Meet the Makers at Shelley Panton Studio
CWC Full Member Shelley Panton has a stack of fantastic guests planned for her Meet the Maker guest speaker evenings this year.
Shelley started the series in 2012. As a small studio-based maker and retailer of many other local artisans she was often asked the story behind her work and the many other makers she stocks. This prompted Shelley to host a regular event after-hours at her shop, featuring various special guest speakers and serving local wine and food. If you are interested in a creative or small business career change, or simply enjoy engaging with creative folk, it's a great night out.
Coming up on Wednesday 20 March is artist Rowena Martinich.
You'd likely know of Rowena's work - she uses a combination of commercial fluorescent paint and transparent film which is then inserted into buildings or sites notable for their generous use of glass. She is now also delving into homewares products.
Join Shelley for an intimate and artful Q & A evening with Rowena to hear her more about her art practice. Tickets are available here, and as a bonus you'll not only enjoy the surrounds of Shelley's gorgeous shop at night, but sample some of her divine cooking and fine taste in vino! :)
Shelley has generously offered a free ticket (valued at $28) to any Meet the Maker event this year to the first two people who sign up for CWC Full Membership before Wednesday 20 March 2013. Sign up here and we will be in contact about the prize if you are one of the lucky two!
And if you can't make it along in March, future Meet the Maker guests include Sarah Murphy, Sarah and Chris Appleford, and Toni Lawler. Mark your diaries!
Scenes From Sydney: Trade Fair Season Hits Sydney
By Jaclyn Carlson The month of February is a fast & furious one for designers, retailers and creatives about to enter into the wholesale market. Prepare for long days and sleepless nights as suppliers make sure stock and samples are in order and buyers plan out a budget and purchasing decisions. That's right, it's trade fair season and at this time every year the retail industry descends on Sydney to discover the latest and greatest in the Australian market.
If you're a creative thinking about wholesaling, then this post I wrote last year will help shed some light on an often overwhelming situation. If you are already familar with the world of trade shows then you'll understand the long days and sensory overload that comes with visiting the three big retail events that took place this past week: Life Instyle, Reed Gift Fairs and Home & Giving.
Each one has it's own unique selling point but all provide an incredible behind the scenes look at the talent that is right here in Australia. In a time when many people are looking overseas to make purchases or feel that design talent is lacking, this is there perfect opportunity to see, touch and feel products that are raising the bar and putting Australia on the retail map.
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column.
Tools of the Trade: Belinda Evans & Alchemy
By Brianna Read The interview for this first chapter in the second volume of Tools of the Trade raised two particularly pertinent topics for the wonderful platform for discussion that is the Creative Women’s Circle: social media and collaboration. I shall return to these topics shortly, but let me introduce the subject who brought these to the fore… Belinda Evans is the creator of Alchemy, a beautiful label and online store which I admired long before I crossed paths with Belinda herself.
My reason for this admiration was that this tiny little nook, in the vast ocean of online stores, managed to cultivate an extraordinary air of calm. As anyone who has lost their way while navigating the information superhighway will understand, calm is not something you happen upon very often. I mention this particular quality because Belinda’s extraordinary talent lies not only in her hands which craft each beautiful, thoughtful product you find in the Alchemy store, but also in her ability to create quiet space and genuine connection in the arena of online shopping and social media.
How, I wondered, has this woman stayed so true to the ethos of her slow, calm, creative practice while building a tiny empire and devoted following in the chaos of online?
Belinda spent her childhood surrounded by a wonderful array of tools: lathes and pottery wheels were both things she was encouraged to try and with a glass blowing studio and furniture making workshop at her fingertips it would seem a natural progression for such a childhood to lead on to a practice such as that displayed at Alchemy. But not without an invaluable step in a different direction…
Belinda also works in the field of project and event management and it is her experiences using social media in this environment which she credits with developing the skills that have proven invaluable in the development and management of the online presence of Alchemy. Take a quick look at the Alchemy blog or her Instagram posts and her genuine enjoyment of this media is wonderfully apparent. Her beautiful blog for Alchemy has a quiet sister in the blog titled Simple Things which Belinda dedicates to displaying images of a wide spectrum of design works which catch her eye and entertain her mind. Belinda says of her sharing ‘I’m not shy about sharing my techniques, how I source my materials, and the beautiful work of other artisans that I love to surround myself with.’.
This leads me to the second topic of collaboration. I recently read an article posted on Li Edelkoort’s Trend Tablet authored by Peter Stitger and to borrow his words ‘We are leaving an individual era behind us.’ This article continued on with a brief treatise on the merits of collaboration and fostering creative environments which work on the premise of camaraderie with the sharing of tools, knowledge and creativity at the center.
Belinda has exactly this approach to her practice, take one look at the beautiful photos of Belinda using indigo dyes for some of her new projects below. Taken by Olga Bennett, these photographs showcase the talents of photographer and subject in equal measure, a perfect example of the beauty of collaboration. This appreciation for the talents of others is one of the defining characteristics which make Belinda’s online voice so pleasant to listen to. In a time which seemed to favour the loudest and most shamelessly self-promoting voices, stumbling across Alchemy and then crossing paths with the quiet collaborator herself was equal parts breath of fresh air and renewal of faith in social media platforms. Belinda, thank you!
Belinda's blogs can be found here and here. Her lovely escape from the world store is here and to find her on Instagram she is known as: @iamalchemy...
