The year that was: Bricks and Mortar by Diane Leyman

{Throughout January, we're looking back at all the posts our awesome columnists wrote for us in 2012, before our team of some new and some returning contributors start blogging in February.} Our Bricks & Mortar columnist Diane Leyman visited a lot of great places around Melbourne this year - shops, studios, schools and more. Some of them you can visit yourself, others you can only visit through these words and pictures. As she is moving onto bigger things this year (including bringing more awesome design finds to her excellent blog), I'd like to thank Diane for knocking on these doors in 2012 and giving us an insight into what lies beyond! tess x

Sedonia

Hello, and welcome to the first Bricks & Mortar post for the CWC blog, where each month I will be taking you on a tour of an actual bricks and mortar establishment run by a creative lady. First up is Sedonia, a gorgeous design shop located in Seddon in Melbourne’s inner-west run by Nicola and Inge, best friends who met when they were both art students. Read more...

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Crafternoon

I love good coffee, but let’s be honest – the Melbourne coffee and cafe scene can sometimes take itself a little too seriously. Thankfully though, new Melbourne cafeCrafternoon is here to change all that. Read more...

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Kids in Berlin

Kids in Berlin is a cute little independent shop tucked away at the top end of Victoria Street in North Melbourne. It’s run by owner Zanin – a super creative, vibrant and lovely lady with a background in marketing, arts, film and entertainment. Read more...

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Ivy & Lil Studio Tour

This month’s bricks and mortar column brings us to the leafy south-east Melbourne studio of printmaker Jenny Pemberton-Webb. Jenny runs her Ivy & Lil homewares label part-time from her gorgeous little 1940s-era light-filled studio, which sits unassumingly at the bottom of the garden behind her house. Read more...

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Onabee

Onabee is a cute little craft and supplies shop located on leafy Bellair Street in Kensington. Owner Fiona Burnes comes from a nursing background, but decided to pursue a different career after becoming a single mum. Read more...

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Studio Teepee

Studio Teepee is Melbourne-based graphic designer, illustrator and writer Emma Harrold. By day Emma works full-time as a senior designer, and she runs Studio Teepee on a freelance basis from home. Read more...

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Little Shop

Little Shop is a lovely indie emporium owned and run by self-taught creative and crafter Bec Albinson. After years working as a product designer and experiencing great success selling her own line of jewellery at markets around Melbourne, Bec developed a pretty good head for business and decided to open up a shop close to her home in Carnegie, not only as an outlet for her own work, but also as a way to promote other local independent designers. Read more...

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Northcote HQ

Northcote HQ is a brand new co-working studio space located in Melbourne’s inner-north. Run by the team behind communication design collective Common Ground, the studio came about when designer Jessie Brooks-Dowsett (of Common Ground) wanted to develop a creative and supportive environment that promoted collaboration and innovation. Read more...

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Old School – The New School for Graphic Design & Typography

Old School – The New School for Graphic Design and Typography is exactly what its name suggests: a back-to-basics, community-centered school for graphic designers and other creative types who want to learn outside of the traditional university or college setting. Read more...

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Merry Cupcakes

Merry Cupcakes is a brand new (and very cute) addition to Fitzroy’s busy Brunswick Street. It was launched by owner and baker-extraordinaire Mary Lin at the start of October, and is quickly becoming a popular spot to pick up a sweet treat (or two). Read more...

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Colour Box Studio

Colour Box Studio is a new multifunctional art space located in Footscray. Studio director Amie Batalibasi launched the space earlier this month with the aim of showcasing Melbourne’s creative community and to represent a diverse range of artforms. Read more...

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North St Flowers

North St Flowers is the business of florist Emily Bradbury and her partner Craig. Emily has been a florist for eight and half years, and after spending around two and half years freelancing from home under the North St label, she recently took the plunge and moved into premises on Thornbury’s High Street. Read more...

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Women in the World: A Study Tour to Nepal!

By Joanna Francis For our final Women in the World post for the year, we’re going on a little journey. A journey from an old factory in the Melbourne suburb of Kensington to the cities and remote villages of Nepal. Our travelling companion is Lara Cameron, a name that many of you will no doubt be familiar with. Lara is the co-founder of Ink & Spindle, the wonderful Melbourne boutique textile studio. Ink & Spindle produce beautiful screen printed textiles which are designed and printed by hand in an ethical and sustainable manner.

