The Makers Vol 1

the makers

the makers As Israelmore Ayivor has observed: “There are three categories of people in the world; “the wanters”, “the wishers” and “the makers.”

The Makers is our homage to our brightest and most creative individuals – those who have pushed the boundaries of their craft, producing unique pieces of great fascination and complexity. Be inspired by their ability to see potential where most see only waste – bringing life to the discarded, the forgotten, the everyday and assembling the detritus of our over-burdened world into objects of astonishing beauty. And be motivated as they invoke almost-forgotten skills, honing age-old techniques and create heirlooms for future generations.

All are committed to treading lightly on our earth and encourage us to Rethink, Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.

PUBLISHED BY

Editorial Editor and Chief Junkie Selena Buckingham ‒ selena@junkies.com.au Editorial Team Copy Editor/Writer Michelle Coxall – theknownworldbookshop@gmail.com Contributors La Vergne Lehmann, Jo Canham, Michelle Coxall, Sian Blohm, Selena Buckingham & Graham Wood Content Design & Layout Sian Blohm designstudioballarat.com.au Cover Photography Warren Heath bureaux.co.za Illustrator Rosie Leech rosieleech.com Website junkies.com.au Subscriptions junkies.com.au/subscribe Social Media Facebook facebook.com/junkiesmagazine Instagram instagram.com/junkies-magazine Pinterest au.pinterest.com/junkiesmag Print Finsbury Green (World’s best practice ISO9001:2008 Quality & ISO14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems certification; providing carbon-neutral services).

Distributor Aust & N.Z. Distributor Ovato Limited For retail distribution and sales email advertise@junkies.com.au Disclaimer Junkies Magazine Australia Pty Ltd takes all care but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Junkies Magazine Australia Pty Ltd holds copyright to all content unless otherwise stated. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the information in this publication, the publishers accept no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or resultant consequences including any loss or damage arising from reliance on information in this publication.

The Makers

Amanda Du Plessis

My Vintage Obsession

Merrin Glasgow

Isabel Avendano Hazbun

Julie Stephens

Jen Eales

Carys Martin Ceramics

Harry Millward

David Lester

POD

Kate & Rose

Antipodean Tynker

Bethany Alice

emily’s utopia

Louiseann & Kristian King

Kate Judson

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Rarehare Designs

Barry Gardner

Gypsy Weaver

Tootsie Handmade

Sue Garrard

Eva Michelle Redux

Smyle Designs

Simone Linder-Patton

Wonderpants

Julie Fleming

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“To be inventive, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.�

Thomas Edison

The Makers “...dealing with our human detritus...[should be] about remaking something, creating beauty where there was ugliness and finding value where there was none.” < 08

I love the word ‘maker’ – it can mean so much in terms of creativity while at the same time still retaining a meaning in everyday life. It can represent something special and also something mundane. For the mundane, we ‘make’ dinner or ‘make’ a coffee or tea every day. But when we become creative our making can be extraordinary and the works of many artists, musicians and authors are testimony to that.

So what does it mean to be a creative maker? Thomas Edison said ‘To be inventive, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk’.

Nothing could be more true of those who make, or should I say ’remake’, from waste, garbage, trash or a pile of junk! This special edition is about celebrating the makers or remakers and the extraordinary, inventive and creative things they do.

The ability to see the possibilities of what ‘can be’ when looking at an item of garbage or a found item – something that has been deemed unusable by someone else – and create something of beauty through the power of imagination and making skills is a special talent indeed. This is not just making but creativity – not just from virgin material but from flawed material or found objects. Although she wasn’t referring to making from waste, writer C. JoyBell C. said: “People are creators. But I doubt that many realize this. We are not meant to go out into the world and find flawless things, we are not meant to sit down and have flawless things fall into our laps. But we are creators. We can create a beautiful thing out of

what we have. The problem with idealistic people is that they see themselves as receivers instead of creators, they end up hunting for the flaw in everything in order to measure it up to their ideals.

Now, when you see yourself as a creator, you can look at a chunk of marble and see the angel within it. Then you carve until you have set that angel free.”

Making from waste, garbage or materials no longer required by others is different from other forms of making. You are starting with a material that is excess to requirements and not wanted.

Indeed, it is material that we seek to bury or burn – it is the detritus of humanity. We no longer wish to possess it, use it or see it. It is ugly.

To be able to create from the detritus of humanity means to be able to see far beyond the item itself. Seeing beauty where others see ugliness. Seeing value where others see none. Creating substance where the rest of us see a deficiency.

Popular recycling materials that inspire these remakers come in all shapes and sizes: vehicles, trains, engines, bicycles, skateboards, workshop tools, garage hardware, plumbing components, inner tyre-tubes, fuel and oil containers through to electronic devices. Equally, smaller items such as drinking cans and straws, food tins and cartons, fabric pieces, scissors, cotton reels, toys, plastic anything, kitchenware, glassware, pottery, tiles and mosaics, and linoleum are also popular for remaking.

These materials are used just as they are, or they can be altered and adapted to suit the maker’s imagination. They can be cut up, broken down, broken apart, refashioned, stuck, glued, melted, welded, tied, hung, hooked, nailed...a multitude of applications that turn them into something else.

Words & Photography by La Vergne Lehmann

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In countries like Australia, we are used to order and civic planning. However, in many parts of the world this is not the case.

In countries that are politically unstable, prone to civil war and unrest, subject to difficult climatic conditions, lack of education and inequality, such order is not so common. You may see buildings with crumbling walls in disrepair and flaking paint along with street art, graffiti and astounding architectural reinvention.

This last can include shelters constructed from a variety of building materials – whatever is available – patched together to make makeshift homes. These are created by people who use the little that they have – or can find and repurpose – but with imagination and invention.

In these countries, creating from waste is more the norm than the exception. Traditional crafts such as weaving and basket making, crafts with traditions that are thousands of years old, have been transformed in recent years by traditional makers in many parts of the world – from South East Asia to Africa.

These are countries where traditional materials have all but disappeared through urban and population growth. In order to continue their tradition they have turned to other materials – such as modern waste products that now litter their streets.

Very often these are packaging from processed food that has substituted their traditional diets. Woven baskets and bags are now made from chip wrappers, paper packaging and other soft plastic packaging.

Rehash Trash is a Cambodian social enterprise, located in Siem Reap, where local women are employed to collect roadside litter

from which they make stylish products. These women have been able to develop their craft – their ’making’ – earning a living for their family and keeping safe by this modern remaking with trash.

While it is unfortunate that there is so much material, in the form of plastic bags, for them to collect locally, it has ultimately ensured that these families earn an income, the environment is cleaned up and important creative making skills are retained in their community.

Garbags in Portugal is an example of a community that has set about creating from waste and strongly believes that inspiration can come from the right balance between ecology, quality and design. It is this motivation that allows them to work out how a coffee package can become a durable handbag or how to turn a toothpaste tube into a cool pencil case. This is not just a creative making activity it is an enterprise that seeks to demonstrate that the environment, society and business can coexist by making it happen!

Garbags was motivated by the understanding that only 20% of the waste produced in Portugal is recycled and the fact that attractive and durable packaging used for daily products ends up in a landfill. Today they make products from materials that were originally used to hold coffee, pet food, milk, potato chips and more. Since these packages were first designed to hold 2kg to 5kg they are strong and durable enough to be turned into fashion items. But while the upcycling aspect is essential, their products also need to be durable, stylish and functional, with a bit of fun thrown in for good measure!

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At another level, we can now see major international companies teaming up with local communities to use recycled products to continue traditional making. Interface is one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest carpet manufacturers and has been leading the way in the area of sustainability and recycling for decades.

For many of us, dealing with our human detritus, garbage or waste is about little more than putting out a wheelie bin each week for collection. For others it is about remaking something, creating beauty where there was ugliness and finding value where there was none.

Interface Thailand has developed an employee-led program that turns waste into new products to help local villagers. Leftover yarn from the carpet-making process is distributed to Chonburi and Surin residents, who are then able to use the yarn to weave hammocks, bears and other items. The use of this waste product by local makers provides much needed additional income and at the same time helps Interface Thailand meet its goal of zero waste to landfill by 2020.

Wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t we all like to be so inspired and skilled!

Across many parts of Africa you will see garbage. There are few ordered locations such as landfill for waste, which means it is lying around streets, along roadsides, piled up near markets, strewn in rivers and waterways â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the debris of 21st century life is across communities that have yet to adapt to managing that waste. But where many see waste, some local artists see inspiration.

In these African communities, making items for tourism souvenirs has seen the development of products made from garbage, including products made from small wire, tin, paper or metal items all cleverly repurposed for the tourist trade. Woven baskets are made from brightly coloured telephone wire or metal interwoven strips, and pots are created from handmade dung paper, soft cardboard or pulped strips of cotton fabric.

Merrin Glasgow

“Fabric, its roles and symbolism, has so much power and significance. Its qualities dictate cut and style.”

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The seed that grew to become Classic Couture Vintage and Bridal was planted long ago. Merrin Glasgow’s skills in pattern drafting and dressmaking, her experience as a costumier in theatre, and a career in teaching visual arts and textiles, combined with a passion for fabric and an appreciation of the gentle arts, have coalesced into Classic Couture Vintage.

Classic Couture Vintage and Bridal garments are ethically and expertly constructed using traditional couture techniques. Merrin offers a unique and intimate experience for brides, designing gowns that are customised to individual needs and aspirations.

Classic Couture Vintage and Bridal is dedicated to working with clients at each step of the process, from the first sketch to the final fitting, to ensure their bespoke gown is the perfect fit for their most important day.

As Merrin observes, a gown should fit beautifully, complement your figure, reflect your personality and let your inner self shine through. These are the fundamentals that inform all of her couture designs.

Where did Classic Couture Vintage originate from?

It took time and effort to identify a business name that reflects essentially what I do as a maker. Classic Couture Vintage and Bridal encapsulates my knowledge, skills set, ethos and practice.

Tell us about your background as a designer.

My background in design stems from an early introduction to, and involvement with, historical costume. Established dressmaking skills, acquired from two generations of dressmakers, tuition at secondary school, participation in school drama productions, and in amateur and professional theatre also contributed. A love of research for period costume, combined with a restricted budget, motivated and facilitated my desire to think ‘outside the square’.

I learned to design garments for characters with rudimentary resources, and loved the challenge. I left theatre many years ago and transferred to designing couture garments and bridal wear.

Bridal garments are connected with ceremony, and are thus a form of theatre for a brief period.

Have you always had a love of vintage clothing?

My love of vintage clothing originates from the time when I was associated with theatre. There are certain eras that exemplify particular characteristics that appeal and inspire me. For example, the innocence of Regency dress, which is diaphanous and delicate, the Elizabethan dress with its exaggerated, encrusted embellishment, Art Deco 1920’s vertical lines without shape, which still captured femininity and strength, and the 1950’s hourglass silhouette, which embraces voluptuous curves and classic beauty.

Describe how you decide on the designs for your clients.

My design process begins with viewing my clients’ selection of images. I ask specific questions related to their choice of

Words by Merrin Glasgow Photography Elk Avenue Creative

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images, and discuss their previous experience with dressmakers, considerations of budget, and how they want to present and feel in the garment. During this process I am gaining an insight into the client’s personality. I then design a concept and meet again with the client. The dressmaking process begins.

wearables, and to deconstruct and repurpose them. I have accumulated some beautiful gowns and a collection of glass beads from deconstructing embellished garments.

Are you a collector of fabric? What is the most treasured piece in your studio?

How important are your tools of the trade?

Good quality tools of the trade are essential to a good outcome.

Regular maintenance and protection are critical.

What are your favourite parts of the design process?

These definitely include the initial conceptualising of the clients’ wishes, and the transfer of a two-dimensional design into a threedimensional wearable garment.

I am a collector of natural fabrics, antique laces, threads and trims.

Some of these have found their way into bridal gowns. Vintage hat boxes store treasured pieces including exquisite laces and old threads that will adorn and embellish future gowns. There’s an old wedding dress of stencilled tulle found in a thrift shop that has been repurposed, and a silk organza trapeze jacket that I designed and made from remnants. Additionally there are delicate crowns I have created from flora dried and foraged from my garden.

Do you run classes or workshops?

Describe your workspace. Does it reflect the style of your home?

Where do you source your fabrics from?

I have a teaching background in Visual Arts and Textiles. During my teaching career my priorities were family, fostering creativity in students and securing a mortgage. Creating was secondary during that time. Having given to others for 30 years, I felt it was time to revisit my deep-seated desire to return to drawing, designing, pattern making and dressmaking, among other media.

My platform has shifted, and my peers encompass all ages, and walks of life. Many collaborations later, and many inspiring conversations propel the desire to continue making and sharing.

I source all fabrics from Melbourne, and patronise specific outlets because of their knowledge and service. I actively seek out natural fabrics and garments from thrift shops to create

After a reprieve from teaching, it is my intention to commence workshops and classes in the near future. A concept for a documentary is in the pipeline. Life is full and rich.

I am very privileged to work in a deconsecrated church. It is one of two deconsecrated churches purchased on a serendipitous move. I live in the ‘older’ church, built in 1904, and work in the ‘newer’ one, built circa 1923. So the workspace is similar in style, resources and scale to my home.

Jen Eales

“The distinctive signature of my work is the ever-apparent maker’s mark, leaving an imprint of the emotions translated through the creative process.” < 18

Jen Eales is a contemporary maker who creates a small object line of handcrafted pieces in Brisbane that features kinetic mobiles and jewellery. At heart an artist and metalsmith, Jen has engaged in many creative outlets. As a seamstress, Jen discovered a passion for jewellery in her search to find wearable art that complemented her designs.

The eco-resin that Jen uses as the foundation for her collection is comprised of biobased renewable materials from waste streams of other industrial processes, such as wood pulp and bio-fuel production. She limits all other incorporated materials to the found and foraged: recycled silver, copper, timber, acrylic, brass, and semiprecious stones, with the exception of certain earring backs and jump rings.

Her collection is an exploration into the infinite combinations of colour, texture, and shape. Inspired by the Japanese concept of “wabi sabi”, Jen finds true beauty in the imperfect, and each piece from her collection challenges the traditional idea that jewellery must be perfect.

The aesthetic of Jen’s collection, in line with her artistic ethos, is experimental, which allows the collection to grow and change in order to work with available materials. Eco-environmentalism and sustainability have always been underlying values in her life so, naturally, this translates through her artistic vision, her jewellery collection and the message she chooses to send out with her creations.

Jen’s artistic approach is inspired by both sustainable art mediums and the deconstructionist movement. Because of the nature of this approach, no piece or scrap goes to waste. She is an assembler of pieces who finds that, sometimes, the most unexpected and unplanned combinations are the most beautiful.

Jen uses an eco-resin that is traditionally used for making surfboards, which is UV resistant, waterproof and hypoallergenic.

The resin is poured into moulds of many varied shapes and sizes that are all entirely handcarved from wax, polymer clay or recycled acrylic. The individual forms, once set, are then filed and sanded by hand, and pieced together with a variation of recycled metals and materials. The end product is a marriage of colour and texture, an assemblage of many individual pieces that are brought together to create something entirely unique.

Have you always been a jeweller?

I have always been a maker – a sewer, leadlighter, ceramicist and silk painter to name a few – but not always a jeweller I became interested in silversmithing over 30 years ago, but it was problematic to continue due to setup and material costs.

Has your choice of materials directed the designs and colours of your work?

I try to work with the innate qualities of the materials I use, whether that is aluminium, brass, wood, recycled silver and/ or recycled Perspex. I like what happens to the materials when heated: the surfaces are enriched and the patinas developed via the heating process. I also like the distortions and surface

Words by Jen Eales Photography Tony Webdale

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textures on recycled plastic bottles when they are heated slightly. I am more interested in the used and handled marks and colours and how use affects their surfaces.