Brianna Read is a designer and maker based in Melbourne. Her knitwear label Jack of Diamonds employs traditional hand-made techniques in combination with machine knit technologies. Her multi-faceted creative practice encompasses design, production, works for exhibition and machine knitting workshops.
Women In Art: An introduction
By Liz Banks-Anderson Hi everyone,
Welcome to the first Women In Art column 2013! I’m excited to be writing it this year and will do my best to bring you some art-related gems.
When I think about what ‘art’ is, I’m interested in the possibilities of a broad interpretation of the term. Personally, I think art is anything that has a strong aesthetic value that inspires people to think about the world differently and appreciate beauty, be it visual art like painting, illustration, photography or more abstractly, fashion, the written word and performance.
Art invites you to approach it directly and just be involved.
I hope this column can be a way of discovering new artists and getting to know more about the exciting art being created in Melbourne and share it with the Creative Womens Circle community.
If you would like to contribute to this conversation leave a comment or tweet me.
I’d love to hear what art means to you, what you’re interested in and what you would like to get out of this column.
Until next time…
Some women in art who inspire me:
- Kirra Jamison
- Mirka Moira
- Jenny Kee
- Kit Willow
- Clare Bowditch
- Kat Macleod
- Emma Hack
Some great art and design related resources in the Digital Space!
- The Design Files
- Craft Victoria
- National Gallery of Victoria
- Centre for Contemporary Photography
- Lamington Drive
- Sophie Gannon Gallery
A brief list of what’s happening in Melbourne next few weeks, art wise………
- Your intellectual property and how to protect it
- Green up your craft
- NGV floor talk: Women in Australian Art & Design
What exhibitions are you visiting this month? Share your thoughts!
Liz is a communications professional and freelance writer from Melbourne. She likes taking photographs, exploring the design world and has developed a great interest in all things art. Passionate about documenting and sharing the unique projects, people and possibilities in the creative community, Liz is excited by what lies ahead. Her own blog will be launched soon...in the meantime, she's happy being a twit.
Bricks and Mortar: Lily and the Weasel
By Catherine Harvey Lily and the Weasel owner, Sue Bailey, clearly has an eye for design. Located on Swan Street in Richmond, her store is filled with beautifully crafted pieces from Australian and International designers. For 10 years, Sue worked as a theatre producer for the Arts Centre - a job she loved but still always dreamt of opening her own store. In September 2010, this is exactly what she did and Lily and the Weasel became a reality.
Taking some inspiration from Holland (Sue’s mother is from here), there is a clear appreciation for talented, passionate and enthusiastic designers at Lily and the Weasel. Sue is amazed by the people who can do this and admits, “I wouldn’t have a clue about how to design but I am good at pulling things together.”
The dedication, time and effort that Sue puts into this store is clearly evident. The store is immaculately presented and every item seems to be deliberately chosen and positioned to create a unique, homely and inviting experience. Filled with an eclectic range of homewares, children’s products and accessories, including Angus & Celeste, Nancybird and Emily Green to name only a few, this store really is the place to find the perfect (and affordable!) gift.
Through her own admission, Sue is not technologically savvy. So, if you’re looking for an online store, a blog that is frequently updated or a Facebook page, you won’t find that here. Lily and the Weasel relies on old-fashioned word of mouth to advertise and perhaps this is a fundamental distinction between Sue's store and others. With the help of her husband Andrew, an experienced commercial photographer, they create their own window displays and it is this rawness and care that makes the store unique.
Oh, and if you are wondering where the name came from, you’ll have to drop in and ask Sue yourself!
Lily and the Weasel, 173 Swan Street Richmond 3121. P 9421 1008. lilyandtheweasel.com.au
Catherine Harvey lives and breathes design. Working at one of Melbourne's top studio's, she is rarely ever away from her computer. She loves to keep up to date with the design industry in a global and local context and follows too many blogs to count! You can follow her findings here.
The Little Black Dress Project by Cheryl Lin
CWC-Member Cheryl Lin (who you may know from her Melbourne streetstyle blog Business Chic) is currently holding a Pozible campaign to raise funds for her very first book!
Throughout 2012, Cheryl challenged herself to wear an 'LBD' to work once a week for the whole year, styled differently each time. She employed accessories (many made by local designers), some DIY additions (instructions of which are included in the book!), and of course dressed according to seasons and sometimes even local cultural events.
The LBD Project Book goes to prove that even in a corporate office environment there are always ways to express yourself creatively, and on a larger scale, one need not have 260 seperate outfits to wear to work in a year: less if always more!
Illustrations by Angie Rehe
Examples of some of the outfit creations in The Little Black Dress Project by Cheryl Lin. Photography by Meagan Harding and creative design by Jim Petroutsos of C*Juice Studio.
Cheryl has had the book designed & photographed in Australia (it features contributions by by Meagan Harding and fashion illustration by Angie Rehe), and hopes to publish it locally as well.
She hopes that the Pozible campaign will reach its target to raise $5,000 in two weeks to help fund the cost of printing locally. Supporters will be able to elect to receive their physical book by mail or pick up from the LBD Project exhibition that will be held at Melbourne Central in March 2013 as part of the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival.
Go here to learn more about the book and support Cheryl's project!
Our next event is sold out!
Our upcoming event with IP lawyer Sharon Givoni is now SOLD OUT! Join the event waiting list by adding a comment to this post. You will be contacted by the email address you provide in the days leading up to the event if spaces become available.
Thanks to all who bought tickets - we look forward to seeing you there!