Newly Hatched

Felt purse by Cat-RabbitWant to get your hands on some goodies from newly hatched crafters and more established designers? The next Craft Hatch Market (held quarterly) is on next Saturday at 1000 £ Bend. There are homewares, jewellery, clothing, accessories, art and more. And before you exhaust your purse, pop into the cafe for a reviving coffee and pastry or two.

Cat-Rabbit says: I create handmade plush work, felt and laser cut accessories as well as various embroidered works. Thematically, my practice centres around anthropomorphised animals, vibrant and unexpected colour combinations and pattern. Each item I create is handmade without a pattern. My main aim is to make people smile. [Source: Craft Victoria]

CRAFT HATCH MARKET
Saturday 13 August 11am-4pm
1000 £ Bend
361 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Swap the sable brush for a … potato!

Potato print by Miranda SofroniouI always say chips, french fries, frites – whatever you call them in your common parlance – are one of mankind’s greatest culinary inventions. But the delicious potato has other uses too.

Who remembers the potato printing many of us must have done in art class in primary school? Simple spots and geometric shapes stamped in bright pop colours on butcher’s paper. For some reason this primitive printing method came into my head shortly before I went overseas, and I did a quick search online.

‘Spring Flurry’ potato print by ‘Brianchi’Scroll past the children’s experiments and be inspired by the adults out there who are turning the humble spud into an artist’s tool, and plan to get crafty like me. But don’t stop at potatoes – there’s a whole world of vegies out there!

Click images for links.

Onion cushion by Vicky Williams

Papîer Machédventure (Part II)

Ha! My little man mask gets a goatee. I think he is going to be Chinese..Two weeks in, the masks Sapphire and I have made are ready to be built up. After research, we decide to make the pulp from tissue paper, as it is supposed to give a similar effect as porcelain clay. The recipe we have calls for a number of obscure ingredients we can’t find, but we shrug philosophically and make do.

As well as making use of the tissue paper from retail purchases, I buy an additional ten packets of white tissue paper. Interestingly, the recycled tissue store-bought items had been wrapped in is much easier to rip into pieces.

We put the paper and water on to cook for a couple of hours, and pass the time pleasantly drinking coffee, eating cakes and chatting.

the recycled tissue … is much easier to rip into pieces

Our paper pulp resembles nothing so much as a large mound of pea-shooter ammoFinally we grow bored of this occupation and decide to get to work, despite the fact the tissue has not broken down enough. The pulp resembles those chewed bits of paper teenage boys like to flick through drinking straws at one another. The result is definitely not like clay, but we persevere and mould the masks' faces. Doubtfully we eye our handiwork and decide to leave them to dry, hoping that once dry, their appearance would improve.

The pulp resembles those chewed bits of paper teenage boys like to flick through drinking straws at one another

Unfortunately, it does not. In fact, my masks develop an interesting case of mould, and I spray them heavily with Exit-Mould, which seems to put a stop to the unpleasantness. The masks still look like mutants though, and I decide they need a decent coating of strips of tissue paper before they can be primed prior to painting. But that will have to wait for my return from my gallivanting. 

Trimmed of its square corners, the mask has a better shape. I pick off the bee-stung lips I'd given this lass after having another look at the Russian mask that originally inspired this project. Its lips are painted on.

Papîer Machédventure (Part I)

Vintage 1930s Russian theatre mask, sold on Etsy

My little man with a collapsed lower lip and broad fat cheeksOn one of my trawling trips on Etsy I discovered this lovely vintage Russian theatre mask made from papîer-maché. The delicate colours were lovely, and I particularly liked the surprised expression. I decided it would be a good thing to make my own mask from scratch.

By a strange coincidence, my friend Sapphire expressed a desire to do the very same thing, so we planned to embark on this papîer maché adventure together. 

The first step was to create the base of the mask … a hysterically funny process 

The masks’ shapes are quite square before trimmingSince neither of us had done any papîer maché since primary school, we found instructions on About.com. We used a traditional mixture of flour and water – with a bit of salt as preservative thrown in for good measure. Not enough, it transpired later. 

The first step was to create the base of the mask, and this required building on our own faces, a hysterically funny process that had us in fits of suppressed laughter – trying not to destroy the work of course. My mask was a bit funny-looking with his broad cheeks and collapsed lip (the result of an inadvertantly placed finger), I concluded. Although my mask was made on my friend’s face, it fits mine quite nicelyI decided to make a second attempt; was much more methodical, and had a better result for my care. We carefully peeled off the masks, covered them with plastic wrap, and set them aside to dry for several days.

With our masks nicely hardened, it was time to thicken them with several more layers of newspaper. The next step would be to build in some bone structure using papîer maché pulp. But that would wait for next time.

Getting My Hands Dirty

A selection of ’snappy‘ ceramics

A while back I did a short course in ceramics at the College of Adult Education in Melbourne. I had not stuck my fingers into any clay since I was in junior high school, but I had very strong memories of the pleasures of working with clay. I loved the squishy feel of it; its sculptural possibilities.

When I signed up for the course, I already had very firm ideas on what I wanted to make. I had a vision of ceramic Krispy Kreme donuts! 

A punctured tealight cover inspired by a bank of clouds – it looks pretty when the candlelight shines through.

In the first class we learned how to make pinch pots, and the coil method of construction. I was the only student who decided to keep the coils visible on the exterior, rather than smoothing them down. I designed a little pot, inspired by the shape of a beehive, and chose to glaze it white, leaving the terracotta to show through here and there. I was so pleased with the result: the bulbous little pot is so tactile; silky yet bumpy.

Other experimental surface decorations include an embossed lace texture applied to various dishes, and punctures using an awl in my tealight cover. That scalloped shape was inspired by clouds. 

Silky yet bumpy: my little coiled beehive pot

I also made a number of embossed lace pendants in bisque clay as well as porcelain, although the latter are not glazed so I do not like them so much. The bisque pendants were glazed in blue and green, although I wish I had made some white.

A selection of fragile bisque pendants awaiting stringing

As for the Krispy Kreme mission, it was indeed a success. Lacking time in class, I took some clay home and made two halves using the pinch pot method, realising fairly quickly that my first attempt was far too tall. Never mind: it could admirably transform into a stack of two donuts! The second was much more well-proportioned.

I decorated them, carefully coaxing the glaze to drip like real icing, trying to imitate the translucence of the glaze on an ‘original’ Krispy Kreme  donut. I applied it heavy-handedly in patches, in the hopes that it would crackle in the kiln – which it did. Usually that is an error, and one risks flaking, but in this case it was a happy ending. They look plump enough to sink my teeth in – but I usually manage to resist the urge!

A stack of two original Krispy Kremes await a cup of coffee