How best would you describe your workspace?

Very Steptoe and Son! Organised chaos. Although it is jam packed, I know where every single thing is. I don’t throw anything away. I work among the materials and they seep into my practise and making. Everything is at arm’s reach and this is important to my process. I juxtapose diverse materials and processes and find that, sometimes, the most unexpected and unplanned combinations are the most beautiful.

Hands-on material manipulation is essential to how I work.

Objects are shaped and formed as I explore a variety of methods to work the material. This process brings about a raw aesthetic that I am attracted to. My making process draws on an accumulation of visual, technical and personal influences as well as the intuitive and reflective…when it is right you just know.

Where do you source your materials from?

The acrylic and Perspex came from a dumpster outside a city department store. I have enough to last me years. I buy recycled silver. The aluminium is often offcuts, sometimes slid under my door by a neighbour who has left over pieces from their DIY projects. The brass is bought from Reverse Garbage in Brisbane.

What are the tools of your trade?

I use pliers, saws, hammers mainly, shears sometimes; my design journal is a constant. I like to keep everything I do unplugged. Everything is done by hand.

Where does the inspiration for the shapes of your pieces come from?

The inspiration comes from the material itself. Sometimes I cut or shape pieces, but it is in response or reaction to another piece, or the negative space between shapes and edges. I don’t think the shapes in my work are jarring…they are like river pebbles nestling together or else the exact reverse – the profile of the space around a pebble.

Why do you feel it is important to use scraps and sustainable mediums to produce your work?

I have never done it any other way. I never want to waste anything. It should not be a disposable world. I want to be part of a world that values and cherishes what we make and have…and to aspire to not having so much.

How much has your background in other artistic areas influenced your work?

I am an assembler of pieces; I love making my own clothes and as a seamstress I put things together. When I choose fabric there are always layers – either a texture or a pattern – or I add an embellishment. I still use layering and that approach in my work.

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What particular elements of nature inspire your works?

Do you come from a family of makers?

Balance, branches, connectedness, movement, light, textures, interdependence.

Yes. My grandfather made furniture and my grandmother was an amazing knitter. My mum sewed all of our clothes, our ballet costumes and special event outfits for herself. My dad built and repaired lots of our furniture.

Do you have an affinity for a particular country and its aesthetic?

Do you do custom made orders?

The Japanese aesthetic of wabi sabi is the strongest pull – an acceptance of the transience and imperfection of objects and the beauty of nature. When I discovered that, it was an “ah ha” moment.

Does your style in jewellery translate to your style in general?

It is about relationships and connectedness…I can make works for people in my life, but I am not a short-order jeweller. I am happy with a commission as long as it is understood that no two pieces can ever be the same due to my process and chosen materials.

What do you love most about what you do?

Yes, it is me all over, how I look at the world and my place in it.

Do you plan your jewellery pieces or do they just form at random?

They just happen. I use a journal to jot down prompts for my work and process. When working and making I am concerned with materiality. I enjoy hand skills and processes and don’t want to conceal the marks made during the making. Colour and texture are two other aspects that get my attention. I then sit with the many different components that I have created and reflect and engage with them, seeing what goes with what. This is where intuition comes into play. Although the work is comprised of multiple components the resulting whole is more than the sum of its parts.

I love the relationship between my making, the piece I make and the person who chooses the piece to express an aspect of themselves: that is maker magic. This allows the wearer , in the case of my jewellery, to say something about their own personality and who they really are. The mobiles allow them to express that in their space, where they feel comfortable.

Jewellery is probably the most compact and portable form of personal art. It can tell a story about the wearer or the maker.

But there is usually some sort of underlying story, often untold, about its own creation, about the influences on the maker who generated and developed the idea and finally made the work.

These are the reasons I make what I do. I make talismans of our time, our place and me.

David Lester

“The world can be an intense and stress-inducing place. Some people go shopping, some take pills and others, like me, adjust the lighting!” < 24

Most lights are designed for purpose or beauty. David Lester’s lights are a little different. They also have a personality. Each piece is a luminous creature with a unique character. When illuminated, you get the comforting feeling you’re not alone.

Light plays an extremely important part in David’s life. As a skin cancer doctor, he deals with damage caused by too much sunlight on human skin. Keenly sensitive to the quality of light around him, David says bad lighting is “the visual equivalent of muzak”.

What is the aim of your work? What are you looking to achieve?

Almost all my pieces are lights of some kind. My aim is to turn discarded objects into functional or amusing pieces. Ideally the final product will also be soothing and beautiful. Modern life can be intense and a glary environment only ramps up the angst. I find softer lighting calming. Maybe it’s a filter that helps you see less in the world, or perhaps it reduces your sensory overload.

I just know it feels great when I repurpose garbage and create a calm space.

How did it all begin?

Living in Kyneton in Victoria’s beautiful Macedon Ranges gives David the mental space to create. Making lights helps him relax and he likes creating lights that are offbeat or make him laugh.

David readily acknowledges that, like Pinocchio’s creator Geppetto, he’s giving life to “little friends”. Making lights from junk is a creative and technical challenge and David believes the history of the objects he salvages helps give them personality.

Repurposing objects satisfies a couple of needs. The pieces David selects often have an in-built design strength or beauty that has endured despite the ravages of time. And he likes reusing things in a world where so much is going to landfill.

Frustration! I bought an industrial lamp from a vintage shop and was irritated by its restricted functionality. I dismantled it, cleaned it, rewired it and had castors welded to its base. Its essential nature was the same but it was better. The process was so enjoyable and rewarding I decided to do another piece. I needed bedside tables so I set about scouring op shops. Ultimately I struck gold at a metal recycler: a couple of grungy washing machine drums awaiting transformation and illumination.

Why the name Luminous Creatures?

Two of my early pieces made use of globes that looked fairly eye-ball like – they were on long stalks and I thought, ‘I’ve made myself a couple of slightly strange buddies here!’. My wife came up with the name.

Words by David Lester Photography Lakshal Perera

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What are the most enjoyable aspects of upcycling stuff into lights?

The process became a passion and my inventory of drums and glass began to swell.

Cinderella moments, like when I saw how my filthy, scratched pair of washing machine drums glowed after being powder coated.

Their natural curves were highlighted and their dents only added to their beauty.

What has been your most satisfying project?

Then there’s the inner glow when a luminous creature goes to its new home and the buyers are happy.

I finally discovered a ‘ball tech’ in a town four hours out of Melbourne who could drill holes exactly to my specs.

I’ve also spent time with skilled technicians I would not have met otherwise because I’ve needed their assistance in the construction of my vision. This has also been immensely enjoyable.

How best would you describe your workspace?

What challenges have you encountered creating your works?

I long to have a dedicated workspace…Mostly I work in a spare room at home or on the back verandah. A bedroom cupboard is devoted to electrical components, such as globes, switches, LED strips, and special items awaiting work. Outside is a ‘dirty zone’ where junk (I prefer to say treasure) accumulates. My ‘clean zone’ is a shed which stores cleaner items such as lamp covers, painted drums and engine parts, bowling balls, glass cut to size, power tools and hand tools.

Have you always been a maker?

No, I only began four years ago. I was in a stressful phase of life and welcomed the distraction of scrounging and problem solving.

A luminous creature that has a bowling ball as the base. Technical challenges meant it took a very long time to come together.

I went through a phase of seeing a project in anything! This led to an accumulation of stuff awaiting transformation…When friends and family began jokingly using the H word (hoarder) I realised I needed to do a clean out and become more focused and disciplined. Another challenge was thinking I had to master all technical aspects of a luminous creature. Over-engineering components resulted in unnecessary production costs and failing to document each piece in detail has made reproduction more difficult.

What do you envisage for the future of Luminous Creatures?

I’m not sure but I’m enjoying the adventure! Each new project is a challenge and learning experience. LEDs continue to expand design possibilities and WiFi-connected globes and batterydriven lamps for outdoor use are all in the pipeline.

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I’m keen to continue making household lamps and hope to make more whimsical pieces for bigger spaces. I think about project ideas all the time. It’s a great side hustle: it lessens landfill, I get to scratch a creative itch and someone ends up with a special something on which to rest his or her cocktails.

Where can we currently find your work?

My tub lights are on display at Long Story Short, a secondhand bookshop in Piper Street, Kyneton. The new bowling ball lamp will be on display there before Christmas. I have also exhibited at the Melbourne Fringe Furniture Festival and hope to do so again. My best contact is via my website.

Do you take custom orders?

Yes I do. While my pieces are inspired mainly by objects I’ve found, if a client has a favourite object they want illuminated we can figure out a project together. Knowing where you want your light to go and what you’ll use it for will largely dictate the brightness required. We can then discuss what else you have in mind, such as preferred shapes, materials, colours and of course your budget.

There’s been exciting advances in LED technology and options now include Wifi connected globes and variable colour LED strips. The beauty in commissioning a piece is that you will have had a significant role in creating something unique.

Antipodean Tynker

“ ...the bikes have not been built for the road; they are more objects of outrageous beauty.”

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The Oxley Highway in New South Wales is something of a mecca for motorcycle enthusiasts. It’s a strip of wellmaintained road that runs for 200-odd twisty kilometres between Wauchope and Bendemeer. The highway climbs and crosses the Great Dividing Range, passing through tall timbered forests then on top to the open plains. As you climb, it gets noticeably cooler. The jaw-dropping scenery and challenging roads for riding is a winning combination. Along the Oxley is a little town called Walcha, which has an artsy reputation. It is home to a staggering open air gallery of over 50 public artworks, making for an inspirational walking trail.

But that is not all.

Over five years ago, Mark Walker and Erika Syrjanen landed in Walcha (on their way to Tasmania), bought a shop and set up a little business called ‘Antipodean Tynker’. Beneath a golden fleur de lis, their royal blue shopfront reads ‘Makers in Metal’, which doesn’t begin to cover what they do. They are both practised and professional metal artists who employ found objects and reuse parts from discarded machines. Mark’s work is mainly machines and larger sculptures. Like Dr Frankenstein in his workshop, he makes new machines from the parts stripped from old machines and taken out of old structures. Mark builds motorbikes from scratch, using an enormous range of unusually sourced materials.

Mark is not exactly new to this. He has been building motorbikes since the 1960s. As the story has it, he was 14 when his father brought home an Outfit (motorbike and sidecar); it was not long

after this he told his mum he needed a lathe. The 1977 issue of Two Wheels has one of his very first hand-built bikes on the cover, the whole bike and the whole engine – with the caption “Australian Creates the Ultimate Drag Bike”. That bike, a 2000 cc, 300 bhp Top Fuel Drag Monster, capable of reaching speeds over 160 mph, was used in racing for around 30 years and is now retired and permanently on display at Mt Panorama’s Australian National Motor Racing Museum in Bathurst. Mark Walker is an Australian legend.

Mark is in his 70s now, and his work has been taken to a whole new level. On display at Antipodean Tynker are five of his complete builds. They all run – in fact, they call the machines ‘art that runs’ – but the bikes have not been built for the road; they are more objects of outrageous beauty. After finishing the third bike, ‘1916’, the feedback was that he had created a steampunk bike, and while Mark might have found this term new to him at the time, he now embraces it and intentionally builds with that aesthetic in mind.

Mark and Erika dress in what they call ‘street steaming’, which basically translates as steampunk for everyday life.

Mark and Erika are mad foragers. They spend a lot of time at flea markets, car boot sales and swap meets, and they wander far and wide for their collections. They love the hunt. And nothing goes to waste. Mark has a burgeoning movie library – and it’s not too hard to find the influence of films like Mad Max, Fury Road and Mortal Engines in his works. Their new puppy, a miniature wire-haired dachshund, has been christened Hester Shaw – the name of the protagonist from Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines series of novels.

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Words by Jo Canham Photography Erika Syrjanen

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‘Big Ned’, possibly Mark’s best-known bike, was brought to life after a visit to an exhibition of Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series.

‘Big Ned’ – the Ultimate Street Fighter – is a monstrous 3Lt Rotary Valve V Twin, carved from a block of aluminium and machined on a Colchester Bantam Lathe. ‘Big Ned’ has a Puma clutch from a drag bike and twin rear chain drive from a slasher, rings from an Isuzu diesel truck, four car rims were cut in half to create the front and rear wheels (complete with leather-covered spokes), an old brass water tank tap was used for the oil tank cap, and a 100-year-old copper pot for the seat. Mark even used a campfire to blacken the ‘armour’ of ‘Big Ned’. It’s a tough-looking beast, with one reviewer saying it looked “ready to headbutt me”!

His next bike, the unusual powder blue Saltster, is a 1000cc Rotary Valve V twin, with barrels and cylinders machined from the one block of alloy. It is a boltless construction, where the barrels screw into the crankcase. It is inspired by the early 1900s board track creations of the Italian engineer Alessandro Anzani, who was notable for his aero motocyclette, which he built in 1906. Walker’s Saltster employs the use of a hydraulic ram as a fuel tank, an old water tank brass tap for the fuel tap, PTO tubing sourced from the local tip for the handle grips, an old PMG push-bike seat, and a hand-operated oil pump that was an old blow lamp.

Then there is the astonishing bike that Mark has dubbed ‘1916’, as a nod to the era. It’s a 2560cc supercharged 2 Stroke V16, and it looks like it’s come straight off a Ridley Scott set. It’s made using the flywheels, conrods, barrels, heads and pistons from numerous Victa 160 lawnmowers. The fuel tank is a recycled fire extinguisher, the air filter a 1920 shower rose. Brass plumbing

fittings, two Holden distributors, a Suzuki clutch, Rover beval gears, Douglass throttle control, and a 1920s seat were sourced.

The ‘Abyss Rider’ employs a 200cc straight eight rotary valve engine. This is the smallest engine that Mark has ever built, and was built for Mark’s ‘final’ ride, whatever that means. Its frame is constructed from 1960s drainage pipe, its brass side plate was formerly a drummer’s cymbal, the footpads come from a wheelchair, the handlebars are early shellite solder irons, the wheels from an early Repco boat trailer, and the seat is a jockey’s saddle. You might almost be inclined to hasten the time for your journey to the abyss if you had to ride this work of art there!

Finally comes the ‘Edgefinder’, a Speedway concept bike, which is a 665cc opposed flat twin rotary valve. It looks like it could be a powered bicycle – its design is so light, naked and unburdened.

This was built using an engine that was originally designed for an ultralight plane back in 1983 but wasn’t fully realised at the time.

Mark’s bikes are for sale for the serious collector, in order for Mark to make room for new works. You can view them in much greater detail online at either of these websites: antipodeantynker.com or markwalkermotorcycles.com.

Erika’s works are of a much smaller scale and a much quieter nature – tiny trinket boxes, small sculptures and jewellery. She has trained with master jewellers and sculptors such as Viliama Grakalic, David Clayton, Carl Merten and Rex Merten, as well as the Stuff-Smith Keith LoBue. She is much more forthcoming about Mark’s work than her own. You get the impression that she sees her role more as Mark’s gatekeeper, the person who comes

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between Mark and the larger world – helping him with the space he needs to keep working. She is fluent in the language of the motorbike and will happily discuss his works for as long as you want to listen.

It is Erika who has furnished the shop space, and created a lush and interesting environment in which to showcase the bikes, the sculptures and the jewellery. In their flea market foraging, they turn up some interesting pieces, and these are on display as well.

It creates a feast for the eyes; you don’t know where to look first!

Erika and Mark open in the warmer months, and you can ring them if you’re in town and would like a look.