In a matter of weeks, Lara will be boarding a plane and heading to Neap to take part in a study tour run by Stephanie Woollard, founder of Seven Women, a not for profit organization that employs disadvantaged women to make handcrafted items that are sold in Australia. I asked both Lara and Stephanie about the trip and the organization and here’s a little of what they had to say:

"I first met Stephanie at a different fundraising event where I heard her speak about the upcoming trip. My first thought was that it was something  that I definitely "should" do, but I was too intimidated by the prospect to apply - I knew it would involve stepping right out of my comfort zone!", says Lara.

"But, after thinking about it for a while, considering how great an opportunity it would be, I put forward my application and was accepted to join the group.

"At the very end of 2012 Steph is taking our group of 15 participants on a study tour of fair trade enterprises. We will be meeting some amazing people who are making a difference over there and also the people whose lives have been so positively changed by what Steph has created. Steph has established her own centre - the Seven Women Skills Training Centre where we'll be helping out for a few days with individual roles.

"I'm simultaneously excited and terrified about this trip. Having never been to a developing country before, this is going to be such an incredible, eye opening and challenging experience. Since sustainable and ethical practices are the foundation of everything that we do at Ink & Spindle, I'm really interested to see how what we see and learn over there can be applied to my own business. I am also excited about the fact that there are opportunities for me professionally as a designer to help Steph with what she is doing.

"Whilst in Nepal I'll be taking on a small product development role, assisting Steph in expanding her range with some products that I feel confident will be well received here in Australia. I've worked for many years in the local design/interiors/handmade industry and I feel that I have a good grasp on what products would be viable to produce and would sell successfully here. If all goes well these products will hopefully become a part of the core range and be produced on an ongoing basis, which will provide ongoing employment for the women involved in Seven Women. I'd also be open to assisting in the design process in future if my ideas prove to be helpful!"

After travelling to Nepal in 2005, Stephanie Woollard returned to Australia and felt compelled to help some of the most marginalised and disadvantaged women living in the capital, Kathmandu.

"I feel a moral responsibility to work with those less fortunate creating opportunities enabling them to improve theirs", Stephanie says. "When I met these women they had nothing. There was an opportunity for capacity building and empowerment. I envisaged these women enabling themselves to raise their standard of living by having someone to help them sell their handicrafts here in Australia. I paid for the initial training and worked on design with the women. When I came back to Australia we established a group at my university, La Trobe, to sell these products and raise awareness about Fair Trade. The group grew from three volunteers to over 15 passionate, committed students whose actions have a direct impact on the lives of the women in Nepal.

"The team of volunteers that has been created in Australia has done many markets around Victoria and the goods are now also stocked in several retailers and online. 100 per cent of the profits have gone back to the women in Nepal. This has enabled the tin shed to be knocked down and allowed a space for a women’s skills training centre to be built. It has grown from seven women to now, just over 120. The initial seven women now employ others without disabilities. This has challenged the stigma in society. Their hope is to be able to benefit the lives of other women who experience the same hardships they have endured.

"Women in Nepal have generally been subordinate to men in virtually every aspect of life. Nepal was a rigidly patriarchal society. Women's relative status, however, varied from one ethnic group to another. The senior female member played a commanding role within the family by controlling resources, making crucial planting and harvesting decisions, and determining the expenses and budget allocations. Yet women's lives remained centered on their traditional roles taking care of most household chores, fetching water and animal fodder, and doing farm work. Their standing in society was mostly contingent on their husbands' and parents' social and economic positions. They had limited access to markets, productive services, education, health care, and local government. Malnutrition and poverty hit women hardest.

"Female children usually were given less food than male children, especially when the family experienced food shortages. Women usually worked harder and longer than men. By contrast, women from high-class families had maids to take care of most household chores and other menial work and thus worked far less than men or women in lower socioeconomic groups. The economic contribution of women was substantial, but largely unnoticed because their traditional role was taken for granted. When employed, their wages normally were 25 percent less than those paid to men. In most rural areas, their employment outside the household generally was limited to planting, weeding, and harvesting. In urban areas, they were employed in domestic and traditional jobs, as well as in the government sector, mostly in low-level positions."

