#FMJOEB 4V[FUUF
Melbourne based illustrator crafter, artist, designer and arts worker Belinda Suzette does wonderful collection of illustrations. “I am based in Melbourne but divide my time between here and the stunning Piggabeen Valley in NNSW. I am currently co-ordinating an event in Melbourne called Suitcase Rummage. which supports artists, crafters and entry level entrepreneurs kick start their businesses. I am about to start working with the State Library of Victoria in their Writes Of Spring project.� Belinda is not only passionate about art but also community and environment, you can catch up with her amazing works at her blog www.belindasuzette.blogspot.com or her website www.belindasuzette.com
creative lane
Creative Lane Organizing Creative Lane isn’t easy. Getting everyone together, the finance, marketing, the trust from artists and public, etc. It’s lots of work and it’s extremely hard for just a single soul to organize everything, not to mention she has a full time job. Suki Tam is the sole organizer of Creative Lane and she believed it’s about doing the right thing.
There are many markets in Sydney but only a few just focuses on local designs. There are some really good markets for local designs but they’re so hard to get in and so expensive to join. Creative Lane is about giving artists a fair go. Everyone has their first time and not lots of artists have money to set up. I hope Creative Lane can provide an opportunity for local artists to test the market and to meet their customers.
At the same time, I am also hoping Creative Lane can be a platform for general public to meet the local artists and to understand what they do. It is very important for people understand the process and the beauty of local designs.
The Creative Lane workshops are organized by artists; people can learn new techniques from the artists and appreciate what they do. The main thing is for everyone to enjoy the fun of being creative. https://www.facebook.com/creativelane
MAKERS WORKSHOP TASMANIA
MAKERS WORKSHOP
I watched a dvd about the Workers’ Workshop before I went to Tassie but it’s not as interesting as when I actually got there! The Makers’ Workshop works as part of the invistor information center, part of a museum, part of a cafe, part of a workshop, it’s basically everything! The beautiful building is a palce to honours Burnie’s history, makers, Innovators and artists.
Thea idea of the Makers Workshop is almost the same as Creative Lane. I met couple of artists on site and saw their demonstration. Burnie Council is very supportive about art and craft. The council provides individual spaces for artists to set up their workshops and pop up shops. I saw an artist making glass beads, she explained the process of making glass beads and I absolutely enjoyed it.
There is a beautiful workshop for people to make paper. You go in there to understand the process of making paper then you can make your own! How cool is that! The Makers’ Workshop is a fantastic place to go. I went there twice, the second time I just stayed in the cafe and have my breakfast next to the beach. They have really great local produe at the cafe and i am sure everyone will enjoy their time at the Makers’ Workshop.
carolynoneill.com.au
Glass Art in the Capital In My Element | Glass Design is an up-and-coming glass design business in Canberra. Through handcrafted, colourful fused glass designs used in panels, platters, plates and bowls, its owner Janet Kininmonth has earned a loyal following across the region. Here’s a little about her passion and her journey.
I started working with glass in the late 1990s and have been designing products since then. Late last year I decided set up my own studio and business in the inner north of Canberra. My inspiration comes from the glass itself. For me, I’m ‘in my element’ when I’m working with glass, layering coloured pieces together, creating designs – it’s amazing. I love the tactile nature of glass, and the way the light reflects on and through it producing a kaleidoscope of colour, the options are endless. The popularity of glass is increasing and whether it’s a contemporary or classic piece, glass is timeless. I think it’s the tactile and reflective nature of glass that adds to its popularity. There’s also been a revival in glass in Canberra during the past few years, with Canberra Glassworks, museums and galleries actively promoting both glass and glass artisans. For my clients, I create fused glass pieces for display, to use or to wear and I also make products to order. In My Element | Glass Design is online and I’ve been able to grow my business from referrals and events such as the Handmade Markets and Shop Handmade. I find everyone from children to adults interested in some aspect of glass. It’s also such a rewarding experience to create a fused glass original for someone’s wedding or special occasion, it’s a fantastic feeling. In My Element | Glass Design P: 6248 9799 or 0412 267 077 W: www.imeglassdesign.com.au
www.jessparker.com.au @jessmarieparker
www.jessparker.com.au @jessmarieparker
!"!"#$ %&&'( )*+( 2 Apples 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups self-raosomg flour 125g melted butter 2 eggs Peel and choop the apples Mix all the ingredients together then bake it for 180C for about 40 mins or until golden
HAVE YOUR SAY Why do you think Sydney's art and craft markets are dying out? It just seems to me that markets in Sydney are either too expensive to join or full of junk. I wonder why we can't a bit more like Melbourne has some good quality artistic market? Is that because our artists arn't good enough? or Sydney people just don't care?
Maybe the market organisers are either inexperienced, or are run by councils that don't really care as long as the stall fees are paid. I have a stall at The Olive Tree Market at Newcastle and the Avoca Beachside Markets on Central Coast and both are really really busy markets and have stall holders selling amazingly creative products, mainly I think, because the organisers are VERY particular who they let in as stall holders. Well that's my take for what it's worth, but perhaps it's question we will never have answered. Jennifer @ The Blissful Brush
At the recent winter Finders Keepers in Sydney there was an awful lot of stuff made in China. Possibly assembled here, but does slipping a mass produced plastic owl on a mass produced earing post count as "hand made"? Linda Carmichael
That's the $64,000 question! I've been a stallholder at Paddington Markets for about 12 years (a relatively short period compared to many of my friends there) and we've put it down to several factors: 1. The parking around Paddington is SHOCKING 1-2 hours with Parking officers that will book anyone/thing that stands still for too long! (they should have "special event parking for Saturday" like they do on Moore Park Rd) to entice more visitors to shop in the area, not PENALISE them helping the local economy!2. Shops are now open all day Saturday & Sunday 3. There's a market in just about every suburb From Virginia Mihaljevi! Giacomazzi
Joyjoie
F
rom LA to San Francisco
On an empty tummy…...