Over the weekend of the 15th to the 17th of November, Walcha hosted the Walcha Motorcycle Weekend. Over 1000 motorcycles from across Australia made their way to the small town. We can only imagine how popular Mark’s motorcycles were for that crowd!

While Walcha is serving their needs for the time being, the couple have their eyes on a move south. Tasmania, and specifically Hobart, is calling them. Their needs are simple, and they enjoy a quiet life. They like a cool climate, and you get the sense that they enjoy being a step removed – if not far – from the madding crowd. That’s where the tinkering happens.

Louiseann & Kristian King

“They are each other’s frankest and fairest critics, and each other’s most ardent advocates and supporters.”

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Makers can often be curiously solitary figures, the discipline and practice of their craft often necessitating an absorbed and protracted preoccupation with their medium that precludes or inhibits intimate interpersonal relationships. It takes a special sort of significant other – a person, perhaps, with highly developed empathetic virtues and significant patience – to support the abstraction and absorption of a loved but highly focused creative soul. What happens, then, when two highly focused, highly talented artists decide to share their lives?

And what happens when, as in the case of Louiseann King and Kristian King, three children are introduced into the creative milieu? We give you an insight into the dynamics of a successful creative couple – and family.

Louiseann and Kristian live with their three children in Eganstown, Victoria, from which they both draw artistic inspiration. They are committed to their family, their practices, living consciously and mindfully. They feel strongly about walking lightly on this planet and using resources wisely and respectfully.

Louiseann’s parents were makers – her late father a carpenter and builder who could make and fix virtually anything, her mother a professional knitwear designer who impressed upon her a great appreciation of skill and technique. She was brought up to think nothing was more important than a great education, and to create.

Now, as a sculptor, installation artist and academic, she has lived out these values to become a maker and a collector of time and

place. Her practice is one that works with nuance, subtlety, the liminal, the forgotten and the lost. Louiseann collects, salvages, collates, regroups, juxtaposes and re-renders, and creates artistic works that cross boundaries of time and place.

Kristian’s father was a medical doctor and a keen vintage sports car enthusiast; he taught him a great deal about how things work.

As a child, Kristian observed his father assembling thousands of individual parts to create a seamless whole. Many of the cars arrived at the workshop in an assortment of jam jars. Kristian believes that his father’s ability to slowly and deliberately bring a vintage car into being has influenced his making process – the attention to detail, precision, diligence and high standards.

For the last 30 years, Kristian has been creating fine, bespoke furniture. His work is highly regarded and sought after by institutions, universities, ecclesiastical communities and Australian families. His work is inspired by unique Australian timbers, especially the beautiful figured grains found in redgum, blackwood and huon pine.

The love of creating underpins most of Louiseann’s and Kristian’s lives. They are at their happiest making and working together and being part of a regional, national and international artistic community. They live near Daylesford – an area with a long history of attracting makers – to which they add their contribution to that lineage. As a couple their shared interests mean their lives are very much shared on every level; every aspect of their lives is intertwined and made more beautiful for this complexity.

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Words by Team Junkies Photography Danny Wootton

Raising a family is in itself a difficult endeavor with many varied and often unexpected challenges. The lives of creative people are very much ‘feast or famine’ and the lack of stability is challenging within the context of family life. The Kings made the move to their 20-acre property in Eganstown with the intent that they would both be able to work from home and be as present as possible for their children.

As a family with three school age children a typical week normally involves a lot of driving! Louiseann is a parent helper at their children’s school and is very involved in their education. She shares with us that, ‘In a family, just when you think that you might have a sense of what’s happening, everything changes yet again’.

Louiseann’s work tends to happen in intense blocks and she is ably assisted by Kristian. Her bronze work is produced by Fundere Art Foundry, with whom she’s had a 20-year relationship, and she’ll take time out of family life in order to work on her work art at Fundere. Louiseann is constantly planning, looking and thinking about her practice, and, she tells us, the demands of parenthood have made her more deliberate and decisive in her work.

Kristian is in the workshop every day working on commissions, restorations and maintaining his large workshop. And there’s a great deal to be done on the property itself. Most days there’s some kind of event that requires immediate attention: a tree across the road, a kangaroo that’s become tangled in a fence, a water pump that’s stopped pumping, wood to be chopped and split and fruit trees that need netting. Kristian works alone on his craft and this generates an intensity and perfection that is only achieved by a sole maker.

Louiseann and Kristian are living very consciously and attempting to reduce their eco-footprint as much as possible – this kind of living involves sustained attention from them both. They maintain a home orchard, veggie garden and have a flock of hens. It’s a rambunctious family home with children and their friends bouncing around, their daughter’s house bunny hopping in and out, a friendly labradoodle and a sweet shmoodle – a shitzu x maltese x poodle – adding to the energy.

Their children are curious about the world around them and this is something that the Kings encourage. Louiseann tells us that they have suffered the fate of most artists’ children – being dragged around art galleries and museums and often it’s a case of ‘not another gallery!!’. Having said that one night the Kings were driving home and their eldest child said nonchalantly, ‘That’s a Eugene Von Guerard sky...’, and it was…

“I think that our children are able to ‘see’ the world and that’s something they have taught us as much as we have taught them.”

Louiseann and Kristian work both independently and together – constantly sharing their knowledge and skills. Between the two of them they have a diverse skill set and there is very little that they do not attempt. They are each other’s frankest and fairest critics, and each other’s most ardent advocates and supporters.

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Louiseann’s work is produced directly from her gleanings of the discarded, overlooked and ephemeral from her local environment. Her work explores themes relating to the environment, time, metamorphosis and the construction of the domestic within regional Australia.

Working with extreme bronze casting techniques; her practice exists on the edge of what is possible for the medium to achieve.

Traditionally, the world of bronze as a medium has been dominated by men and associated with strength, resilience and permanence – Louiseann uses the monumentality of bronze to contrast the transience and fragility of life.

Louiseann’s work evokes concepts of nature’s regenerative power.

Small wild creatures and the detritus from the forest floor are rendered in bronze and attain a permanence that references the immortal. But ultimately there is an overarching sense of the ephemeral and the void in Louiseann’s work, of the fleeting and the absent, that conjures notions of the womb, the ultimate generative void. There is a focused attention on the undervalued nature of women’s work throughout history in Louiseann’s incorporation of domestic handicrafts in her practice. Value is ascribed not to those artifacts that are traditionally coveted, but to the transient, the ephemeral – and thus the most precious – nature itself in all of its ever-changing manifestations, of the maternal energy that is at its core, and of the constant cycle of birth and death.

Louiseann’s work is informed by her gender and interest in women’s vernacular domestic making techniques. She has no fear of immortalising the ‘domestic crafts’ of women: crochet, needlework and flower pressing.

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Louiseann King with tear glass; bronze, glass – 2019 plurima naribus; glass, vintage wooden pedestals, mirrors, pressed wattle

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Kristian had traditional fine furniture making training with Ramon’s Fine Furniture in Collingwood and worked with Guy Mallison in London who trained under John Makepeace, one of the UK’s most important contemporary furniture makers. The tradition of furniture making is important to Kristian who has been honoured to work with many great Australian designers and on significant commissions including the making of the Ceremonial Furniture Suites for many Australian universities including the University of Melbourne, Macquarie University, Deakin University and the Australian Catholic University.

Kristian values time and materials – he believes that if you are going to make a piece of furniture that it’s important to make it properly. In working this way he respects the extraordinary timbers with which he works by lifting the material to its finest resolution. This is respectful to the environment, the resources he uses in the making of the piece, the history of furniture making of which he is a part, and to the commissioner of the work. He is mindful throughout the entire process.

Kristian tells us that wood is endlessly variable and the history and tradition of furniture making is the story of civilization itself.

He enjoys the way the rules in relation to making technique have evolved for clear and important reasons, and explains that straying away from this path compromises the integrity and longevity of the piece – something that he feels strongly should never be done.

Above

Throne Chair, Ceremonial Furniture Suite, University of Melbourne

Kristian particularly enjoys working on a piece of furniture using the timber from only one tree that seamlessly joins together.

Every piece of wood is unique and with a singular character – the selection of timber for a project is critical to his work.

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Kristian’s furniture features and showcases the Australian timbers that he is so passionate about including huon pine, figured blackwood, redgum, silver wattle, black heart sassafras and ancient redgum.

Kristin believes that the process of creating for others is about collaboration, it is about a sensitive exchange of ideas towards producing works that are unique and perfect for their future use.

Kristian creates works that are sensitively crafted and exquisitely finished that are vital to Australian art and culture.

Each timber has it owns particular properties and lends itself to specific applications in furniture making. Each species has its own limitations and qualities. The availability of suitable furniture timbers is also a factor in selecting timber for a project and there is much less high-quality furniture-grade timber procurable.

Kristian has select boutique millers from whom he sources timber – and who also make him aware of interesting timbers that are currently being milled. Pete Curly from Curly Timbers in Leonard’s Hill has a keen eye and always interesting timber on hand. Kristian holds a selection of rare timbers on his racks – the moment he sees them is also the moment he purchases them, as they are unlikely to become available ever again.

Kristian enjoys stepping into the shoes of master artisans from the past, which is apparent with his attention to detail and his ability to bring furniture back to life. He has a passion for antique furniture, the techniques, tools and timbers of the past and is an avid vintage hand-tool collector and researcher of historical furniture techniques. He gains immense satisfaction in seeing furniture destined for the burn-heap being brought back into the family home, church or building.

Kristian’s sensitive restoration process preserves the patina and aesthetic charm of the furniture with which he works, whilst also creating new functionality and contemporary utility.

Above Opposite

Degrees Table, Ceremonial Furniture Suite, Deakin University Throne Chair, Ceremonial Furniture Suite, Deakin University

Barry Gardner

“I believe that a knife, whatever it is used for, should become an extension of your hand…and a real joy to use.”

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After 18 years working long hours on road construction jobs, Barry Gardner had an epiphany after attending a knife show in Adelaide in 1995. Barry was overwhelmed by the artisanship and beauty of the knives on display, igniting a passion for the craft and skill of knife making that has not abated to this day. In fact, Barry decided to become a full-time knife maker, gleaning as much information on the craft as he could from other artisans and embarking on his own journey of knife making.

What first drew you to knife making?

It’s been a process of, as Barry notes, “constantly learning and progressing”, creating objects of great utility and great beauty, with finely honed steel blades and beautiful and richly textured Australian timber handles.

I allow a couple of days for a carbon steel knife; Damascus steel knives can take anywhere from 2 ½ to five days, depending on their complexity.

In the spirit of all our Makers, Barry is committed to the ethos of Reuse, recycling old files, car leaf springs and large timber mill saw blades that are sources of high-grade steel that might otherwise be discarded.

Barry believes that the craft of knife making should be a collaboration between the maker and the client, and is excited by the process of what can be achieved when two people, customer and maker, get together and design something functional and well made that will last for generations. He especially enjoys making unique and distinctive knives, ensuring that no two knives are ever the same.

About 26 years ago, I went to a gun show in Adelaide. On one guy’s stall there were half a dozen knives. I said “where did you get these from?” He stared at me and gruffly said “I made them”.

I went home and tried making my own knife. It turned out pretty ugly but I loved it and I loved the knife-making process.

How much time does it take to craft one knife from start to finish?

When creating a new knife for a customer, what are the essential questions you ask?

I ask what they want to use the knife for. I also ask what type of steel they’d like for the blade – we use stainless steel, carbon steel, Damascus steel and also SanMai steel. All of our Damascus and SanMai are made in our Studio at Seppeltsfield. We discuss blade shape, length of the blade and materials for the handle.

Why is it important to make your knives from other discarded steel items?

I really love using recycled steels; being able to reuse/recycle steel is a joy. I use old saw blades, gun barrels (I’m currently creating five knives from an old double-barrel Damascus shotgun; the family who commissioned them want something for each of

Words by Barry Gardner Photography Ed Halmagyi & Craig Arnold

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their children to remember their grandfather); plough discs – so many steels can be repurposed. I love giving a discarded piece of steel a new life.

Where do you find the items to use for your work?

A lot of the old steels I have were given to me. I might rock up to work one day and find a pile of things that has been left there for me – old files, bandsaw blades, crosscut saw blades, chisels, even hammers.

How does your typical work day begin? Do you have a set ritual you follow?

I go to my studio around 6am most days, put the kettle on and go to my bench to do a sketch of something that’s been playing in my mind, then I’ll turn the forge on to heat up. Most days you’ll find me creating Damascus steel. I just love the routine of that.

Who is your typical customer?

I use a lot of Australian ringed gidgee and mulga from Queensland, various Mallee and vasticola timbers from WA, and also some really beautiful figured Tasmanian blackwood and dyed maple burls.

These timbers work so well because they’re dense and hard.

There isn’t a typical customer – each individual has their own ideas and interests. Many visitors to my studio are blown away that someone even makes knives. One customer might buy a knife because they love its beauty and form, whereas another customer will know exactly what they want, from the length of the blade to the feel of the weight of the knife. Everyone is different which is great, because all of my knives are different.

What do you love most about your workspace?

Do you make knife sets for customers?

My workspace is my sanctuary. It’s where I can sit and contemplate, design and construct my pieces. I don’t share the space with others so I have free rein and control over what happens there. The old stable building that my workspace is in has so much history – it fits so well with what I do and I feel lucky to be able to work in such a stunning environment. Being at JamFactory allows me to do what I love in a really supportive environment as well as being among other artists. That kind of creative environment is not easily found and I’ll always be grateful that I have the opportunity to work in this space that allows me to do what I love as well as being able to share that with others.

We do create knife sets for customers – a current commission is for a customer who has a deer farm. They want a set of oyster shuckers with deer horn handles. We also make steak knives.

Are there particular timbers that work better than others for your handles?

What do you love most about what you make and do?

I love the creative process…no two knives are ever the same and I’m always looking to create something different each time I have a piece of steel in front of me.

Sue Garrard “Using reclaimed and recycled materials enables me to balance my desire to create beautiful wearable adornments with an environmentally sound and sustainable practice that treads lightly on the planet.” < 50

Sue Garrard is a South Australian-based artist and jewellery maker whose work challenges perceptions of preciousness and demonstrates that a ‘second life’ can be both beautiful and sustainable. Her work focuses on sustainability and often uses recycled metals such as brass, pewter, aluminum and sterling silver, which are transformed, using intuition, creativity and an artsfocused degree, into objects of striking beauty.

Growing up in a rural setting, it was more usual in my family to make things than to buy things. I have been a maker all my life!

My arts practice is eclectic and includes jewellery, printmaking and installation. As a jeweller, I am largely self-taught and have come a long way from the days of making predominantly beaded jewellery. By working with reclaimed and recycled materials, I hope to minimise my impact on the earth.

The materials also push me creatively and I enjoy overcoming the obstacles that they present. Taking objects apart can produce unexpected results and plucking out dolls’ eyes is always an interesting and bizarre process! At times a design idea may not be possible due to the nature of the materials (ie, strength, wearability, longevity). Although I am quite good at predicting these issues, I still find times when the object leads the design process.

As a mature aged student I undertook a Bachelor of Art & Design (majoring in Printmaking). Both jewellery and printmaking are process-driven mediums that provide abundant challenges and opportunities for expression. My printmaking often influences

my jewellery, too, as I use a lot of hand-beaten patterns, textures, etchings and type. Whilst jewellery is my main focus at the moment, I have enjoyed being able to express other sides of myself through printmaking and installation exhibitions at various galleries.

These exhibitions have given me the opportunity to explore and express my social and environmental politics through visual art. Often this has been a more direct way to communicate my perspectives with an audience. The materiality of the jewellery that I make is a more subtle expression of these politics.

