Good things come in small parcels

Today we have an exhibition opening for our annual Small Works Prize, showing works no bigger than 30x30cm. The event is promoted as an affordable opportunity for artists to exhibit their work and enter to win a prize package worth over $700.
This year we have had 50 different artists submit work and the winner will be announced this arvo at 3:30.

I really enjoy this event as it encourages really talented people who might be lacking a bit of confidence to come out of the woodwork and show what they can do! I'm discovering Ballarat seems to be breeding some amazing, young illustrators at the mo'. Can you tell which piece I might have already snagged?

(from left to right artwork by Brooke Barnett, Erin Bond Matheson, Megan Palmer)

(artwork by Brock Sibley, Amelia Kingston)

The prize is a web development package including a website or webstore as well as a page on our website and an artist feature on this blog so stay tuned to meet the winner once they are announced! 

I have popped a couple of small papercuts into the show just to be a part of things... don't worry, I shan't be the winner, teehee. Here are my works entitled 'The Fox and the Hare'. Strictly it's a rabbit, but I like the word 'Hare' better.

Have a wonderful weekend, it's a worker for me but I will be day-dreaming of my upcoming HOLIDAY! Huzzah!

X Steph

Small Works prize 2012

It's that time of year again and we are opening entries for our annual Ballarat Small Works Prize.
We will be accepting all works in any medium at or under 30 x 30 cm in dimension. Last years exhibition saw nearly 100 works and this year is looking to be bigger and better. If you are interested in submitting works,don't be shy and hop over to the downloadable application form on our website. We are encouraging all to exhibit as this is an excellent change to show your work in an affordable way, with many gallery visitors and is an excellent way for artists of all levels of experience to show their works.

I will be working on a new paper cutting for the show (which of course won't be entered for judging) as I often need this kind of prompt to create new works I'm 'deadline orientated' in that way. How about you?

Meet: Aislinnn McKinnis

Aislinn McKinnis is a local artist and neighbour of ours who works in the most incredible coloured embroideries, I First met Aislinn at a 'crafternoon' last year and was mesmerised watching her work.

Determined to give it a go myself, Aislinn gave me some fabric and swatches of yarn and I got cracking! Although it was heaps of fun free-forming the design I found myself struggling to break out of the grid-like structure of the embroidery fabric and turned to Aislinn for some lessons.

On the 8th of June Aislinn is exhibiting with us alongside Pauline O'Shanessy-Dowling in a show called 'Fandango'. Both of these artists work in vibrant colours and free-form designs, yesterday I watched her work on the below piece and had fun taking pics of her working.

To begin Aislinn ties a simple knot in a length of yarn and beginning from the back she works stitches into the grid, in this piece she works stitches just one little grid length long, in others she might work longer stitches.  I learnt that to reduce the visual spaces between stitches she places the needle in the little space between the larger grid hole. (see the pic below)

My fave bit to watch is tying off the ends, using a simple granny knot she slides it close to the work using her needle, and then weaves the end into the work before cutting off.

It might seem annoying at the time, but the below examples show how much more 'compact' the back becomes if you take care of this little detail. It makes it so much easier to mount or frame once you are complete. Another handy hint is to leave a boarder of a few inches to make hanging or framing simpler too.

It's interesting to meet an artist working in colour through textile, rather than a textile artist working in colour... does that make sense? I can't wait to hang 'Fandango' and see the collaboration currently in progress. Keep posted for photos of that process.

Yesterday was my 'weekend' and I had a great day, I will be posting what we got up to tomorrow. Till then,

X Steph

Fresh Faced Online Space!

You may have noticed that we have been featuring heaps more DIY's lately. That's because we have been super-inspired lately to make more of this online space... to not only share our own passions, hobbies and creativity's but to inspire others to do the same.
You may also have noticed our new lay-out, although our posts will still be listed chronologically, the aim is to make past-posts more accessible and to allow you to brows the blog more like a magazine. So, that's what we are calling it... the Red Brick Magazine!

We will be featuring content on art, craft, fun projects to try at home, our take on fashion and beauty as well as content from local creative people we know and love. I can't wait to share with you all the exciting articles we have coming up and we are working hard to get it to you fresh off the virtual press!
Here is a sneak peek at what we have coming up!

