Month: June 2015

Art Collage

Art Link Love

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A bit of art love to inspire your day! Images from left to right: I don’t know what’s more amazing about these leaf bowls – the fact they are made from real maple leaves or that their maker is 89-years-old! Artist Kay Sekimachi uses Kozo paper (a thin Japanese paper made from Kozo trees), watercolor and Krylon coating to turn fallen maple leaves into works of art. See more beautiful pictures at Lost at E-Minor. How about this for a party table? The UP Balloon Table by designer/master illusionist Christopher Duffy, featuring steel rods for strings that prop up metal orb balloons which support the glass top. It can be yours for a cool US$11,500 (or thereabouts!). Another Lost at E-Minor find. Wes21 (aka Swiss artist Remo Lienhard) loves to throw a can of aerosol around and come up with larger-than-life science-fiction-like scenarios on the walls of buildings. You can buy prints of his work at Soon Editions and see more of his work at Fubiz. Who’d have thought galvanised wire could transform so magnificently into life-like and life-sized animal …

Earrings made from vintage postage stamps

Interview: Helen | Upcycled Vintage Postage Stamps

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Stamp collecting become a popular hobby in the mid 19th century after the world’s first stamp, the Penny Black, was created in Great Britain in 1840. It was a rites of passage past-time most children went through, some even continuing into adulthood. But nowadays, one might well ask, does anyone collect stamps anymore? While true philatelists may be a dying breed, it is creative people like UK-born, Bondi-based Helen who are reviving the art of philately in a most unique and inventive way. Describing herself as ‘a designer, philatelist and lover of all things colourful, historical and illustrative’, Helen of ‘Postcards from Aloysius’ creates jewellery and accessories from new and used postage stamps from around the world. Come and find out how a non-stamp collector can now boast a collection of more than 50,000 stamps. Tell us about yourself and your background and how you’ve ended up where you are today. My background is originally in textiles. I studied printed textiles and surface pattern design at Leeds Art & Design College in England. It was there my love for colour, …

Sea Art by Jacqueline Fink and Lara Hutton

Interview: Jacqueline Fink | Extreme Knitting

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While the world misses nothing because I cannot knit (trust me), it is a much better place because Jacqueline Fink of Little Dandelion can. And we’re not just talking normal knitting here. We’re talking Extreme Knitting (which does require the use of capitals) using unspun wool and industrial-sized needles, 110 cm long and 50 mm in diameter, weighing 550 g per stick. It sounds crazy but the results are amazing. What is also amazing is how she ended up where she is today and the incredible journey she went on with her mother that helped kick-start a new career. She literally dreamed big. From non-creative lawyer to extreme knitter working in an over-sized ‘woolly world’, Jacqueline Fink is truly inspiring. Tell us about yourself and your background. I live in Sydney with my hubby, three children, two cats and a gorgeous stray puppy we found just after Christmas. I’m a former lawyer turned creative. I launched Little Dandelion in April 2012 after conceiving the idea two years previously. It may seem like a rapid trajectory but it took two years of intense experimentation …

DIY marble clay bowls

DIY Handmade Marble Bowls

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A few weeks ago I posted a link to how to make your own marble clay bowls (see here) and my daughters and I decided to give them a go. And how much fun were they? I won’t go into the ‘how to’ here as you can get the lowdown from A Beautiful Mess but you can see the results below. The tricky part was getting the marbling just right, without having one colour dominating. This meant lots of tight twisting at the three-colour clay ribbon stage. Plus, you need make sure you have an oven-proof bowl of a suitable size/s. The mini bowl to the left was actually made in a muffin tray! And leftovers can be used to makes beads, bangles or a necklace pendant.   Happy crafting!