I source most of my materials from local op shops (although I am not averse to picking up interesting bits of metal from the street!) and I like that my money is going back into my community to help support the many programs these oppies foster. I collect pewter beer mugs that I melt down and cast into pendants, and brass pot plants that are cut and shaped into earrings and necklaces. I also like tins, bakeware, dolls, Tupperware and an assortment of found objects.

Pewter mugs are one of my favourite op-shop finds because I can use the entire mug. Not only can I melt elements down, I can also use it as a sheet metal, which means that none of it goes to waste. My children also like my op-shop adventures because I inevitably find cool clothes and retro homewares for them!

The world is so full of stuff that gets thrown away. I don’t see these discards as junk – I see them as opportunities. They present me with a chance to make something that someone

Words by Sue Garrard Photography Sonya Moyle & Andre Castellucci

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will want to wear whilst reducing landfill. The pleasure people derive from wearing the jewellery I create is an important aspect of my practice.

I work in a studio that is housed in a stable that was built in 1850 and located on the Seppeltsfield Winery site - an iconic part of the Barossa Valley. There are other artists and artisans in the building, too, which is great for collaboration, coffee and cake.

This unique space was created by The JamFactory, a renowned South Australian art and design body, and I feel very lucky to have been invited to set up my studio here. This space gives regional artists an opportunity to make and sell work locally and to a worldwide audience as so many international and interstate visitors find their way here! I also teach workshops in my studio and at the local Regional Gallery.

My practice has grown from a foundation of craft and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been fortunate to experience artist residencies in regions where traditional craft practices are important for local communities.

In 2016, I spent time in India at Sanskriti Kendra. This organisation aims to foster an environment for the preservation and development of the arts in both India and the world.

During my residency, I was inspired by the magnificent ancient architecture of Delhi. The jewellery I created echoed the shapes and patterns found in the grand buildings and monuments. The work was crafted from reclaimed materials in direct contrast to the opulence of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Moghul past.

More recently, in October 2019, I attended a Residency at Compeung in the north of Thailand. The culture of innovation and the handcrafted was evident in temples, markets, schools

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and homes. I undertook lessons with exceptionally skilled artisans and am both grateful and humbled by the experience.

It seemed that craft walked side by side with tradition, worship and daily life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; valued for expressing heritage and generating income. The act of passing down skills resonated with me as I try to live my best creative life and share the knowledge I have acquired.

I feel sharing my skills and helping people to see the potential in the creative re-use and re-imagining of discarded objects is a practical way that I can be part of a positive change towards sustainability. I believe enriching the lives of people and communities through the teaching of creative practices is empowering for both teacher and student! It means I can maintain a creatively satisfying practice that generates an awareness of meaningful issues and gives people practical skills to implement within their own creative pastimes.

Working in creative industries takes a lot of persistence but the rewards are fantastic. It is intensely satisfying to create something new with your hands and have it appreciated.

Creating jewellery that mindfully minimises my environmental footprint makes me happy. I hope the work I make helps people understand that we can adorn ourselves and still keep our planet healthy.

Simone Linder-Patton

“I introduce uncertainty and explore the influence of natural elements on my hand-built burnished pieces, creating unique visual surface nuances.” < 56

Simone Linder-Patton’s hand-built pieces investigate relationships and connections between people, objects and place. She graduated in 2017 with Honours in Visual Arts from Flinders University and Adelaide College of the Arts. Simone returned to her art studies later in life, and was hooked by the physical nature of clay and the infinite possibilities it has to offer.

and temperature, and is connected to the seasons. It must be in a ready state for the task at hand, soft for centering or coiling, leather-hard for burnishing, dry for carving, and bone dry for firing. To work outside these parameters puts the piece at risk of cracking, slumping or exploding and setting you up for failure.

You must respond and be in tune with the medium.

Does the landscape around you influence your work?

My pieces are hand built, pinched, coiled and manipulated slabs of soft clay. The repetitive actions of my hands allows for peaceful reflection and a restorative harmonious mind state. While the hands are busy the mind can wander.

I have a keen interest in exploring alternative firing techniques using natural resources, recycling waste materials into organic consumables or fuel. I give my hand-built burnished work over to nature, enabling the fire to influence the unique visual and surface nuances.

My current work has evolved from searching for place and the placement of objects within a defined landscape.

What do you love most about working with clay as your medium?

The tactile nature of clay and the rhythmic making processes of hand building and burnishing. Clay slows me down. In this fast-paced technological world it’s all too easy to get caught up and swept away by the multitude of distractions. The adage ‘you can’t hurry clay’ rings true. Clay responds to atmospherics, time

Yes. The shapes I make refer to the foliage and fauna of Australia.

I see seed pods, anthills, rock formations and so much more in my pieces. I also use a lot of vegetation in my firings either as combustibles placed around the pots for colour patination or as fuel. My work is influenced by and made through a connection with the landscape.

Describe how your work has changed from your early days to now?

My methods of making are much freer and more experimental.

I have more confidence to try new methods and directions. I respond better to the material. I also no longer make replicas of objects. My pieces are objects in their own right, with subtle references to the natural world.

Tell us about your pit firing techniques and why this technique has given your work a unique finish.

Pit firing is the oldest form of firing, originally used to harden the clay and make it less porous and durable for cooking and storage.

I use the same techniques but more for the visual and tactile

Words by Simone Linder-Patton Photography Michael Haines, Sonya Moyle & Vanessa Heath

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aesthetics. I wrap my pieces in various organics, coffee grounds, dried banana peels, citrus peels, nut shells, corn husks soaked in salt water and dried, seaweed, copper wire, pistachio nut shells, gum nuts, bark and leaves. Then I wrap the piece up in either old newspapers or silver foil and place it in the pit. The pieces are fired in a bonfire in the pit. Once I have a good coverage of embers, I cover the pit with corrugated sheets of metal and soil to create a reductive atmosphere. Burning the organic materials creates colour responses and patterns on the burnished surface.

I can replicate the shapes but as no two firings are the same the markings are always unique.

Tell us about your studio/workshop at the JamFactory. Do you enjoy the interactive nature of the open studio space?

Working in an environment with other creatives has given me so much more confidence to try new things. Benefitting from their knowledge and skills, being able to problem solve, ask for guidance or even just talking through things has sparked ideas and influenced my making.

a use for every object beyond its useful life or purpose.

Artistically, the list is expansive from Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s connections to the land, through to Jane Perryman’s research into traditional pottery making and firing techniques.

Going to China and spending six weeks on the Helpmann Academy supported artists’ residency among the artisans and masters of Jingdezhen is still influencing my work, especially learning the technique of carving dry porcelain.

Are you currently teaching or taking workshops?

Yes, I teach wheel throwing and run hand-building workshops from my studio and at external venues. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and skills with others. I have taught the Chinese carving technique to potters’ groups in Australia and New Zealand. I also take workshops to expand my knowledge and skills. You never stop learning. I have been fortunate to do a mentorship with Stephanie James Manttan, throwing with porcelain, and recently I attended a five-day wheel-throwing and glazing workshop at Canberra Potters’ Society with Malcolm Greenwood, throwing off the hump with little or no water.

Being in an open studio interacting with the public has been beneficial to me. I can explain my processes and engage with people. It’s uplifting to get a positive response to your work.

What are you working towards in the next 12 months?

Who or what would you say has most influenced your work over the years?

I have several projects in my sights: building a woodfire kiln, continuing to experiment with pit firing and combining smoke firings with my carved porcelain pieces. I have a group exhibition at Praxis Gallery in Adelaide in January 2020.

Personally, my maternal grandmother, Ethel Olave Hough, aka ‘Midge’. Born in 1906, she lived through two world wars. Thrift was her middle name – she never threw anything away and could find

Julie Fleming “To paraphrase Monty Python, the problem with the world today, there aren’t enough people wearing hats.”

C.M. Pieper < 60

Julie Fleming is a South Australian-based English-trained leading milliner. After five years undertaking a fine arts degree and completing post-graduate studies in painting and printmaking, Julie trained and worked in London learning the intricate art of millinery with fellow workers in their 80s who had been practicing as milliners since they were 14 years old. Having acquired a wealth of experience and techniques, Julie returned to Australia in 1989 to make and sell hats and fascinators in Melbourne.

Where did you first study millinery?

Julie’s service to her clients and to her craft, and her commitment to style, is legendary. One of Australia’s longest-established high fashion milliners, Julie makes bespoke, beautiful hats, fascinators and headbands. Her millinery is also highly sought after for film, television and the stage. Julie’s pieces are made entirely by hand following traditional techniques and making processes.

Her design ethos revolves around the ‘less is more principle’.

She is influenced by classic design and finds inspiration from the glamorous fashions of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, using the finest fabrics and materials available, many of which are vintage.

When designing for a client what are the most important question you need to ask?

In January 2015, Julie relocated to South Australia. Her studio is now located in an original 1851 stables building within the JamFactory Artisan studios at Seppeltsfield Winery. Each year in October, Julie returns to Melbourne to service her private clients in the lead up to the Spring Racing Carnival.

I travelled to London in 1988 and worked at Philip Somerville milliners off New Bond St in the West End of London in the heart of the couture salons and workrooms.

Who are your fashion and style icons?

From my era, I would say Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood. From the past, the fashion perfection of Dior.

Most important at the first meeting is the physical stature and presence of the client. Once I meet the client and discuss the event I then need to see the outfit and the handbag and shoes.

I offer a whole styling package so that the client feels totally comfortable in the hat or headpiece as if it’s not even there. If I can manage that and they feel like a queen, then I’m happy. I love to see the photos after a client has worn one of my creations to an event.

Tell us about some of the celebrity clients that you have worked with over the years.

I make for theatre and television and get to meet some amazing people, working both behind the scenes and in the spotlight. In 2015 I was asked to make the State gift from the people of South

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Australia for HRH Camilla. I met Charles and Camilla when they visited the Barossa Valley on tour. I also met Boy George and had a fitting with him to make him a hat. He loves his hats!

many conversations around art and design. We haven’t quite solved the problems of the world but we are getting there.

What are you working on at the moment?

Do you change your hat styles according to current fashions?

I have a fine arts background, having spent five years at art school majoring in painting and printmaking. I was accepted into art school on my ceramics folio, so I have a very diverse ‘materials’ background. My millinery work responds to the materials I am using. I follow fashion and I am colour-driven, and interpret the fashions into my styling. Millinery is an extremely creative and diverse endeavour, and technically you need to be very efficient.

As millinery is worn on the head at other people’s eye line, it is very important that it is very well made. I strive for perfection.

How would you describe your workspace?

My studio is within a converted stables area built in the 1850s with two-foot-thick walls, and is very cool in summer. My space is the original sheep shearing area, and is off the JamFactory Gallery. We are a satellite of the JamFactory in Adelaide but are an independently run businesses.

What do you like most about your workspace at the JamFactory?

I have always had a studio but it had been a long time since I ‘shared’ a space and it has been surprisingly good. There are

I have just finished a huge body of work – ‘Spring Racing’ – which just gets bigger and bigger every year, I decamp to Melbourne every year to do the Spring Racing Carnival and have a pop-up shop in High St, Armadale, from where I sell my hats and where my clients can access me and pick up their hats. Next I will be working on my ‘good sun hats’ using the best Italian and Panama straws that I can find. I am always handmaking, and make headbands, fascinators and hats, many of which are one-of and designed for special occasion as well as everyday wear.

Do you teach classes and take workshops?

I do teach classes and have students from as far away as Europe and Asia. I teach an intensive class in millinery as well as a weekly class one day a week over five weeks. Due to my location I now find the intensive class is more popular as students can come and spend an entire week learning the intricacies of millinery in the beautiful surrounds of the Barossa Valley. A full list of my classes is on my website jfmilliner.com

Amanda Du Plessis

“Although it wasn’t initially my plan, this has become a botanical story.”

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Johannesburg fabric designer Amanda Du Plessis, founder of Evolution Product, explores South Africa’s unique botanical history through her hand-dyed fabrics and delicate sun prints. When she makes her exquisite “Botanical Blueprint” and “Silverprint Silhouette” handprinted fabrics, Amanda starts with locally woven linen that’s been dipped in light-sensitive solution and spread out in the sun. It takes about 10 seconds for the light to react to the solution and form images of the plants on the fabric.

Amanda carefully composes arrangements of indigenous plants and grasses that she’s collected from the nearby Melville Koppies with the print they’ll leave behind in mind. She speedily transfers them onto the fabric the minute it’s ready – it’s an intensely concentrated few moments and Amanda works quickly and decisively. Because the printing process starts immediately when the fabric is exposed to the sun, the plants cannot be moved once placed.

The patterns are revealed as the solution and salts are rinsed from the fabric, and the ghostly silhouettes of the plants are fixed.

The process essentially reinvents old photography techniques, but on cloth. These are more like contact prints than the later printing methods that allowed duplication; each contact print is a one-off. Every single piece is unique.

Amanda started developing the idea for this technique when she first encountered the botanical prints of Thomas Blagrave in the archives at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi). Thomas Blagrave was a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the

British army, and he made incredible photograms of ferns in the 1800s. Amanda had previously collaborated with Sanbi, finding ways to reproduce the fascinating botanical visual history she’d found in their archives, especially examples that departed from the photographic perfection of mainstream botanical art. When one of the archivists unearthed a white leather-bound volume of Blagrave’s work that hadn’t been taken down for decades, she called Amanda immediately.

Blagrave had improvised a form of early contact photography.

He dipped paper into various substances including egg white and lemon juice, which left a kind of a glaze on the paper. He then placed ferns directly onto it and exposed them to the sun; this created a reaction, and an image of the ferns was produced.

Amanda began digitally manipulating the colours and printing some of Blagrave’s images onto fabric, resulting in beautiful luminous plant patterns. She called the range Blagrave’s Ferns.

Blagrave’s unusual technique intrigued her, and she started considering how she might engage with that in her designs, and not just the images.

She began working with a photographic studio that specialised in arcane photographic printing techniques. They played around with a technique called blueprinting – the same method used in early photography and which architects used up until the middle of last century to duplicate the drawings – also known as cyanotyping. In one of the fortuitous discoveries that rewarded her careful research, it turned out there was a connection between this technique and local visual history. Amanda’s research exposed her to the work of a man called John Herschel.

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Herschel was a British astronomer, scientist and botanist who came to South Africa in 1833 to study the night skies, and also produced more than 100 botanical drawings during his stay.

“Botanical Blueprints” was born. Later, with her collaborators, she experimented with other old photographic processes. One, using silver and iron salts, produced beautiful earthy brown and chocolatey tones. “Silverprint Silhouettes” was born.

One of Amanda’s earliest ranges drew on the archives and notebooks of pioneering 19th century scholars Lucy Lloyd and Wilhelm Bleek, who spent years documenting and preserving the vanishing language and culture of the San people in the Cape.

During her forays into various archives, Amanda found rich visual histories of some of the first European explorers who came to South Africa, and as one discovery led to another, range after range started taking on a distinctly botanical flavour.

Along the way, she also expanded her range of techniques to include not just digital prints, but also embroidery, various dyeing methods and eventually the sun prints, too. Chance discoveries and lucky finds continue to reward her habit of painstaking research, and on-going appetite for delving into archives.

Recently, after a fruitless search at Sanbi, her eye happened to fall on a box of lithograph blocks from an agricultural magazine dating back to the 1930s, opening up another decorative exploration of the country’s relationship with its landscape.

Amanda’s highly original and inventive engagement with its botanical history has coalesced with the country’s decorative tradition. The hidden life of plants is having its moment in the sun.

Isabel Avendano Hazbun “It is largely through dress that we present our gender preference and by messing with dress and styles we can bend the gender dichotomy in ways that may eventually lead to change.” < 68

Isabel studied fine-furniture and textile design simultaneously. This experience of learning how to work with these disparate materials had such an influence that the intersection of timber and textiles and the crossover between their techniques has become the premise of her practice. She also addresses sustainability concerns via material repurposing and utilising low-tech methods.