Several weeks ago, I had an opportunity to jump ship for a few days and attend a conference in San Jose. Somehow in 2 days tacked onto the front of the trip and one day up our sleeve at the end, a road trip from LA to San Francisco was in order with a return trip and a day in LA at the end. ...
A passionate foodie culture I was not expected. Travel is a funny thing. Some of us yearn for it, some of us are content to stay where we are. Me, I yearn for it. Its a feeling that I try and squash back down, I try and ignore it, for travel, or much of it anyway has been off the ra dar from some time due to the com mitments and responsibilities of life. I feel like I come alive when stimulated my new sights and sounds and I travel primarily with my eyes and my taste buds. Sometimes to the annoyance of travel companions who think there
must be more to life than seeking out the next eatery to devour. For me, my best travel experiences are those I re member by shutting my eyes and feel ing the textures and the tastes flood back into my mouth.
The tastes take me back to the moment and the emo tion, sights and sounds follow. I close my eyes now and scan my travel memories and I am taken back to simple but delicious banana pancakes from a food cart in Thai land, ginger fish with the rain gently dropping around us in the open air restaurant in Bali, the best Pad Thai I have ever eaten in Cambodia, shared with a new friend, Japanese Okonomiyaki with delicious bulldog sauce cooked on a hotplate in the centre of a table of friends both old and new or the burst of a sour plum, that ex ploded in my mouth and with it exploded by tastebuds from a stall out the front of a temple in Japan and on this trip, for me the highlight was the oysters, I think I ate over 10 varieties of oysters, all different but all won derful. I was struck by the amazing produce in California. My perception of the US has changed forever. I had ex pected giant size portions, burgers and fries and a dearth of beautiful produce. I couldn't have been more wrong. By all accounts both the coasts are quite a differ ent proposition to middle America but I have to say this has just fuelled a desire to see the America of Jamie's Food Revolution. With an obesity rate of 30.9 (source OECD Date 2005) and rising, I had expected a far differ ent landscape. A passionate foodie culture I was not pre pared for. Supermarkets laden with organic produce and healthy food, I had not expected. It's funny, I ended up in the US by chance, a random stumble on the inter net somehow lead up to me travelling up the west coast in a convertible. It was never somewhere I had desired to go but now somewhere I can't wait to get back to. Its funny but here in Australia, we rave about our pro duce, and granted we have wonderful produce, but the variety of mushrooms, species of plums and cherries, delicious seafood available in San Francisco, surely is second to none. I ate fresh plums in varieties I had never heard of and sour dried cherries at the markets, the best beans I've ever had at a local bistro in an out of the way suburb, salted caramel chocolate tart, an affagato to die for and macarons that were perfectly and deliciously chewy. San Francisco has the highest number of restaurants per capita in the nation — 3,588, according to health depart ment records; one for every 227 residents. (New York City has one restaurant per every 347 people.) Add to
that a growing fleet of about 200 (and counting) li censed food trucks, some serving upscale fare like ahi tuna sliders and crème brûlée. (source The New York Times) This has created a competitive thriving food culture. Sometimes in Australia I find that it can be exceedingly hard to find a restaurant that ticks all the boxes, excep tional food, exceptional service and exceptional atmos phere, particularly if you are not paying top dollar and even then, I have had some pretty bad service and some achingly unpleasant atmospheres. In the US, it seems that the tipping culture has created a service culture and the pros and cons of that are best left to another post. On this trip, I was happy to just enjoy the the wonderful experience of walking into an unknown restaurant and being delighted by the food, the service and the atmos phere. For me the hardest part about travelling is coming back
to reality. The mundane reality of everyday life, the washing, the ironing, the constant demands of parent ing. Sometimes I have a inkling in the back of my mind that it is better just not to go. If I somehow forget how much I love it, then perhaps I can be content at home. Every time I travel, I come home a little more unsettled, a little more restless, with a longing in the back of my heart to pack it all up, just go and never come back. There is a freedom in travelling, a freedom from ac countability, responsibility and I truly delight in the knowledge that no one really knows exactly where I am at any one time. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mother (thats the phrase us mums use when they are about to say how they really feel), but sometimes when your mind wan ders........... you wonder, what if? What else could have been? Lou Vansleve louise_vansleve@hotmail.com
Louise Knowles
I love designing fabrics. The idea of these beautiful cute fabrics will be used in someone’s home just makes me happy. Most of the patterns are hand drawn with wawter colour or colour pencils. I drew them on paper then scanned them into the computer to make the patterns. I’d love to use these fabrics to make a bag or pilliows but I also like to leave it for people to use them in their craft works and let the imagineation flows. Suki Tam @ Tamptation.com
www.yessweetheart.com.au
5PP many ideas in one heart
Love Creative