these venues - it's going to be such an exciting year!!!

Wow Deadline extension!!

This week I started a discussion with fellow Wow designers online, asking where they were up to with their works. With three weeks until my proposed photo shoot deadline, I was starting to get a little anxious, and was envying the extra time the New Zealand designers are allowed. Imagine my surprise to hear that some of them had not even started on them!!! And I have been working for months, admittedly with a few false starts. Then, imagine my delight, when looking at the Wow site, I discovered a new amendment to the entry requirements for previously admitted International designers! No longer do we have to submit photos by the 1st of April - nooooo! We simply skip that step and ship it over at the end of the month! Squeeeee! Three extra weeks!!! Never have I needed the extra time more. How is it that I missed this amazing information?!! I don't remember hearing anything about it!

The lounge room has been taken over for the last month, with my two large pieces on mannequins looming over us all. They're the first things I see when I open my eyes and roll over each morning, and we all sit here at night watching the tv with them glaring down on us! Although not yet at the loathing stage, I am heartily sick of them, and just want them done. This does not mean that I'm not enjoying the process, it's a couple of things; I have been working on them a long time, and would like to do something else, and, I just want to see them!

Last night I saw the midnight hour, as I stitched sequins onto leather - a mighty painful and frustrating  process! Today I worked hard on trying to bring at least one of the pieces all together - and out of the lounge!! Mission accomplished. I can now let him sit, and cast a critical eye over him for a while.

Here are a few other images of some of the leather moulding, and shibori organza decoration involved. Sadly, I see more sequin stitching on leather heading my way - it's very effective!!

3D Printing at The Edge

The 'Tinkerlab"

Several weeks ago I enrolled in an induction at The Edge, which would teach me how to use their 3D printers and subsequently allow me access to them in their workshop in the future. Sadly, although I was very interested, I was a little loathe to go, as we have been experiencing some serious rain in the aftermath of cyclone Marcia, and I kind of hoped it might be postponed! I was also enjoying my time in the studio... After phoning to confirm it was going ahead, I had my lovely chauffeur Matt deliver me to the door of this rather fabulous space, where I greatly enjoyed the 2 hours of being walked through the Tinkerlab software, and the use of the UP! mini 3d printers. With 7 others, I was walked through the process of designing a simple key-ring in the

The 'raft' being printed

software, by melding shapes together and creating holes, then the physical process of preparing the printers, and watching the magic happen! It really was a fascinating process, and I was quite excited when I saw my piece done, after approximately eight minutes printing time. I'm not sure if it's something I'll be getting into, but I really appreciated learning about this amazing process, and certainly see a lot of potential for it in many, many applications, So who knows!!

The printer first lays down a 'raft', a base of the ABS filament that your design sits on. Your piece is then printed on this, and when completed, the whole piece is kind of cracked/twisted of the print bed. The raft is then snapped off the finished design. The surface is quite rough, but this can be sanded back or treated with acetone.

The finished key-ring

So back to the studio - I have to say, I went along to the induction session with black and blue hands, due to spray painting leather and then painting it. Care factor - nil. There was a whole lot more of this today - really rather a pleasant and meditative process, although quite lengthy compared to air brushing the dye on. It's quite lovely, brushing on the buttery acrylic paint, layer over layer. I'm nearly running out, so placed an order with the Thread Studio for more loveliness.

Leather moulding on the loungeroom carpet...

We now have two large beasts looming over us in the loungeroom, as the height of the ceiling downstairs means I can't put it all together. Sorry, Matt! You built me a beautiful space, but sometimes it's just not enough!! (You should have seen his face last week when I had to move some leather moulding out to his shed...  not impressed!!) It has been a watershed week, as I have finally seen the WOW pieces in some semblance of their finished selves, and, after much chopping and changing, the final pieces are emerging. Good job too, with just over a month to go!! This is the first year I have worked on them full time, yet I have never felt so behind!! Perhaps due to a number of false starts, also for the first time...

Alright, that's enough, I have two bodysuits to make tomorrow, plus more leather painting, and some general weirdness to make,,,,

Desperately Seeking Sequins!

 Fabric Guru's - this is what I seek!! I have a tiny amount of this pearlised gold/white 'disco sequin' (left) in my stash, yet have decided that it is the material that I must have for one of my current WOW creations, therefore now need several metres. And I need it NOW!!! Anyone who has some, or has seen this material around lately, please let me know!
As you know, my recent attempt at an entry for the Architecture section of WOW did go well, then I tried to change it into a more organic feeling piece, shifting to shibori dyed and shaped silk in yellow orange shades.... but to no avail. It just didn't work, but amazingly, the wire framework, with some slight adjustments, now suits one of my current pair of designs, so I am pleased to say that some of these efforts do not go to waste! The silk shibori pieces will for now get packed away, but I'm sure will get used one day - I keep seeing a wild floral headpiece with them, Flora Fascinata style!!

Here is the work-bench from this weekend, covered in moulded leather pieces, beautiful Jacquard Lumiere paints and Pearl Ex powdered pigments, as well as Lindy's Stamp Gang metallic mist sprays - I just love all of these!! In the foreground are my French Flower Making tools, which I sometimes use on my leather, although, after some experimentation, not in this particular piece.
As I have said previously, it is great to be working in leather again, and throughout this process I am learning more about what can be done with it. It's almost time to start riveting all the pieces together!

Dyeing Days

Two months left for the World of WearableArt deadline! Late last year I had to shelve a design I had already put at least a month's work into, and started designing for a section themed on architecture. I thought I was going quite well, until feedback from my critics indicated that no, it really wasn't working. So I've stripped it back, and will be letting loose on it with my natural aesthetic of flowing lines - clearly, I cannot be constrained!! Yes, I've lost some time and some materials, and now have some rather strange constructions I don't know what to do with, but I tried. I've also come up with an idea for the Weta Workshop section, this year themed 'Other Worlds', where we are invited to "Invent the imaginary and mythical creatures or the inhabitants who dwell in surreal realms'. Well, two ideas, actually! Sigh. I should have just started here in the first place, back working in leather, which I am loving! So the loungeroom once again looks like a workshop, with pieces of leather in piles, leather soaking in the bath, and drying leather strapped around mannequins with stockings. One of the pieces may also include this amazing sequinned fabric in my stash- you should hear it move, too!

Unfortunately, my hand is not loving any of it, and remains strapped up after I heard that there are no signs of the bone mending, and after it started doing a dance all by itself after a hard couple of days in the studio. And the gym. Well, what's a girl to do?! I can't sit around not making anything and getting fat and unfit!!! I did decide to give the paw a break yesterday, and do some lighter tasks. After a leisurely start to the day, with some guilt free reading and a nice breakfast out, I enjoyed making a mess in the wet studio and did quite a few dye batches on these devore silk scarves and silk charmeuse camisoles. The colours are rich, but the sheen of the silk just brings them alive into lusciousness!! These will be for sale in my etsy shop (currently devoid of all items - sigh, yet another task to get on to) and on my tour around Australia starting in May.