Tell us how your style of weaving came about.

Weaving on a loom – proper weaving – is actually a really precise mathematical and difficult process. So when I started weaving, when I was trying to get the hang of it, in the hopes of finding my own voice I started experimenting with weaving different and unconventional materials to make up for my lack of skill in creating patterns with the loom. Later I discovered different kinds of weaving techniques that opened new avenues like coiling, braiding, etc. For me weaving is about finding new materials to play with and using old and developing new techniques to manipulate and transform them.

What do you love about working with textiles and weaving?

I am trained as a fine-furniture maker and even though timber is wonderful to work with it is such an unforgiving material. I feel that textiles are the opposite. The possibilities of what you can do with textiles are endless. I also think that anything and everything can be a textile. By using and mixing all the different techniques associated with textiles and for me, personally, some techniques

associated with timber, you can produce some really interesting works using really low-tech methods. And oh my goddess so much colour!!!

Does the inspiration for your designs come from any particular culture?

I grew up in the Colombian Caribbean in a city called Barranquilla where we hold a yearly Carnival; it is like Rio’s Carnival, just smaller. It is this extravagant mess of costumes, floats and people dancing in the streets where colour is everywhere and everything.

I didn’t realise how much influence this has had on me until I started to produce works and these works were really colourful.

I am also always searching for new ideas by looking at photos of traditional dress from different cultures and researching the choice of materials and the look. I am interested in fashion and textiles associated with culture. Sometimes when I am creating a new body of work I make up a background story that influences the aesthetic and materials of the work.

Where do you source your materials from?

From the every day. I think that what drives my practice more and more is to use every-day accessible and discarded materials that are repurposed and given new value through manipulation.

How would you describe your studio/work space?

I work from home, so sometimes inevitably my whole house becomes my studio. In saying that I do have an allocated room in my home where I do all of my work. The building is old with high

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ceilings and timber floors. The space is pretty much a massive table set close to a really big window so I get lots of natural light. In this room, where I spend most of my time, I store my finished works and keep my works in progress. It has stacks of timber along the wall, all of my tools, my two looms and all my fabrics stored in containers. On the wall behind the table I keep a whiteboard with new ideas and samples of new works. There is stuff everywhere.

Why is it important to you to create work from discarded materials?

As a maker of things I feel inevitably responsible in the production of waste. As humans we produce so much of it and it doesn’t seem to matter how informed we are about the consequences of our spending habits; things don’t seem to be slowing down. Repurposing materials is the most effective solution to our growing waste problem. It is also an opportunity to educate the public about the possibilities of dealing with waste in really creative ways, producing high quality objects that will last lifetimes instead of constantly consuming products with a planned obsolescence. In my practice I try to repurpose materials using low-tech methods. It also poses some really interesting creative challenges.

What current issues in society are you most passionate about?

Other than the sustainability issues that I like to address in my practice I am also driven by women’s rights issues and gender politics.

Tell us about your latest body of work?

My latest body of work was produced for an exhibition at the Australian Design Centre titled GIANTS. Giants is a feminist exploration of dress and adornment. It is a collection of 11 works that I am sure will only get bigger and bigger with time. The works for the exhibition challenge our social order that still in 2019 places women second to men and points out misogynistic behaviours that reinforce that order. It suggests dress as a universal, nonverbal and accessible language that can be used as a tool to subvert gender conditioning. The works were made from an assortment of readily available materials such as fibre, wire, recycled tyre inner tubes, yoga mats and timber using processes of destruction and reassembly. I used bright colours and exaggerated proportions to emphasise the significance of inhabiting space unapologetically in a social power structure that demands meekness and compliance.

What other artists have had the most influence on your work?

In fashion I love the work of Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, and Madame Gres. When I am not making or working on something I am always watching films and vividly remember the first time I watched The Fifth Element with all those amazing costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier. The work of sculptor Martin Puryear and the always-fabulous Louise Bourgeois. Here at home I am inspired by the work of David Upfill Brown, Teelah George, Lucy McRae, Gerwyn Davies and Paul Yore. There’s so many amazing people out there – it’s impossible to name them all.

Carys Martin Ceramics

“Each piece made in my studio is more than just a decoration for your home, it’s a daily connection to a higher belief to help you find your true north.” < 72

Carys Martin originally trained as a printmaker, completing her degree in 1996. In 2009 she revisited her love of clay and began to learn the technical skills to make clay her canvas.

Carys is drawn to contrasts and moments in time where different cultures overlap, an awareness that is often referenced in her pieces. You will find raw clay surfaces contrasting with a shiny, smooth glaze finish or highly decorated surfaces alongside negative space. The inspiration behind many of her pieces stems from growing up in a remote Cumbrian hamlet, where relics, stories and folklore were commonplace.

Beautiful packaging, made with recycled materials and soybased inks, has been specifically designed for the Travel Cups and wall hangings. All the artwork is original, and is designed and drawn by Carys. Carys works with local Brisbane designers and manufacturers whose environmental and ethical values align with her own. In using bespoke packaging, Carys Martin Ceramics reduces packaging needed to transport pieces to their new homes and tells a story that allows the pieces to speak for themselves when they leave the studio.

As conscious protectors of the environment, Carys Martin Ceramics is mindful of minimising its impact on the Earth.

It is inspired by nature, and motivated by the need to make a difference.

Where does the influence for your designs come from?

Much of my inspiration is stored deep within, from growing up around the Neolithic rock carvings in Cumbria to a large Celtic influence. It is drawn from my travels throughout the world, including Peru, and a love for the spiritual influences in our lives.

The beauty of the process of creating my pieces is that they cannot be rushed. My inspiration is always deep within my soul, and is drawn from a love of symbols that have been impregnated with meaning.

Your designs have a lot of spirals and symbols. Is that derived from a particular culture?

Spirals and certainly symbols always seem to come forth in my designs. Spirals are frequently seen in nature and so it makes sense that they are seen in many different cultures and indeed find their way into my work.

Tell us about your One Cup One Tree Planted philosophy.

To date we have planted the equivalent of over 60 football fields of trees in Peru. A portion of the sale of every ceramic Travel Cup is donated to the organisation One Tree Planted. One Tree Planted works with reforestation organisations around the world, helping local communities restore forests. The trees planted help clean the air, provide access to clean water, restore habitat, provide jobs, improve health and remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Every year over one billion coffee cups are thrown out in Australia alone. Reusing our Travel Cups helps to reduce the amount of

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coffee cups in landfill. By planting trees we are helping reestablish natural habitats in the Amazon rainforest.

How best would you describe your studio space?

Functional and a little messy! On the walls I have test tiles I have made of different glazing possibilities, sketches, ideas for future projects. I have a shelf of failed work that I may revisit – the glazing could be awesome or it holds a concept that is worth exploring again when the time is right.

How important is it to have the right working environment?

Very! Before I can start a new wave of making I clean down everything and mop. Everything has its place. I like to have an empty mind to create so the ideas and inspiration can flow in.

If things are too messy then it makes my head too noisy!

and be brave this business will not work. I am continually finding the balance between running a retail business and practising as an artist, in staying true to my values, vision and personal style whilst having enough orders coming in to make it a viable business.

What’s your favourite thing in your workspace?

My test tiles. I love glazing, I make my own glazes, which is one of the reasons people are so drawn to the colours in my pieces. I love the unpredictable nature of glazes: you just never know 100% what results you will get! I have around 30 different glazes I work with and three main clays, At the start of 2018 I made hundreds of test tiles in three different clays and tested my glazes in different layers.

Making a positive impact on those with whom I cross paths.

To travel and explore, and to live with curiosity.

There were thousands of potential combinations. I narrowed these down and dipped and layered and carefully catalogued what I was doing. Once fired I had hundreds of beautiful (and some not so beautiful!) coloured glaze combinations. I then grouped and graded them into graded colourways and mounted them on boards to go around my studio. I use them every time I glaze to confirm results I would like.

What has most influenced you in the last 12 months?

What do you love best about what you do?

Selling my previous business of 13 years and becoming a fulltime artist! Letting go of an incredible community in order to go it alone and build a new support network in a different field.

Chasing my dreams has taken a huge leap of faith, trust in myself that I can change fields and build a creative business that supports my family. I have had to learn that if I don’t back myself

I am where I am meant to be. Since as long as I can remember I have known that I will be an artist. I am excited about the possibilities for the future and what opportunities will open up for me. To create beautiful pieces for people is a joy. Art is powerful.

It can connect people to a positive feeling or create a positive impact. I’m happy to be part of that.

What are you most passionate about in life?

POD “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way - things I had no words for.”

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Ballarat, Victoria, has long held a reputation for its arts community, but now in a massive coup for the city, it has officially been recognised with a UNESCO listing as a Creative City in the area of Craft and Folk Art – in fact, Ballarat is the first Australian city to be awarded a Creative City status in that category. The city’s application was based on its past as well as its present – stressing the importance of the skills and techniques of indigenous people – the Wathaurong – as well as the skills and techniques that were brought to the region through the myriad migrant groups at the time of the goldrush.

This is great news for artist Pauline O’Shannessy-Dowling – or POD, as she is otherwise known – as she is now turning her attention to building her arts practice into a more sustainable career. The significance of the UNESCO listing will mean local arts and craftspeople will have a more structured access into regional and international connections and recognition through strategies for vocational training, workshopping, sourcing spaces, exhibiting, and strengthening networks. For an artist, these are all the essential building blocks of a successful career, but are often difficult to access without support.

POD moved to Ballarat over 15 years ago at a turning point in her career. Having been involved in nursing since she left home as a young woman, Pauline was keen to turn her hand and mind to something else – she wanted to avoid the bad-back syndrome that seemed to hound nurses whose career spanned the decades. Shortly after arriving in Ballarat, she found her way into the Graduate Diploma in Visual Arts that was then offered

through the local TAFE, tapping into her life-long love of drawing.

Pauline quickly discovered a freedom in art. She cites teachers from this course, including but not limited to Neville French, Ewan Ross and Vikki Nash, as being instrumental in building her practice and confidence.

Her illustration style is sometimes compared to the Austrianborn New Zealand artist and architect Friedrich Hundertwasser, a comparison POD seems quite delighted to hear. Her work is colourful, zany, and quirky. She employs a wide range of pens – gel, fineliners, markers and acrylic pens – to create artworks around motifs of impossible houses, wacky streetscapes, funky windows and strange kinds of flora. She draws inspiration from the works of Art Nouveau artists like Gustave Klimt and, more recently, has been inspired by the film, Avatar. Because of the detail in her work, and the amount of time it takes for her to create a single piece, Pauline has limited edition prints made from her images.

Talking about her art, POD hopes her works illustrate a longing for a more peaceful world, a kinder world where people take time to enjoy the environment. Her heightened landscapes tap into the joy she herself takes in her long walks with her two black labradors.

POD often leaves the house and walks for hours at a time. This slowing down and taking it all in is what Pauline finds essential, and possibly also what’s missing in the lives of many of us. She is also a runner, recently completing the Melbourne Marathon, and is already committed to next year’s Great Ocean Road run.

However, don’t think for a minute that POD whiles away her days in some idyllic reverie. Pauline is one of those people who is fully

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aware of the short time we are given – or, conversely, the fact that we are “dead for a long time”, and she is determined to squeeze every last bit of juice from the life she’s been given – and not just for herself. She wants to be a positive role model for others, and always finds a creative way to volunteer in her community.

Lately she has volunteered out at the Ballarat Repair Café, which has been operating out of the Ballarat Tech School. People bring in all manner of items for repair – clothes, zips, chairs. She talks of how she wants us to embrace a philosophy of repair as opposed to discard, citing, for example, the darning of stockings, tights and socks – a practice that was common not that long ago. Volunteering in the community is important to Pauline, also having worked as a Volunteer Gallery Guide for many years at both the Ballarat and Bendigo public galleries.

Pauline also co-hosts a radio show, The Arts Program – TAP – at community radio station, Voice FM, with artist and colleague, Lynden Nicholls. Together, they have interviewed a range of inspirational people such as one of the city’s many celebrity artists, Shane Jones, theatre producer Megan Reidl, sustainable housing architect and certified passive house designer, Talina Edwards, and so many more. (You can listen to these interviews on Youtube, if you look for TAP – The Arts Program.)

A love of textiles, of dressmaking, embroidery and knitting has led POD down the path to crochet – and more specifically, to the addictive hobby of creating granny square rugs. As she’s active on social media, POD has found that there’s real interest in this kind of back-to-roots handiwork, and she’s now giving classes and workshops on the art of crochet.

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She’s surprised at the interest, but also heartened. It’s another way of slowing down and learning old skills – of creating connections through intergenerational communication that comes when these skills are handed over. A granny square rug can help to bring a community together. She has set up an already popular Instagram account called grannysquarelady, and it’s not hard to see the cheerful (and nostalgic) appeal of her work.

Pauline has lived in far-flung places including Denmark and her husband Eugene’s native Ireland. Her next adventure is a trip to Mexico, where she hopes to find inspiration for a new body of work. She wants to push herself in a new direction and this is to be a research trip. Mexico, with its colourful reputation, seems the perfect destination for such a creative quest!

Bethany Alice

“I want women to feel amazing in clothes and inspire them that it can be done in an environmentally beneficial way.”

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Bethany started her business ‘Bethany Alice’ not long after finishing her degree in Fashion Design at RMIT. Working in Ballarat and Melbourne, Bethany collaborates individually with her clients to create custom made garments for all occasions. She also alters garments so that they are designed to fit the client’s individual shape, not their size.

waste and to inspire others to see the possibilities of sustainable fashion. Through her business she aims to educate others about ways we can reduce our impact on the environment through our fashion choices, whether via getting a custom piece made that you will get a lot of wear out of, or altering a piece of clothing to avoid throwing it away.

How would you best describe your workspace?

Bethany originally began working with close family and friends to help them create something that was just for them. Through this work and her many conversations, Bethany found a lot of women were having trouble finding something that suited their body, made them feel comfortable and, most importantly, made them feel good. She concluded that this is due to a combination of not knowing what suits our shape and finding something that fits our bodies. This realisation was a catalyst for Bethany, who decided that she wanted to work personally with women to create something that is made specifically for them.

According to Bethany, having a garment tailored to you, not only are you losing the stigma of having to be defined by a size number, but you get something that suits your shape and flatters your body. You also get free reign to create something for your style in terms of design, fabric and colour.

Bethany is also passionate about the environmental impacts that fashion has on the world. She is constantly looking for new solutions within her business and personal life to help reduce those effects. Bethany has created her own collection of pieces solely using old clothes and fabric scraps in an effort to reduce

Intimate and often times messy! But I still know where everything is, which amazes me. I just love this space and being able to come in, shut myself off from the outside world and get stuck into my work.

Where does the inspiration for your designs come from?

I am really inspired by European and American street style. I love how they play with bold prints and fabric textures in ways that you don’t see every day. I also love letting the clothes I’m working with inspire me. I will place them on the mannequin, start cutting and see how they want to drape before I continue.

How important is it to make people feel confident and comfortable in their clothes?

So unbelievably important! I really believe that if you are comfortable in your clothing you will want to wear it over and over again and that is the easiest way to make your wardrobe as sustainable as possible. I also believe having clothes tailored to you shows that you can look amazing in anything without having to change yourself.

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Where do you source your materials from?

A lot of it is old clothes from my friends and family. When they do a wardrobe cleanout they will come to me. I also love visiting op shops to find more colours, textures and sizes to add some diversity to my collection. Finally I use a lot of fabric remnants and scraps from previous projects in an effort to further reduce my waste.

