Kim Davies

One might think the moth is a strange subject for textile work, moths being the nuisance dismantlers of textiles that they are.

Kim’s small suite of moths are part fabric, part upholstery, part furniture; strange hybrids inspired by both nature and domestic patterning.

Just as the natural world is so often imitated in domestic decoration it is also often denied as our true habitat. Do we see the house-moth as an intruder in our space or part of a living community that we dwell amongst?

By making with our hands, by customising, reworking and taking time to reconsider the objects around us we act contrary to the pace at which the modern world turns.

We create a hand-made life.

Meryl Blundell

Stepping Stones

The catalyst for the Stepping Stones series was thinking about the patterns of my own Handmade Life. Stepping from discipline to discipline, exploring new techniques until one grabbed me and took me for a creative ride. It has also allowed me to acknowledge that I am a unique mix of disciplines and skills. It has been a wonderful, personal experience working across needlework which I learnt as a child, design which I studied and practice professionally and silver jewellery which is my newest passion.

I have worked back and forwards across these, one informing the other as the work progressed allowing me to clarify this is definitely a path that I love and has so much more to give. This is a glimpse of my handmade life.

Gill Brooks

Gill's concern for the environment and global communities due to fast fashion, the emerging trend of fast fashion, and the abundance of quality wool blankets languishing in op-shops, has inspired her to utilise this overlooked resource.

Using age old techniques such as tying and dyeing (shibori), machine and hand stitching, Gill is giving a new lease of life to an under-utilised resource. Fashioned into wearables, the wearer receives the benefits of wools warmth, comfort and protection for decades to come.

Ro Cook

In this exhibition Ro is concentrating her interest in colour line texture and form. Baskets are a divergence from her usual practice of textile design. Through the process of creating works for A Handmade Life she realizes the significance of the stitch as a metaphor for life - with every stich the vessels grow and take its own shape – each stitch is a contemplation – each is supported by previous stiches and builds the foundation for future stitches.

So what started as an opportunity to use accumulated stuff that “would be handy one day” and recycling discarded materials has developed into the meaning of life! Ah – the humble basket.

Lorri Evans

As the creator of Shu Shu Footwear, this exhibition represents a totally new area of work for Lorri, and builds on her love of working with leather as the common medium. Out of respect for the material’s origin, she supports a ‘nose to tail’ philosophy here by utilising the beautiful remnants from her baby shoe manufacturing.

From Van Gogh to Gloria Petyerre and all the influences in between, the fluidity of nature inspires these works.

“Is art just our need to control, to twist, turn and create something for our personal pleasure when all else feels so fragile? Or is it simiply an important part of being human? Here is a piece of me, solid and unapologetic.”

Romana Toson

Mapping the Unmappable

In working with plant material to make dyes and prints I began to develop a ‘green map’. Locations of different plants and trees in my area and further afield were plotted on a map. This map has helped me sustainably source plant material I like to work with and made me much more aware of seasonal change and more mindful of what is around me.

My consideration of the creative process is often viewed through that lens.

I have come to regard a finished piece of art or craft, as one outcome of a creative process. It is of itself, a kind of map - a map of your thinking and concepts at the time, a map of values, choices and message. A map of the journey from the internal to the external world.

For the viewer, it may sometimes be a mysterious map with no legend but the journey an idea makes, from thought to finished object, does have signposts – the journaling of ideas, sketches, research undertaken, skill set, samples and prototypes made, and the finished piece are all elements that plot the development of an idea in real time and space.

It is the moment of inspiration that remains a mystery, the unmappable part.

It is not known when inspiration will strike, its very nature is elusive, unmappable and essentially, to be grasped and acted upon before it is gone.