Who doesn't love flowers? Tomorrow is Floral Friday when we will be beginning our series on floral design. We will be sharing with you hints and tips for successful arrangements as well as looking at contemporary trends. Over the next 3 weeks you can expect 3 ways to arrange the same 3 flowers.
I will also be doing more work on our pizza oven so stay tuned for the next step towards yummy wood-fired pizza!
It's a brisk 8 degrees in Ballarat today so stay warm!
Love Steph.

Tutorial - 'Bricks For Chicks'

I'm really excited to share todays tutorial, I love a good DIY as much as the next creative chick and learnt some new skills last weekend that I'm dying to share!
As I said in my last post I'm currently building a wood-fired pizza oven, it's no small task and involves skills I don't have much practice at. However, after a chat with our friend and pro-brickie Andrew I felt pretty confident that this was one new skill I was keen to try my hand at... bricklaying!
With the ethos of giving it a red-hot go, I'm now proud to give you 'Bricks For Chicks'- a beginners bricklaying guide.

The first step is to prepare a nice level surface, a concrete slab, paving or existing brick base is perfect. Make a string-line where you want your bricks to go, this will help you make a straight line of bricks.
1. Mix up your mortar. I used bags of pre-mixed lime, sand and cement so all I had to do was add water. It's a lot like baking a cake, start with a mound of dry materials on a scrap bit of board or sheet metal, make a crater in the center and add water gradually folding in the dry materials. You don't want the mix to be too 'loose', if it's too runny it will run off your bricks. A stiff batter-type consistency is perfect, your brickies trowel should be able to stand upright in the mixture. CAUTION Always wear gloves (and a mask with dry materials) when working with mortar as the lime can give you nasty burns!
2. Now you are going to 'ice' your cake. Spread a layer of mortar 2.5cm deep where you intend to lay your brick. Work in small sections of a few brick-lengths at a time. Using your trowel, spread the mortar evenly right to the edges. Spread a 2.5cm layer on the ends or sides of any bricks that your new brick will butt up against.
3. Plonk your brick on the mortar. To get a nice level surface place a spirit level on top of the brick and tap it down into the mortar until it sits level. I have to confess I was pretty slap-dash with this part of the job... I was using very uneven, recycled old red bricks so didn't worry too much about the wall being level and went for a more organic approach, only leveling every few rows.
4. To finish, patch any gaps in your mortar and run the point of your trowel along the mortared cracks in the wall. Once the mortar has stiffened a little you can use a stiff brush to remove any mortar on the sides of the brickwork.
5. Cup of tea time!
Good luck! It's a LOT of fun!
X Steph

Flower love.

I adore flowers. As well as enjoying nurturing our pretty garden here at Red Brick I love having fresh flowers in the gallery so you can imagine how delighted I was when a talented lady we know asked if she could provide a floral display for us!
Rachael is an accomplished artist who as well as exhibiting has made a beautiful picture book. Recently Rachael began working at a local florist and has fallen in love with flora... I, in turn, have fallen in love with her floral creations which, just like her drawing style are beautifully classic and elegantly simple.

 Over cups of tea and candle-light (very romantic I know!) Rachel and I had a really fun consultation session where we discussed colours, textures and light. Knowing our passion for window displays Rachael suggested building a window installation.

Taking the brief of  'feminine, ephemeral and un-fussy' I couldn't be happier with how well Rachel used simple elements to create strong shapes alongside pretty blooms and textures.

 I LOVE what she created for us! Rachael is working at Stems florist in Ballarat... tell her we said hi!

Tas Wansbrough

Tas Wansbrough, recent Ballarat Arts Foundation Alumni winner will soon be exhibiting her work at Red Brick Gallery. I love her sculptures, I'm able to picture any one of them taking pride of place in my garden or even inside my home. I love the contrast between the steel and the wood that she uses and the strength that comes not just from the materials she uses but also the subject matter, shapes and forms that she creates.