How would you describe your own personal style?

I would describe my own style as effortless sophistication and sensuality. I love a polished tailored look (I have too many blazers in my wardrobe and black is my favourite colour). But I love classic, comfortable looks as they can be worn over and over again.

Do you have any fashion icons that you aspire to?

Oh yes, too many, and it also depends on my mood. I love people who push the boundaries and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t follow any rules. Right now I am loving Blair Eadie. Her use of colour and texture is so inspiring and I would love to raid her wardrobe. I also love Alex van Os (From Op Shop to Runway). She styles a lot of Australian celebrities in all-secondhand pieces and the way she can make sustainable fashion look so stylish is incredible.

Do you come from a family of makers?

My mum taught me how to sew. Even though she doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sew as much now, she used to make all our clothes and costumes as kids. I used to love falling asleep to the sound of mum sewing at

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night in the room near us. My grandma also used to sew and mum always says “You should have seen her work; her seams were as perfect as yours”.

What do you love most about the design process?

Honestly, all of it. That’s one of the reasons I started my own business, I couldn’t decide what area of fashion design I wanted to go into. I just love seeing a sketch come to life as a final product. Although I am always very critical of my work and know all the things that could’ve been done better, it’s truly an amazing process and I love the stories I can tell about where the pieces have come from and how I turned them into what they are today.

What questions do you ask your clients before you begin designing for them?

A lot of my clients will ask me, “What do you think will suit me?”, and I always respond with “Whatever you want!”. If you want to clash prints, wear double denim, wear tight or loose pieces it doesn’t matter. I love creating pieces for each individual and to make them feel amazing in something that is truly them. I also get to know some of the common fit issues they experience to make sure the piece is perfectly tailored to them and they feel comfortable in it.

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I’m working on creating some accessories that will enable me to use more of the smaller scraps I have lying around. I love finding new ways to make fashion even more sustainable.

Kate Judson

“Disposability is a freakish concept that has no place on a finite planet of interdependent inhabitants.”

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Challenging notions of rubbish, material value, designed obsolescence and precious metals in design, Kate Judson seeks to engage in the conversation about the human relationship with technology and the Earth in the Anthropocene era. All the materials she uses – mobile phones, stereos, laptops etc – could be described as relics of the Anthropocene. Redeeming Features is an attempt to be the change and to start where she is with what she has.

My grandfather was formally trained through apprenticeship in the UK as a master stained-glass window maker, and was also a self-taught pipe organ builder. Not entirely reliant on creative income he was also a dedicated clergyman, or Father in the Anglican church. I grew up spending weekends around the design studio and workshop that he and my grandmother worked in. She was a school art teacher and lent considerable design skills and techniques to these massive window-making jobs. Occasionally I’d help with cutting or assembling things, or watching or steadying a ladder, or helping to tune for an installation. I recall an interstate trip with two family cars, ours following my grandparents’ station wagon, both loaded up with pipes and wooden bits, but the largest pipes sticking well out of the back window of their Valiant wagon. I often use one of my grandfather’s chisels.

My father had a rare creative office job doing technical drawings and illustrations for council, prior to computer-aided design. His workplace was all reams of papers and watercolour pens whose names were like holiday destinations. Since retirement he is practising and exhibiting as an artist.

I went to art school (twice in fact) but struggled with what felt like the academic narrowness and dropped out, having gleaned enough practical silversmithing skills for competence. I also did a year of environmental science and it’s taken decades for these two paths to merge.

Both my father and grandfather were commissioned to make works that deliver a message with little room for interpretation, whereas I have the freedom to create and design with materials themselves being the narrators about a conversation that is globally shared: tech and e-waste.

Market stalls provide opportunities to have unforced conversations about the way nature recycles everything, extractive versus circular economies, the value of arts and creativity, the fostering of imagination and innovation, or simply the magic of seeing how some abstract design that I’d been smithing away at finds a wearer to adorn who it seems to have been made for.

So, for all these practical and very direct yet highly complex and variable factors, I embrace the maker role as a better fit than artist. I’d rather use my design authority to facilitate others’ interpretation of ideas than to attempt to individually interpret and convey something with intense focus on it myself.

Personally, choosing to reuse feels like a nonchoice obligation to me. And the design challenges of working with discards, not prepped materials, to me, reflect the true nature of life on a shared planet.

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An arts supplies shop gives me a visceral rash of “it’s all so clean and specific!”. Whereas I find myself singing and smiling as I wander over the junk mounds at a tip. This tip gleaning is why I adopted the Womble Studio name, after the 70’s TV series depicting a loveable bunch of characters who daily go “wombling”, collecting the things that people have left behind and making good use of them.

Mobile phones and circuit boards are the most difficult to recycle, artifacts designed with zero thought to afterlife. Making them into beautiful conversation pieces about themselves and wearing this dark side of our present with fashion pride feels like a radical act of beauty-making.

I sometimes joke that Redeeming Features is my conversion therapy. I deal with some really hard stuff, converting it into something very beautiful. I’m totally into Jungian approaches.

Jung said humans need symbols in their everyday lives. Everyone who is a reuse maker is working in that space of symbolic meaning about the trajectory of us as a species, in relation to consumption and production.

Everybody knows that we live on a planet of finite resources but mostly act as though we have one or two to spare. Disposability is a freakish concept that has no place on a finite planet of interdependent inhabitants.

Gypsy Weaver “I want to keep the stories of all the people involved in creating our clothing and write a new chapter by reusing secondhand yarns and fabric.”

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Cathy Tobin is a textile artist who embraced the philosophy of Saori weaving four years ago. Saori is a Japanese freeform style of weaving: there are no patterns to follow, no rules and it encourages individual creativity.

Saori gave Cathy a way to nurture her need to be creative and nourish her mind and soul. What began as a hobby is now her passion: weaving, designing and creating one-off pieces of wearable art.

creative opportunities of freeform weaving. The Saori freeform style encourages individual expression without the pressure to conform and be perfect. It is the imperfections and ‘flaws’ that give the cloth its uniqueness and individual quirkiness. Saori also empowers you to be adventurous and to think beyond the boundaries imposed on our creativity by ourselves and others.

It allows the freedom of no-rules creativity.

Have you always been a maker?

Cathy weaves the cloth for all her garments and accessories using a range of materials sourced secondhand or gifted: ‘orphaned’ balls of yarn, fabric strips made from discarded garments, sewing threads etc. She also renews old clothing with a splash of weaving.

Saori weaving has given Cathy the freedom to express her own individuality through the garments she makes, and the meditative rhythm of weaving allows her time for reflection. Determined to share this enjoyment with others, she established the Gypsy Weaver Studio in May 2018, offering workshops, commissions and talks on garment design.

What lead you to the Saori style of weaving?

Prior to embarking on our travels around Australia I chanced on a shop in Clunes, in country Victoria, where I found a loom. I had not been looking to buy a loom, but I could see what could be possible, and that the loom could be folded up and stored in the caravan as we travelled. I ordered the loom and then decided I should have a lesson as I had not woven before. After that I was on my own, experimenting and falling more in love with the

I have always been a creator, and have turned my hand to spinning, knitting, patchwork, mosaics, sewing and designing.

I am always happiest when I have a project underway, which led me to go back to study in 2012-2013 for a diploma in Art Therapy.

This gave me an insight into the value of creativity for personal growth, self-expression and story-telling.

Do you come from family of makers?

I was fortunate to be influenced by my family. My grandmother was a knitter and baked delicious food, my auntie and sister sewed clothes for all the family and my mother was an avid vegie gardener and had a ‘can-do’ attitude. She showed me how to be resourceful, to mend and to be respectful of nature, people and possessions. Recycling, reusing and being creative has been a part of my upbringing.

What do you love most about travelling?

The most enjoyable part of travelling is the bush camping, being surrounded by nature whilst living a much simpler life with

Words by Cathy Tobin Photography Cathy Tobin & Jayne Newgreen

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minimal possessions, enjoying the daily walks, the wonderment in nature’s beauty. Many of our travel photos are macro images of flowers highlighting their intricate patterns and colors. Our motto became “appreciate the small things in life”.

We travelled Australia for two years and our favourite camps were not the tourist destinations but those that hold a special memory: the old majestic trees with hollowed trunks big enough to lie in, the sensational sunsets, the eagles hovering in the updraft, the spectacle of the daily synchronised dance of the pelicans and cormorants, the kindness and laughter shared around an evening fire, and the vastness of land and sky.

Where do you source you materials from?

Everything I use for my weaving is either gifted to me or sourced from op shops: ‘orphaned’ balls of yarn, cones of sewing threads, garments to cut up (or to be used as a pattern layout), elastic, zippers and buttons, sewing patterns. It is all perfectly good to use; it just comes without a label or packaging.

What do you love most about what you do?

Each weaving is unique and there is no pressure to follow patterns, count stitches and aim for a factory-perfect piece of cloth. As I sit at the loom getting into a rhythm I get lost in my own thoughts. It becomes a meditative process. Then comes the designing and sewing of the garment. I am so proud of the finished article, to be able to transform those discarded items into a unique piece of wearable art.

Tell us about your classes and workshops.

My favorite philosophy of Saori is to ‘Inspire one another’. I do this through my Facebook and Instagram posts and by giving classes, sharing with others what I have learnt. There are three looms in the studio, with a large selection of yarns, and after five minutes of instructions on how to use the loom, the freeform weaving begins. Each month I vary the theme of the workshops and advertise this through social media.

What do you love most about your workspace?

My studio is a small two-storey brick building in Maryborough, Victoria, that is called ‘The coach house”. The bricks are all handmade and it still has the blackened outer wall from where the old blacksmith fire stood. I love the olde world charm of the building, with its warmth and the history held in the space.

What are you currently working on?

The loom is threaded with a twisted blue/white cotton that I bought at the op shop and I’m weaving with gifted yarns: a cone of fine blue thread and short lengths of wool from the spinners group. Once the cloth is off the loom and washed I will decide if it will be a jacket or something else. The weaving of the cloth and the design of the clothing have no restrictions, and there are no instructions on what it becomes, so each piece is a one-off article.

Eva Michelle Redux

“Happily, we are beginning to see evidence of the tide turning against that sterile and consumeristic zeitgeist.”

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An inveterate secondhand shopper and a confirmed repurposer and recycler, it was natural for Eva Michelle to be drawn towards the vintage Australian souvenir spoons that were the item du jour of the living rooms of the 60s and 70s, proudly mounted on custom-built boards. Today she turns these relics of the Australian roadtrips of the past into desirable pieces of wearable art.

Why did you start working with souvenir spoons?

Eva Michelle also repurposes denim jeans into pinafores and overalls, converts vintage clothing and fabrics into more contemporary pieces, inserts needlepoint pieces into the backs of denim jackets, and makes kimonos and shirts out of old silk scarves.

They were diecast in brass, copper or silver and hand enamelled.

The medallion was then attached to the spoon with a touch of lead solder. It’s a process that has disappeared and the images captured are of a time in Australian history when holidays were remembered by the souvenir spoons on the wall. I decided to turn them into items of jewellery for others to admire and enjoy.

How would you describe your studio and what do you love most about it?

My studio is a small study at the top of the stairs that is jam packed with sewing machines, jewellery-making equipment, boxes of beads and old spoons, tubs of fabric and patterns, tins of accessories, mannequins and a large old silky oak desk that I do all my work on. What I love most are the very old coloured glass windows that were given to me 25 years ago. I restored them, carted them with me whenever I moved and finally had them incorporated by the architect of this home into the wall of my study as a feature, where they cast a beautiful light.

The combined loves of secondhand shopping and a commitment to repurposing and recycling drew me towards the enamel medallions on vintage Australian souvenir spoons that were popular in the 1960s. The medallions featured major tourist attractions and beaches, well-known buildings (post offices were quite iconic apparently), bridges, rivers, aspects of agriculture and industry, Australian flora and fauna and natural landscapes.

Why do you think it’s important to use recycled materials for your work?

All materials have a huge energy cost to refine and produce and our modern society has become distanced from and dismissive of that. A throwaway, single use mentality has become the norm, almost a matter of pride. Happily, we are beginning to see evidence of the tide turning against that sterile and consumeristic zeitgeist.

Do you come from a family of makers?

I come from dairy farming stock and both my parents were very practical and capable people. Also, in those times girls learnt the art of sewing, knitting and embroidery at a young age. My mother

Words by Michelle Gosper Photography Rosemary Gosper

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had a family tradition of dressmaking and was a beautiful sewer and knitter herself. I was the youngest of three girls and all my clothes were homemade and hand-me downs. I still have my first store bought dress! It was my 6th class graduation dress and I have kept it as a reminder of those days. My father did all the metalwork, welding, fencing and repair work on the farm. He used to build and race his own TQs. They looked like human size slot cars. As farm children we were expected to muck in with everything and that made us all very capable, confident and resilient in making, doing, driving and repairing anything.

Where do you source your materials from?

We also lived a largely sustainable existence as most of our food was homegrown and homemade right down to the ice cream from the milk vat, preserved peaches from the trees in the chook yard, blackberry jam from the bushes down by the creek and meat from the poor cow that jumped out in front of the car.

Do you attend classes or workshops?

Have you always been a maker?

I always sewed clothes, firstly for my dolls, then later for myself and my own children. I’m a drama teacher – a scholarship to university to study teaching was my ticket out of Taree! So, I’ve spent my career involved in theatre, which is another one of my passions.

Tell us about your upcycled clothing pieces. How do you decide what items to make from the original garments?

It’s instinctive. If I don’t immediately see what it can be turned into then I don’t buy the original item or fabric.

Markets and secondhand shops. One of my closest friends and I go on road trips together called “Vinnie runs”. We’ve been secondhand shoppers since high school in the 1970s.

What has been your most treasured find on your travels looking for spoons and materials to reuse?

Some Mikimoto pearls. I paid $10 for them.

I joined Newcastle Lapidary Club in 2015 to learn silverwork and enameling. Other experienced club members teach and there’s always people to give advice and help with technique and process. I go every week and particularly love enameling classes on Saturdays.

Tell us about your vision for the future.

My husband and I have taken 27 acres of the original family farm and are in the process of developing a permaculture environment for a sustainable existence. Back to my roots! We are building an off-grid cabin and will then turn the shipping container that we currently use for sleeping and storage into a workshop. That will be my jewellery and recycled clothing workshop.

Wonderpants

“So comfy you’ll want a whole drawer full.”

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Wonderpants was borne out of the idea that good underwear could be like wearing a hug. To feel special, held, loved. Creator and founder Kathryn McAllister set out to make ethical, organic, locally made underwear that makes you feel good. And she nailed it! Sourcing highquality GOTS Australian knitted fabric, Wonderpants are designed and produced in a workroom in Castlemaine, Victoria. Sewn in small batches, Wonderpants embrace the ethos of slow fashion and high-quality garments that are made to last. Wonderpants – comfy undies for every body.

Tell us the story behind the your label Wonderpants.

I was struggling to find comfortable, ethically made underwear, so I thought I’d have a go making them myself. My background is in design and garment construction, so when a friend gifted me an underwear pattern, I sat with it and played around with it, and from there Wonderpants were born. The absolute comfort of the Wonderpant contributed to the name and they’re just so wonderfully comfortable. Also they are fun, which is a big part of what is behind the brand. Our customers send us amazing photos of themselves having fun in their Wonderpants, from hiking in Upstate New York, to cutting their birthday cake in a park, to using them as a coffee filter while camping in the desert.

Why is it important to use ethically sourced certified cotton as the fabric of choice for your brand?

Wonderpants are made with an ethical heart, so sourcing the best quality, Australian-made organic fabric was vital to the brand.