The work that Seven Women is doing is helping to slowly change this situation, by giving marginalized women opportunities that they didn’t previously have. Over 450 women have now been trained and are becoming self sufficient.

If you are interested in helping, you can visit the online store and buy some of the products made by the women. Alternatively, you can organize a fundraising event and book Stephanie to speak. If like Lara, you’d like to get a little closer, you can also join Steph on a study tour.

We’ll be catching up again with Lara in 2013 to hear about the trip and her ongoing involvement. Until then, wishing you all a lovely and uplifting New Year…

Joanna Francis spends most of her time hanging out with her 23 month old son. But she also works for a children’s foundation and has recently started her own little business making baby quilts. In the past, Joanna has worked as an aid worker in several developing countries, and is passionate about the rights of women and children. You can visit her and her blog at www.miettehandmade.com

Season's greetings!

It's been another wonderful year for the CWC. Amongst other things, we:

• sold out of our book (then released the digital versions!)
• invited you to get more from the community by becoming a Full Member
• enriched the website with The Circle Database, a bevvy of wonderful blog posts from our fabulous contributors
• added many event Podcasts and interviews
• and of course held half-a-dozen events (including one in Sydney!).

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading, listening, joining, attending and supporting the CWC in 2012, and look forward to bringing you more inspiring women's stories in the year to come.

tess

Women in Art: Dealing with the past

By Lauren Treiser For my grand finale post on Women in Art I decided to visit the spectacular Heide Museum of Modern Art. Currently there are two exhibitions featuring the work of Louise Bourgeois (1911 – 2010). The first, Louise Bourgeois: Late Works is direct from the late artist’s studio in New York. The second exhibition, Louise Bourgeois and Australian Artists presents a selection of works by contemporary Australian artists who have been inspired by Bourgeois alongside her prints and drawings. This is the first exhibition in Australia since 1995 when the NGV had a major exhibition of Bourgeois’ works.

Left: Louise Bourgeois, 2009, Photograph: Alex Van Gelder Right: Cinq 2007 fabric, stainless steel (61 × 35.6 × 35.6 cm) Courtesy Cheim & Read and Hauser & Wirth Photograph: Christopher Burke © Louise Bourgeois Trust / Licensed by VAGA, New York / Viscopy, Sydney

Louise Bourgeois: Late Works, in the main gallery, focuses on the final fifteen years of Louise Bourgeois’ career. Prior to my visit I was unaware of Bourgeois’ work but she was an incredibly prolific artist and I feel lucky to now know a little bit about her. She was creating art right to the end of her life and even some of the large scale sculptures were created, with assistance, when she was in her nineties. The show examines the use of fabric in her works, and includes sculptures, suites of fabric drawings, watercolours, embroidered texts and lithographs.

The stories that provided life-long fuel for Bourgeois’ art are well known: her parents’ tapestry workshop in which she learnt how a needle could be a tool with reparative qualities; her father’s public infidelity; her mother’s early death; her constant analysis of self; her belief in art as a potential reconciliation with the past. This all equates to her work being quite dark and disturbing but nevertheless interesting.

One of her written pieces in the show states, ‘Art is a guaranty of sanity.’ Art became her whole life; it helped her deal with her anxiety, betrayal, frustration and disgust for her father. She created art to express emotion. Most pieces in this exhibition use her families old clothes and parts of fabric from her parent’s tapestry workshop. Whilst they hold a lot of meaning for the artist, often the meaning is ambiguous to the viewer.

Spider 1997 steel, tapestry, wood, glass, fabric, rubber, silver, gold, bone (449.6 × 665.5 × 518.2 cm) The Easton Foundation, New York, NY Photograph: John Gollings  2012 © Louise Bourgeois Trust / Licensed by VAGA, New York / Viscopy, Sydney

Central to the exhibition is Spider, 1997 one of the Bourgeois’ Cells sculptures which is dominated, enclosed and protected by a ginormous spider – a recurring and powerful motif in the artist’s work. Bourgeois created her spider sculptures in tribute to her mother, saying: 'Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. Spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother'.

Couple IV 1997 fabric, leather, stainless steel, plastic (50.8 × 165.1 × 77.5 cm) Courtesy Cheim & Read and Hauser & Wirth Photograph: Christopher Burke © Louise Bourgeois Trust / Licensed by VAGA, New York / Viscopy, Sydney

Another highlight of the exhibition is the haunting Couple IV 1997, depicting a pair of copulating, and decapitated lovers. The embracing figures are portrayed in black, and appear as an encased specimen in the vitrine. Looking in, one gets a sense of Bourgeois’ feelings of being a voyeur whilst growing up.