Despite my love of Tas's work and having seen her work in other exhibitions before, I have never picked her brain about how she does what she does. What kind of gallery owner am I?... not asking these types of questions :p.  When I look at any work of art I often get lost in the 'how' element. I'm fascinated by the technical side of creating artwork and want to know more especially with work like Tas's.  These big bits of wood... which if I looked at them, would just look like big bits of..... wood!  But she makes something beautiful from that same bit of wood. This makes me go WOW! :)

So I quizzed Tas and begged her to send me photos of the creative process so we can all have a peek into her fascinating world. How cool is it that Tas get's out there with an angle grinder and sometimes a chainsaw and chips away at this wood making these figures, then has the vision to combine that wood with metal as well.  

 So I asked Tas some questions....

Q:  How long do your pieces take?

A: I have no idea how long the pieces take , sometimes I can cut one out completely in a day but then keep working on it for weeks staining sanding finishing etc. But it can be surprisingly fast because of the power tools. 

Q: What type of tools do you use?

A: I use an arbotech tungsten blade on a small angle grinder to carve. 

*If you are like me and don't know what that is... this is it :)

The beginning of one of Tas's Awesome sculptures

Q: What type of wood do you use?

A: I use all types of wood, today I am at Greg’s farm so am carving cypress from a fallen tree. At home I use mainly recycled wood such as pine and Oregon and also a little red gum from sleepers. 

Q: Do you work from skteches or let the wood dictate the form it will carved into

A: I mainly work from sketches as  ideas but often have to go freestyle if the wood has a crack or tricky knott. 

Q: Who influences your work:

A: I love heaps of sculptors like Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Louis Bourgeois, Dora Gordana. I Have been reading too much Italian and greek sculpture stuff lately and am now finding it really hard to think abstract and get too caught up in figurative works

I'm so excited by Tas's work and just want to grab an angle grinder and try carving some thing but I think I'll leave it up to someone with a natural knack and flair for this type of artwork like Tas.

Tas will be exhibiting her work at Red Brick from the 2nd to the 15th of March, 2012.  

The exhibition will official open on Saturday the 3rd of March between 3 and 5pm.  There will be food and drinks provided and you can meet Tas and chat to her about her work. Discuss how she does it or just how awesome it looks :)

Look at Tas go, just carving away, waiting for these awesome forms and figures to show themselves.

Work in progress

Below are two of the finished pieces that will be exhibited at Red Brick from the 2nd to the 15th of March, 2012.

Worth a read

There is not much more to say except a simple... read this blog :)http://contemporaryhandmadealliance.blogspot.com/

I spent hours reading through this site, it's interesting and useful and relevant... a rare combination!
It brings together the business and creative world, which is so wonderful to see because I really believe they can co-exist and benefit every artist and crafter out there.

- Marce

Craft it up this Christmas

We are keen to celebrate all things hand made this Christmas.  Who cares if it's a bit bung looking, have a crack, get crafty and have fun I say.  I've been looking around the net for some inspiration and there are some very clever Christmas Crafters out there that's for sure and then there are some who have just given it a bash ;) but go them :)

Whether it be to pass the time and entertain the kids during the pending school holidays or while away the hours on the few days your office shuts over Christmas or perhaps you just want to lock yourself away from the maddness that is too many relatives in an enclosed space over Christmas day and boxing day... this year let your inner crafter freeee and see what you can come up with.

Check out the cool Christmas tree over on larritt-evans blog... With all the timber in my back yard and lack of Christmas tree action in my house, I may need to steal this idea ;)

http://larritt-evans.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html

Here are some more Christmas tree ideas

Cut up some cards or get some cool paper

Made from Corks... yeah... have a wine or 20 and then get crafty ;)

Try your hand at crocheting or making your own decorations.

Marshmallows are handy for lots of things

Try some Christmas cooking... hey it's all creative, it's all craft, just because you can't get into crochet doesn't mean you have to miss out:)

The more Macabre or Zombie lovin' folks can get in on this action as well........

Or the totally whacky and unexplainable... for any one with a rubber chicken just layng around o_O

Whatever the reason, get into the season. Pull out the felt or make your mouth melt and happy crafting :)

PS send me pictures if you make stuff and I'll include them in our blog - Marce