The fabrics we source from OCC Apparel are of such high-quality, and are a large component of what makes Wonderpants last and last. A consistent comment we receive from our customers is that they almost last too long; they would like to buy new ones – a new colour for example – but the ones they have are still going strong, so there’s really no need. Perhaps it’s not the best capitalist business model, but it’s important to us to be contributing to making high-quality garments and a slower fashion cycle.

How would you describe your workspace/workshop?

Wonderpants are designed and made out of our workroom based in Castlemaine, Victoria, at a complex called The Mill. It’s a great space, with many other creative endeavours going on around us.

I love it! The Wonderpants workroom reflects the inner workings of my mind – slightly chaotic, fun, colourful, many projects on the go, with a comfy chair and an extensive tea collection. Being based in a small country town with a thriving artistic community has provided me with the support and enthusiasm I needed to grow my business.

Describe the process involved in making wonderpants undies.

Focusing on small batch production, we hold limited stock of Wonderpants in our workroom, continually topping up the balance for orders. This sustainable practice is to avoid surplus stock potentially ending up in landfill. We cut multiple pairs at a time by hand with a rotary cutter, and sew them all on an industrial overlocker. The making of a pair of Wonderpants is a relatively simple process, but there is so much more that goes into it.

Words by Kathryn McAllister Photography Bronte Pleasance & Keiran Watson-Bonnice

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From designing the colour palette, creating new patterns, maintaining a consistent look and feel to the brand with the packaging, logo, photo shoots, social media, and website.

Amongst all that, it’s vital to allow time to dream and think about how to grow, how we can be better, and how we can give back.

What has been the biggest challenges you have faced stating your own business?

Keeping motivated, staying focused, and all the different hats I have to wear while running a small business. Time management is quite a challenge. But this is also what keeps my days interesting.

I have amazing supportive friends and family here in Castlemaine.

My kids are my ‘go to’ for any important decisions I need to make. I trust their opinions implicitly. My daughter Bronte is Wonderpants’ photographer, and her eye and photographic style are invaluable to the brand. I’m very lucky. One of the most significant things I’ve worked on this year is remembering to find some balance. It’s important, giving space to all aspects of my life.

What sort of feedback do you get from return customers?

Wonderpants customers that love them, really love them. They’re fans. It’s humbling. We recently had a launch party for the new Merino range – it was a really fun night. Our models, dressed in only Wonderpants, were fire-twirling, roller skating, and serving food. That event made me aware of the incredible community that Wonderpants has created. People weren’t there just for me –they were at the party for Wonderpants – celebrating their uniqueness together. It was also a night of gratitude, where we could say thank you to so many who support and love Wonderpants.

When we started Wonderpants we wanted to celebrate every body, and we feel that has come to fruition. We’re thrilled when we receive people’s letters and photos of themselves living and celebrating their lives in Wonderpants.

Our photo shoots are with people in the Wonderpants community, not professional models. At the start of a shoot, there’s often a feeling of awkward self-awareness. This quickly gives way to joyful confidence and feeling so comfortable they forget they’re standing around in their undies. We deeply value our contribution to people feeling good about their bodies.

Are you working on any new designs or styles?

There are a couple of new things in the pipeline. We’re excited to be working on a range of Wonderpants for kids. Hopefully we will release these before the end of the year. A new range of extra hightop Wonderpants for femmes is about to be released. They have a fantastic double wide waistband, which really suits particular body types. We’re also working on extending our femme size range up to size 22, which we’re really happy about. We’re working in collaboration with some femmes to get the size and fit just right.

We’ll soon be introducing a subscription model for fans of Wonderpants. You can sign up for a years worth of undies sent to you periodically in the post. Subscribers can select from the standard Wonderpants range, and will also receive access to a limited edition colour not available on the website. Surprise knickers designed to bring you joy, sent to your letterbox. What more could you want?

in.cube8r “With a brain that is always racing I’ve been taking time to slow down, reconnect with my creative side and be a bit more mindful.

Craft is helping me reconnect with myself.”

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Elle-May Michael has always been around creative, entrepreneurial people. With a sound-engineer father and a musician mother, her start to life was rich with big personalities. She moved with her family to the Blue Mountains when she was four and her parents opened a restaurant and live music venue to support their growing family. They created an amazing community of creative people, and as one of those kids who always wanted to sit at the grown up table – she was like a little sponge for ideas.

While my friends were having family dinners and watching TV, my brothers and I were sitting out the back of the shop, sneaking lemon gelato and asking for secret chips with our dinners. I still remember my first day of work, taking bills to customers, smiling and saying efcharistó (thank you in Greek)...I was around six years old. The business ran for 15 years.

Because of this background, I’ve always been a bit of an outsider and a very big personality. I wanted to be a performer and so, with the money I earned working weekends at the restaurant, I put myself into singing, dancing and acting classes so that I could get into a musical theatre course. When I was at college, my teacher said something that stuck with me to this day: “If you’re not going to throw yourself head first into this and rely on it as your sole way of surviving, you will never make it in this industry”. and I realised I didn’t want to be a struggling artist. I still wanted to be creative, but making myself the centre of that was no longer my priority. I wanted a stable and enriching life helping others, and so my business mindset was unleashed.

I got myself a charity fundraising job in a call centre, and slowly moved myself through the ranks. I brought my creative mind to a dry business environment and worked with the IT department to reinvent badly designed systems and make them more user friendly and considerate of our customers. I created a customer service team where one hadn’t previously existed, I studied graphic design, learned how to make websites, went to various training courses and completed a communications degree in my spare time. I did all this without ever being asked…and I was not open to being told I couldn’t, either. I absorbed so much during the 10 years I worked in this position, but became bored working for someone else. I was itching to do my own thing and then found out about a gorgeous little business for sale in Melbourne called in.cube8r. in.cube8r represented the community that I had lost when my parents closed their business. I saw a new family of creatives who had stories I could get to know and businesses that together we could hopefully grow. The business operated like a seven day a week market where creatives could rent a space to call their own, and keep 100% of their profits. It was grungy and cute and everything I didn’t know I was looking for. After a few months of turning my life inside out I found myself the owner of a business in a new city with 70 clients. It was massive: there were lots of names to learn and personalities to decode…I was in my element!

I loved when the makers would come in, show me what they had made and tell me what they were hoping to make next. I loved connecting customers to these stories, and sharing the beautiful experience of buying handmade. I noticed over time, however, that many makers weren’t taking advantage of social media and

Words & Photography by Elle-May Michael

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traditional marketing; many didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even have business cards! So my organisational brain got moving and trying to find solutions.

When I took over in.cube8r, it was a space for creatives to rent a cube for their designs and keep 100% of their sales. Over the last three years that element has remained central to the business; however, its offering has grown to include exhibitions, workshops and a new updated look and feel. Last year, I started doing one-on-one coaching/training and this year I opened a second Melbourne location in Greville Street, Prahran.

They say it takes three years to see results in business, and that has been true for me. in.cube8r is turning into what I envisioned it could become, a creative hub of extremely talented individuals from all walks of life, sharing space in the city of Melbourne typically reserved for big retailers. I love being able to connect lovers of handmade with my creative clients and helping to move towards a sustainable future filled with locally produced product made by people who love what they do and want to make a positive impact on this planet we call home.

There is nothing quite as special as supporting an artist by buying handmade and finding connection in a digitised world. The people I get to work with are so inspiring, and watching them be creative makes me happier than I ever thought would be possible.

This year, while going through extremely stressful times I found myself needing something a bit more calm in my life and I took a weaving workshop on my one day off of the month. I found weaving extremely meditive and really enjoyed researching

different methods for making wall hangings. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s given me a reason to turn off my brain and because it requires the use of both of my hands it keeps me away from my devices which constantly pull me into work mode.

Craft is helping me reconnect with a side of myself I pushed away more than a decade ago and given me a reason to make time for myself again.

My Vintage Obsession

“For me, creativity is about making connections to things and finding new ways to tell their story.”

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Meagan Browne has had lots of creative thinking jobs, ones that were practical and fun and some dead-set boring ones. She has always loved colour and texture and being creative with her hands. Now she is enjoying the challenges of running her own small business and finding new ways to be creative.

For me, creativity is about making connections to the things that I’m working with. Once I have found those I use them to create a new story in my jewellery. Of course, I make physical connections in creating a new piece of jewellery, too!

I love all vintage things. They make me wonder where they came from, who owned them and what stories they could tell if they could speak. A deepened patina, some scratches, rubbed off or faded areas and repairs all tell me that an object was once treasured.

About eight years ago I started to collect vintage costume jewellery. The quality of design and manufacture of so many pieces was very high. I couldn’t bring myself to throw away any of the broken pieces in my collection, so I used the skills I learnt making silver jewellery to create new from old. Repurposing broken jewellery from my personal collection quickly became an obsession.

Now I seek out broken vintage jewellery and other intriguing objects as I travel the world. I have so much fun poking about in flea markets and op shops to find a forgotten treasure that I can

reimagine. It could be a broken brooch, an orphaned earring, a belt buckle or string of beads that attracts me. I also love working with old keys, chandelier crystals and buttons.

Once I have found that interesting central piece, I let it talk to me.

Sometimes I see a design in my mind straight away, other times I have to wait to see what emerges. Then the challenge is to make my design come to life. It’s a form of creative problem-solving and I love it.

The sustainable aspect of my work is important to me. It consciously pushes back against the disposable fashion mindset.

Vintage items hold an intrinsic value related to the resources used to make them. I hate to see waste, and even something broken can be beautiful if you look at it in the right way. I even make my display mannequins using repurposed materials.

If I had to describe my work in one word I would call it whimsical.

My pieces range from elegant to downright quirky.

My customers tell me that my work starts so many conversations when they wear it. They love the history of each piece, and the handmade and sustainable nature of my work is important to them. Every time someone says “that reminds me of something my grandmother wore” I have to smile. I know that they have connected to the story that I’m trying to tell in my work.

Words & Photography by Meagan Browne

Julie Stephens Designs

“My love of the beach and the natural world inspire me to create timeless, sustainable pieces that are classic and just a little bit boho.” < 110

For Julie Stephens, jewellery making is a natural extension of all the making and crafting she has done over the years.

Ever since she was a child she loved to create, in whatever form, including drawing and painting, ceramics, mosaics, knitting, crochet and sewing. Julie used to make most of her own clothes; however, there’s no time in her life for that anymore!

I’ve had a long career in Public Relations, which is a different kind of creative pursuit and a demanding one that necessitated putting aside the part of me that loves to make for quite a few years. Then, about five years ago, I ‘discovered’ beading and the wonderful world of jewellery making opened up to me, becoming my new creative obsession.

Making jewellery brings together my love of fashion, colour and the process of creating something unique out of just an idea. I love gathering the materials, choosing the colours and imagining how the various components might come together. All of my jewellery is handcrafted in my workroom in Melbourne using high quality beads and stones, sterling silver and other raw materials.

My jewellery is the result of experimentation and learning a range of jewellery-making skills and techniques. I’ve attended many workshops and courses in beadwork, wirework, metalsmithing and lost wax casting, and have met an amazing community of artists and designers along the way that inspire me. Julie Stephens Designs was first imagined during this time.

I’ve now completed a jewellery design course with the New York Institute of Art & Design, which was instrumental in helping me hone all of the skills I’d acquired into a focused creative direction for my business.

While learning, I discovered fine silver precious metal clay, an amazing and relatively new medium that has created a whole new art form for jewellery makers. I love metal clay for the possibilities it opens up and I feel like I’ve only just begun the journey of learning what I can do with it.

Apart from the ease of working with the clay in its various forms (it is so much easier on my hands than sheet metal), I love that metal clay is made from recycled metal so it is an entirely sustainable material. During the making process there is no wastage on my bench. I save and reuse any offcuts and filings from the clay; even dry clay can be reconstituted and reused. I also recycle other raw materials as part of the making process.

The repurposing aspect of jewellery appeals to me as any piece can be reformed, remade or repaired.

My designs are inspired by art, nature and the beach, with a strong coastal aesthetic that is timeless. My purpose is to create quality, lasting and sustainable pieces that resonate with the wearer and can be worn every day or are equally wearable for special occasions. I love that jewellery is imbued with meaning that signifies the time or place in which it was acquired, gifted or worn. Jewellery helps to create memories that live beyond the moment.

Words by Julie Stephens Photography Michael Laurie Photography

Harry Millward

“The self, a window, be acrid or saccharine, nothing is hidden.”

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Harry Millward is inspired by the natural world, surrealism and abstract art, music, mythology, his travels through Asia, video games, gender identity, and the overall human experience. He hopes, in time, we can move away from the environmentally destructive fast fashion model, embrace the ideas of quality over quantity, and develop a culture where men, as well as women, can explore themselves through fashion.

Growing up in rural South Australia, I was about as far removed from fashion as it’s possible to be. As I grew older I couldn’t relate to the fashion around me. Most boys my age were more interested in sports than art and stories. At age 16 I moved to Adelaide, finished high school, and studied photography.

After five years working in the industry I started to burn out.

I wasn’t getting to do the kind of work that excited me, and eventually chose to leave it. After a few months without a major creative outlet I started to look at other things to try, and without any real sewing experience to speak of I attempted to sew a shirt. It was a disaster, so I looked for a sewing course. Joining Kangan Institute in 2013 was an eyeopener to just how much I did not know, but also how much I loved the process of creation, the feeling of taking something from a concept to something you could actually wear. I knew I had stumbled into something amazing.

To paraphrase something my sewing teacher once said to me, I was ‘an A student with D skills’. I guess when you start

from the bottom, there is only one way to climb. From not being able to sew a straight line, to being invited to show my collection in the Melbourne Fashion Week student show, and being given ‘inspirational student of the year for 2016’ certainly felt like a climb.

In my final year, one of the assignments was to write about a local designer. I discovered Vincent Li, a Chinese Australian designer with a flair for the avant garde and a talent for mixing luxury and concept. I was instantly his biggest fan.

After graduation I sent Vincent a message that I would do anything to work with him. He graciously took me on and gave me a year’s worth of amazing experience, including helping backstage at a fashion show and allowing me to tag along to China and Hong Kong for a business trip.

It was in Hong Kong that I decided I was going to start my own business. Over the next few months I began to sell my first mini collection of knitwear. I wanted to make my business about being as locally made as I could, and using as many natural fabrics and fibres as possible. I started with the idea that I would be making menswear, but I quickly realised that my style was unisex. For my second collection, ‘The River’, I kept a flowy androgynous style: my rule became, if it looks good on me, and it looks good on my sister, it was right.

Since then I’ve started selling at Rose St Artists Market, and at the amazing store ‘In.cube8r’. Because of the amazing support artists like me have from the community, I believe that Melbourne is one of the best places in the world to start a small business.

Words by Harry Millward Photography Matthias Ogger

Kate & Rose

“Where there’s tea, there is hope.”

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Suzanne Anderson began Kate and Rose in 2011. It was born out of a strong love vintage and upcycling, breathing life back into dusty old china. It began with teacup candles, with the addition of cake stands a few months later. After that came stamped vintage flatware (teaspoons, cake forks, dessert spoons). It has since evolved to include a range of polymer clay and acrylic food and kawaii inspired jewellery.

I create bespoke cake and trinket stands using upcycled cake plates and Depression glass. I pour soy candles into vintage teacups, and other vintage or vintage-style vessels. Teacups can be either refilled as a candle, or can be washed and rinsed well and used for a lovely cup of tea – yes! a gift that keeps on giving.

I also design and make foodie studs and necklaces around this theme – donut, cupcake, macaron, and croissant studs, paired with miniature teacup and coffee cup necklaces. The jewellery range has also grown to include veganism, Australiana and junk food, and has a general kawaii vibe. There’s even a cool boys’ range with avocados, burgers, pizza and donuts set as cufflinks!