Femme Maison (2001) Picture: Christopher Burke

Bourgeois started drawing pictures of half women and half houses in the 1940’s. ‘Femme Maison’ dealt with issues of domesticity and the roles of women. This piece can be read in numerous ways, it could indicating that a house could take over a woman’s life, but also the house couldn't exist without the woman. She kept revisiting this idea of a woman and a house combined in her work. Her other sculptures in the show are far more sinister.

Untitled 2002 Fabric, steel and wood (35.6 x 38.1 x 15.2 cm) Courtesy Cheim & Read and Hauser & Wirth Photograph: Christopher Burke, © Louise Bourgeois Trust/ Licensed by VAGA, New York / Viscopy, Sydney

Inspired by surrealism Bourgeois’ small scale sculptures combines dismembered torsos made from material and kitchen utensils. On the one hand the shapes are soft and tender and on the other hand they are quite ominous.

Knife Figure 2002 fabric, steel, wood (22.2 × 76.2 × 19.1 cm) Courtesy Cheim & Read and Hauser & Wirth Photograph: Christopher Burke © Louise Bourgeois Trust / Licensed by VAGA, New York / Viscopy, Sydney

The pieces in the show deal with the artist’s raw emotion and are imbued with heaviness but nevertheless are incredible. What an amazing and prolific artist she was! There is still plenty of time to see this exhibition and with Café Vue on the grounds, there is no excuse to miss it!

Louise Bourgeois: Late Works 24 November – 11 March 2013 Heide Museum of Modern Art 7 Templestowe Road, Bulleen Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 5pm Closed Mondays

Lauren is graphic designer and founder of patchyrugs.com.au. She loves all things design (see her blog at blog.ilovelollies.net) and is particularly passionate about fine art, interior design and jewellery. Lauren is currently studying Gold & Silversmithing and doing graphic design on a freelance basis.

Bricks & Mortar: North St Flowers

By Diane Leyman

North St Flowers is the business of florist Emily Bradbury and her partner Craig. Emily has been a florist for eight and half years, and after spending around two and half years freelancing from home under the North St label, she recently took the plunge and moved into premises on Thornbury’s High Street.

Emily has always had a passion for flowers, but it wasn’t until she'd been working in hospitality for a while that she decided it was time to do something new. Craig came home one day with a bunch of course brochures and floristry seemed the obvious choice, and the rest is pretty much history.

Emily’s enthusiasm, passion and talent for what she does is so evident when you meet her, and it’s also something that has also been recognised – North St was awarded gold at the 2012 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. They were called in last minute and had only five weeks to prepare (most entrants have a year), so it was an intense few weeks that involved building an apothecary garden and living wall, but Emily says it was totally worth the hard work and effort.

According to Emily there’s no ‘normal’ day for a florist – any one day can involve getting up at 4.30am to hit the markets, to creating arrangements for weddings, events and cafes, to dealing with the business and admin side of things, and she’s now also thrown a shop into the mix. I visited on the fifth day since the temporary shop opened, and although it was quickly pulled together it was already a fantastic space full of beautiful and seasonal blooms and terrariums. There are plans to renovate over the holidays and reopen officially at the end of January with an additional gift and nursery section out the back, and I have no doubt it will be amazing, so watch this space! For more information, visit the North St Flowers website and Facebook page, or pop by in person at 776 High Street, Thornbury.

Diane Leyman is a freelance editor, proofreader and project manager with more than six years of experience working in non-fiction illustrated trade book publishing. She has a passion for all things design, and writes a design blog called Notes to a Further Excuse. She also likes taking photographs, crafting, drinking coffee and obsessing over mid-century homewares.

Organise Me: Wrap Up

By Andrea McArthur

Coming full circle from where we started this year with Organise Me. In February I began by writing about the humble To Do List. Now in December after much research on the subject of organisation I have realised how pivotal a good To Do List is for your productivity. Writing yourself a To Do List is my number one piece of organisational advice.

