Maker In Residence

 I've been blogging and vlogging for about a month now and my cousin Libby has followed along. Hi Libby! Libby is my dad's cousin (so my first cousin once removed - I had to google that). When she saw I'd been crocheting, she told me about my Great Gran (her grandmother) doing the fine lace too. And she offered to share some of the precious things Great Gran left behind. The package arrived a few days ago and I was so excited. Inside, carefully wrapped, along with a bundle of photographs, were these items; Libby made me the cute mug mat herself. She has inherited the creative gene too. Here it is with my first tea of the day. Cheers Libby! Inside the pencil case I was delighted to find 4 antique crochet hooks. Three of the hooks have caps to protect their tiny ends. And tow of them have etched designs. Even the shaped end of the hooks is exquisite. I was also thrilled to discover that the hooks have a bit of a point to the top curve of the hook. I was just saying to Mike, m...

 The lock down in NSW has been terrific for me to upskill ...not sure I like that word for creative work, but it does describe what is happening. Can you think of a better term? Anyway, I've been learning a lot. Yesterday I followed a video on how to make Bruges lace and I've started a piece. This is a very basic piece really, and this is the level I'm aiming for ... (Sorry i don't know who the maker is, of this lovely lace. It's a picture from Pinterest) As you can see, I've got a bit of practicing to do. But I'm very lucky in that I pick creative skills up really fast. I wouldn't be producing lace like this for a table, more for wearing, like this...    Though I wouldn't crochet the entire outfit as is done here. I'm also learning a lot about running a creative business. I went to a webinar last night on Creative Marketing Strategies for Creatives. I learned a lot, though I never really intend to creative work to be my sole income. It will need...

 WARNING! This will be a long one. As part of the Maker in Residence program, I've been encouraged to find my voice, my style, my artistic identity. In the first few weeks, this caused a serious doubt to well up inside me. I work across so many mediums that, at first I couldn't see it. My mentor encouraged me to journal and to experiment to find it. Then this morning, while in the shower it hit me (I often get epiphanies in the shower). I've already done all that!!!!! Ever since my teen years I've scrapbooked, journalled, flipped from one medium to another, followed and sought many influences. For one little moment there, I just forgot. So here is an affirmation. (for those who don't know me quite as well as others, these images are all my own work done over the past 30 or so years. And I apologise to those who have seen these images before, though I think this is the first time I have collected them in a statement like this.) My voice is evident in the sparkly mate...

 My mentor, Liz, at The Hawkesbury Remakery has encouraged me to find materials that speak to me when I'm making my pieces for exhibition. Thinking about it lead to a bit of a materials study. Below, you can see three different materials (3 sizes of crochet yarn with their 3 different size hooks). Not only do you get seriously different results on the size front, I chose three different types of yarn to test.  The one on the left is a 60 weight lace thread (crocheted over a 4 strand cord) with a 0.6mm hook. It's super fine, (though I might add, not the finest you can do - stay tuned for the 100 weight and the 0.35mm hook (I'm waiting for that to arrive from Japan). This is a thread designed for making fine laces and is not for the faint hearted. This was only my second time using it and I still felt like I was all fingers and thumbs, but I managed a nice little sample. I can't wait to do dome more gorgeous fine laces with this. The one in the middle is a perle from DMC ...