The mini china and glass stands are great for displaying jewellery.

When I first did markets I would take along my own jewellery to use as display props and customers would want to buy pieces. This got me thinking: adding handmade jewellery could extend my range, and also provide a lower price point. To start with I developed a concept store around the theme of High Tea. Soon vintage trinket stands were adorned with cute polymer clay donut and cupcake

studs. Over time lots of other sweet treats and other food options have been added. This is how Kate & Rose has evolved.

My husband Duncan and two daughters support the business.

Duncan drills each and every cake plate. He also stamps most of the vintage spoons. My real joy is finding the vintage china and flatware. Who doesn’t love a good look around an op shop or a trip out to the vintage markets in Geelong?

My two daughters also help out during busy periods with either labelling and packaging products, or giving product feedback. I hand pour every candle and design and make the jewellery. The home studio is also residence to a rescue cat named Skittles and outside is Pippa the hen, and they eye each other off through the glass door.

One of my favourite quotes is, “Where there’s tea, there is hope”.

How magical is a lovely teacup candle, which can be used and then reused as an everyday teacup? A vintage teaspoon found languishing in an op shop is rescued then stamped with “love tea”, or “love mum”, making it a keepsake to be treasured.

I love that items can be reused and reloved, maybe in a different way. They are reminders of a gentler time, a time that was less hurried and stressed. Or of the chance to get together with friends, to catch up, share a story and relax. In this busy world disposable products seem to reign.

Kate & Rose celebrates a time when things were valued, reused, reloved; a time that was slower, where we valued our face-to-face relationships, and possessions were more treasured.

Words by Suzanne Anderson Photography Oro Photography, Narelle Browne & Caitlin Muscat Photography

emily’s utopia

“I turn my appreciation and love for everything handmade into creating unique pieces of wearable art.”

< 116

Based in Melbourne, EmilyAustin creates timeless quality pieces that have a bold minimalist edge. She has cultivated a loyal following especially amongst those who enjoy contemporary, unique and elegant accessories.

Over the years I’ve worked with various mediums, expressing my creativity using different platforms and channels such as interior design, painting, drawing cartooning and animation. I had a passion for handmade from a very young age when I made outfits for my dolls using all sorts of materials, such as papers, plastic bags, fabric scraps, yarn etc. I would even offer to style my friends’ dolls, and we would have a fashion runway event every now and then to show off the new trend!

Working out of a home studio in North Melbourne, I turned my appreciation and love for everything handmade into creating unique pieces of wearable art. I place much value on design, selection of materials and craftsmanship. I spend considerable time coming up with a perfect design and sketching all the details before proceeding to making, but I almost always change the design during the process!

Shaped from PolymerClay, the jewellery pieces are individually hand formed, baked, sanded, polished and assembled with precise attention to every detail. I love using PolymerClay as a material to make jewelley. Kneading it and giving it form is almost like an act of meditation, therapeutic and calming.

I recently released a new collection of monochrome jewellery, designed in minimalist and geometric shapes. Each piece in this

collection entails intricate hand-formed shapes and detailed finishes reflecting the elegance and simplicity that informs my cohesive brand identity. I have always been drawn to silhouettes.

I find that with silhouette design I can connect with myself in a very honest and transparent way and from there with other people. I really like to imagie that people who wear my designs feel a sense of strength and confidence as well as elegance and sophistication.

It is hard to find the right balance between what sells and is marketable and designing what I like and is a true reflection of me. With every new design I analyse the potential market, customers’ feedback and social media followers’ opinions before I add it into a collection.

I have run my business as a side hustle for over a year, working evenings and weekends. There aren’t any spare spaces left in my house that haven’t been turned into a part of my workspace.

Working alone as a sole trader can be isolating and challenging; however, it has been very rewarding to see how much I can accomplish by myself.

All the materials used in emily’s utopia packaging are 100% ecofriendly. A great deal of thought and consideration has gone into finding ecofriendly packaging solutions. I continue to explore better alternatives to reduce the environmental impact where possible, such as sourcing more sustainable materials and finding better solutions for shipping.

Words & Photography by Emily Austin

Rarehare Designs

“...the epitome of slow fashion and clever, sustainable design...”

< 118

Rarehare Designs embraces sustainable, smart, ethical design and manufacturing, whilst striving for (and more often than not achieving!) zero waste. Working from her studio in the picturesque Adelaide hills, Rachel Hare designs and creates jewellery and small homewares from materials originally destined for landfill.

Raised in a family where broken or old meant repair, reuse, repurpose and recycle, it was inevitable that those values and ways of living would form her ethos when Rachel considered creating and starting a small business.

Having studied a Bachelor of Design (with a major in Jewellery & Metalsmithing) in the 1990s, it was only after many years abroad and travelling that Rarehare Designs was launched. (Whilst pregnant with her first son, 10 years ago in South Africa, to be precise!)

Now established and back at home in the Adelaide hills, Rachel Hare works from her studio creating small ranges and limited collections for boutique shops throughout Australia. Her oeuvre includes handmade and contemporary jewellery such as studs, earrings, pendants, cufflinks, brooches and wrist cuffs. Larger pieces include small homewares such as repurposed trinket boxes, coffee tables, wine boxes and mirrors.

Works are made predominantly from discontinued laminate and flooring samples, both vintage and modern. Quirkier materials quite often added to a collection have included vintage finds such as hearing aids from the 1950s, dismantled bike parts, e-waste including heat sumps and disc drives, copper pipe (dug up in her

own backyard!) and dismantled piano parts. For Rachel, the quirkier and more obscure the materials, the better. She loves challenging perceptions of what ‘precious’ and ‘nonprecious’ are considered to be, especially when associating jewellery and waste in the same concept!

Paired with semi-precious finds such as sterling silver, gold and anodised aluminium, materials are worked and manipulated in such a way that quite often their original form and purpose is hard to determine. Therefore, challenging the mindset of the customer and their view on ‘waste’.

Every piece is sketched, designed and then manufactured by Rachel, using traditional jewellers’ techniques such as hand sawing, hand filling and drilling. It is then constructed by hand ensuring an item of rare quality and uniqueness – slow fashion truly at its best!

Pattern, texture, colour and the tactility and harmony of the materials are each considered when creating a collection. Silhouettes and designs are often deliberately kept simple. Rarehare Designs is strongly influenced by nature and immediate surroundings. Rachel’s two young sons are also a constant source of inspiration and highlight how life is viewed from completely different perspectives.

Rarehare Designs ranges are predominately small runs and limited editions due to the materials and processes involved. Many pieces are one of a kind, bespoke and can’t ever be replicated due to a particular material being no longer available. Discontinued laminates and flooring are sourced locally and ethically and, wherever possible, Rachel collaborates with small, local businesses. Op shops, salvage yards and the local dump are honestly the top three places to shop!

Words & Photography by Rachel Hare

Tootsie Handmade

“I love the idea that I’m rescuing the fabrics I use. They’ve mostly been forgotten and discarded and I’m giving them a new chance to be useful and appreciated.” < 120

Karen Warren is the seamstress behind Tootsie Handmade, a sustainable small business using vintage and reclaimed fabrics to design and create one-off homewares and accessories. She lives in the Adelaide seaside suburb of Semaphore and works from home in her tiny sewing studio.

Karen also uses embroidered doilies on some of her work. She believes it’s such a shame that they are rarely used for their original purpose. Karen has recently begun amassing a collection of brightly coloured vintage buckles. These are used as a feature on bag clasps, where they make a unique finishing touch. Karen loves the idea that she’s giving these forgotten and discarded pieces a new life.

You’re probably wondering where the business name comes from, right? Karen’s dad used to call her Toots or Tootsie when she was little and, with her focus on the fabrics and designs from her childhood, it makes sense.

Karen notes that a wonderful result of taking her handmade business out into the world are the lasting and truly valued connections she has made with other likeminded makers who continue to inspire and encourage her. Australia truly has an amazing community of sustainable makers.

Being a child of the 70s, Karen learned to sew when she was young.

Life in a thrifty household with parents who grew up in the 1930s and 1940s taught her the importance of reuse and repair.

Fast forward a few decades and Karen found herself once again drawn to sewing as a pastime, and then as a way to make a little extra income. After dabbling in making kid’s clothing and accessories, she saw an online post featuring an upcycled vintage tea towel.

It was a lightbulb moment...here was a way of working with fabrics that hold real nostalgia value: the bright and bold designs of the 1960s and 1970s, the funky florals and groovy paisleys! The 60s curtains of her childhood were upcycled into cushions, and vintage Onkaparinga blankets and table linens became bags. Her favourite linens by far are vintage tea towels and tablecloths featuring Australian wildflowers. The bags and cushions made with these have become some of her most popular and sought-after pieces.

For Karen, the joy in what she does is twofold: she works with fabrics that she genuinely loves, and she’s also doing her best to be a sustainable, transparent and ecofriendly business. The fact that she can make an income is a bonus. She runs a successful Etsy Shop, has traded at boutique markets at Womadelaide and The Makers and Shakers, and also has wares for sale in several bricks and mortar shops. These include Recreate in the Adelaide Hills, The Adelaide Remakery in Adelaide’s CBD, and The Reimaginarium in Geelong. All are wonderful exponents of the principle of remaking and reuse, and the people that run them are so passionate and knowledgeable about sustainability, and how remade/upcycled wares can be as good as, perhaps even better than, new.

So, what does the future hold for Tootsie? She is very much looking forward to curating her first group exhibition at The Adelaide Remakery for the 2020 South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival and is also looking forward to the opportunity to explore new ways to upcycle vintage fabrics.

Words by Karen Warren Photography Rosina Possingham

Smyle Designs

“Creativity is making marvellous out of the discarded.”

< 122

Matt and Kylie are Brisbane-based designers with a passion for colour, retro design and creative recycling.

Together they have created Smyle Designs, an ecofriendly jewellery and accessories range made exclusively from upcycled materials.

Matt and Kylie met three years ago, fell in love (aww…) and started making things together almost straight away. Both are makers at heart and happiest when involved in creative pursuits, so making things together felt natural. They’re both also avid recyclers, with a love for all things retro. Their home is a testament to this. Virtually every piece of furniture has come from an op shop or curbside collection. Vintage fabric features strongly in their décor. From handmade cushions, to wall hangings and recovered lamp shades, there is colour and retro patterns all around.

When they first started making things together they mainly used vintage fabric from their combined collection, which was rather large. But when they bought themselves a CNC router in 2018, they were suddenly able to start taking their making to a whole new level. They spent a good 12 months learning how to use the machine, cutting lots of different materials, making lots and lots of mistakes, breaking lots and lots of drill bits, getting excited, getting frustrated, getting excited again, and finally emerging with a very clever and completely original way of turning discarded CDs, DVDs and vinyl records into earrings, brooches, necklaces and mantle clocks.

Their unique production method is definitely a labour of love. Their product range incorporates their original, retro-inspired artwork, hand-poured resin, cutting, hand sanding and assembling, all from their home studio in Brisbane. They do a lot of the assembling work in their favourite outside space at home they call ‘the nook’, and deal with Australian suppliers, most of them locally, and face to face.

Visually, there is a strong retro vibe to what the couple makes, and they draw a lot of their inspiration on how to live from an earlier era also, a time when things were made with artistic flair, were made with care, and made to last, and people looked after their belongings and appreciated them, fixing them if they broke.

Smyle Designs is committed to working with existing materials and creatively recycling them. Matt and Kylie acknowledge that as a society we produce too much waste. Their dream world is one where no more new, mass-produced items are allowed to be made. Instead everyone has to work with what is here already, and learn to rethink, re-purpose and recycle.

These two creative entrepreneurs are embracing life and the culture of creative recycling and crafting by hand. In just six months they have produced a large, colourful collection of ecofriendly jewellery and accessories. Their work has been embraced at markets and they have plans to place their range into ethical retail shops across Australia.

Words & Photography Kylie McBeath

The Makers La Vergne Lehmann recyclingrevolution.com.au @GCWWRRG

Julie Fleming jfmilliner.com @julieflemingmelbourne

in.cube8r incube8r.com.au @incube8r

Merrin Glasgow classiccouture.com.au @classiccouturevintagebridal

Amanda Du Plessis evolutionproduct.c0.za @evolution_product

My Vintage Obsession myvintageobsession.com.au @myvintageobsession

Jen Eales jenealesdesigns.com.au etsy.com/shop/jenealesdesigns @jeneales.maker

Isabel Avendano Hazbun isabel-avendano-hazbun.com @Isabel_avendano_hazbun

Julie Stephens juliestephens.com.au @juliestephensdesigns

David Lester luminouscreatures.com.au

Carys Martin Ceramics carysmartinceramics.com @carysmartinceramics

Harry Millward harrymillward.com @harrymillwarddesign

Mark Walker & Erika Syrjanen antipodeantynker.com markwalkermotorcycles.com

POD podtastic.weebly.com @pod_design_ @grannysquarelady

Kate & Rose katenrose.com @katenrosetea

Louiseann King louiseannking.com.au @louiseannking

Bethany Alice bethanyalice.com.au @bethanyalice_fashiondesign

emilyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s utopia etsy.com/au/shop/emilysutopia @emilysutopia

Kristian King kristianking.com @kristiankingfurniture

Kate Judson etsy.com/au/shop/RedeemingFeaturesAU @redeeming_features_redesign

Rarehare Designs rareharedesigns.com.au @Rarehare_designs

Barry Gardner gardnerknives.com @Gardnercustomknives

Gypsy Weaver @gypsyweaverstudio

Tootsie Handmade etsy.com/au/shop/tootsiehandmade @tootsiehandmade

Sue Garrard suegarrard.wixsite.com/artist @sue_garrard

Eva Michelle Redux etsy.com/shop/EvaMichelleRedux @evamichelleredux

Smyle Designs etsy.com/au/shop/smyledesigns @smyle.designs

Simone Linder-Patton @simonelp_ceramics

Wonderpants wonderpants.com.au @wonderpants.au

Photographers Warren Heath bureaux.co.za Elk Avenue Creative elkavenuecreative.com Tony Webdale anthonywebdale.com Lakshal Perera lakshalperera.com Danny Wootton dannywootton.com.au Ed Halmagyi fast-ed.com.au Craig Arnold shecreative.com.au Sonia Moyle sonyamoyle.com Andre Castellucci andrecastellucci.com Michael Haines kkilleyphoto.com.au Vanessa Heath vanessaheathblog.wordpress.com < 126

Brendan Scott French jamfactory.com.au/barossa Made in the Dark Studio Debi Brett debibrettphotography.com Freya Maberly @mafreyama Jenna Pickering smokeyoscar.com Jayne Newgreen @JayneNewgreenPhotographer Bronte Pleasance @bronte.please Keiran Watson-Bonnice Michael Laurie Photography @MichaelLauriePhotography Matthias Ogger matthiasogger.com Oro Phtotography Narelle Browne Caitlin Muscat Photography @caitlinmuscat_photographer Rosina Possingham rosinapossingham.com

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some skip all that and talk to us.

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So, you can be confident weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re protecting your reputation too!

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The Makers showcases our brightest and most creative individuals â&#x20AC;&#x201C; those who have pushed the boundaries of their craft, producing unique pieces of great fascination and complexity. Be inspired by their ability to see potential where most see only waste â&#x20AC;&#x201C; bringing life to the discarded, the forgotten, the everyday and assembling the detritus of our over-burdened world into objects of astonishing beauty. And be motivated as they invoke almost-forgotten skills, hone age-old techniques and create heirlooms for future generations.

All are committed to treading lightly on our earth and encourage us to Rethink, Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.

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