Organise Me has followed alongside the mishaps of setting up a freelance business this year as I delved into the freelance world. I have hopefully shared some knowledge with posts such as Backing Up: Don't invite trouble in, It's Tax Time and  Email Inbox-ification to help other creative freelancers with their businesses.

Before I wrote Organise Me, I thought that people were either inherently organised or disorganised and that being disorganised was a trait hard to change. Being organised takes time but if you have the correct advice and put into practice those skills such as list writing you can conquer the disorganisation. I have only scratched the surface of the many techniques that professional organisers use to help clients. Previous posts about professional organiser Angela from Creating Order from Chaos and David Allen Become a Productivity Ninja share some of their professional organisation techniques.

I am leaving you with some wise words in which to wrap up Organise Me for the year. Designer and Art Director James Victore has his own You Tube channel where he imparts advice. One series that he films is Q+A Tuesdays, recently he posted an apt Q+A video On time management and organisation. James Victore shares my love of To Do Lists, he says "A good day starts the day before" by making a list for today (tomorrow), a list for the month and a list for the years goals. Other ways James Victore says to use time wisely is to stay focussed and ignore distractions as well as give up the control freak title and learn to delegate. Watch James Victore's Q+A Tuesday video here.

Hitting this busy time of year both in your personal and working life, remember to take care of yourself and don't 'burn out'. In order to stay organised and focussed through this time, make sure you get enough sleep, that you eat well and also exercise. Remember things will happen and somehow it all gets done!

 Andrea McArthur has a passion for all things visual and a soft spot for organisation. Type is her true love and goes weak at the knees over beautiful design. Andrea works as a freelance graphic designer in Brisbane by day and lectures in graphic design by night. You will find her sharing design related goodness via @andyjane_mc  www.andyjane.com

CWC Member Feature: Monique Plunkett

By Roslyn Russell Today I welcome Monique Plunkett from Elkhorn. Monique is a graphic designer who creates high quality screen printed homewares and accessories. Monqiue began Elkhorn while living on the Central Coast of NSW and the natural beauty of that environment has been a strong influence in Monique's work.

What do you create? I create a range of hand screen printed designs printed on durable eco-friendly fabrics. They range from things for the home, cushions,table runners, tea towels and a small collection of soft floaty scarves.

Have you done training in your creative field or has it come about informally? I have been screen printing since I was young. Mana, my Nan, bought my sister and I our first Silk Screen sets. When I finished school, I spent my first year studying Visual Arts and then went on to study Graphic Design. I guess you could say I have a mix of formal training and have since experimented with different creative areas in my own time.

What are your main creative inspirations? Natural coastal surrounds definitely are a huge inspiration to me. It can come from something as simple as the change in light as the sun goes down over the water, to the variations of colour and texture in a feather or a collection of finds from the beach. I have some wonderfully supportive and close friends that inspire me on all sorts of levels, not just creative. It’s having these people in your life that keeps you going, which is inspiring in itself.

How do you balance your creative projects with the administration aspect of creative work? This is something I have struggled with from time to time. It can be really hard to find a balance as production time can be quite intensive. I have found if I dedicate the first hour of the morning to admin and get it out of the way it leaves me free to get into the creative projects which of course it what I love best!

What do you do when you experience a creative block? Get outside! I either head down to the local cafe or go for a walk or run, which always seems to clear my head. I have a stack of favourite magazines and blogs which are always good to flip through, they seem to help get the creative flow happening again. I also have a couple of great friends of whom I really value their creative opinion. I often shoot them a email or meet them for a coffee and show them where I am at. Sometimes it's just great to talk through your designs with someone else.

What future goals do you have for your creative pursuits? The question of the year! This has actually been on my mind a lot lately, having recently relocated to Melbourne. The short term goal is to find a shared studio space, so I can continue working on Elkhorn and perhaps pick up a few other design jobs. In the future I would love to work with like-minded designers whether it's a collaboration or assisting with another label that I admire!

Thanks so much for sharing your creativity with us today Monique! For more information about Monique and Elkhorn, you can find her on her blog, Facebook and her Etsy store.

Roslyn Russell is a sewist, blogger and teacher. Her blog, Sew Delicious, is where she showcases her latest projects, designs and sewing tutorials.  Roslyn also enjoys cake baking and decorating, exploring Melbourne cafes and restaurants, and hunting through op-shops for vintage sewing and kitchen treasures.