SHOW OF THE WEEK

warp speed

Plastic pop culture and old school handicraft come together in a happy and all too short marriage in Mardi Nowak's new tapestry show 'Sampler' at Handheld Gallery. Images of Kylie, Lady Gaga and Roisin Murphy are frozen by the pause button and lovingly recreated in small but simply fabulous work.

Anyone who grew up glued to RAGE or MTV (do kids still do that?probably not) will sympathise with Nowak's love of the musical moving image. Those saturated colours, heightened emotions, melodrama and mayhem all feed into an adolescent fantasy life unmatched by any other medium.

If you are looking for perfect weaving, clean edges and neatness then this isn't the place to go, and I think that is just fine. There is something so joyful, so youthful (for want of a better word) about the work I can't help for a little Gaga on my wall. RAMONA

'Sampler' by Mardi Nowak
until Feb 16
Handheld Gallery
paramount Arcade
108 Bourke Street
Melbourne City

REDRAW OF THE WEEK

Our North City 5/ Kirsten Perry Workshop  grand prize was left unclaimed by first winner Cherry Ripe so we've redrawn and our runner up (and now winner) is JULES - commenter number 11 and author of the lovely Wollenflower blog. Jules contact us ASAP via email at handmadelifeproject@gmail.com so we can connect you up with the NC4 gang. Cherry Ripe if you belatedly read this we have a special crafty consolation prize pack for you too.

Our long weekend is longer than usual so we'll be back tomorrow with our usual craftiness. RAMONA

WORKSHOP OF THE WEEK

so hot right now

The relatively new Artifice store could be seen as a little slice of Fitzroy in Williamstown. Beautifully curated by business partners Jess Morrison, Coconut Lu and Matthew Bracken, this lovely space is full of the very best handmade and designed goods to indulge a a bit of retail therapy in between fish and chips and splashing in the sea.

They are also fortunate to have a light filled room for classes and lectures. They are kicking off the year with a very fashion forward Terrarium workshop by the brilliant folks at Petite Green. Terrariums are trickier than people think and a little professional advice is always good to have. what a lovely excuse to cross the bridge!

Spots are limited so call Artifice on 9017 5446 to make a booking pronto. RAMONA446 

SHOW OF THE WEEK

inner space

Like many craftspeople, notions of the interior are continually considered by the ladies of HML. Working creatively within a domestic environment is both rewarding and fraught, as anyone who has to take 'breaks' away from the bench to put on laundry, mend toys or make dinner will attest. And the idea of private space for anyone with children, especially those of the pre-school variety is a kind of mythical nirvana only spoken about in glossy magazines. Both of us have often dreamed of the wood lined studio yurt in our backyards so this new exhibition featuring works by Kyle Banyard, Sarah CrowEST, Georgia Perry and Terry Williams kind of blew our minds. Curated by Craft's Debbie Pryor, Magic Mountain explores the notion of spacial and interior design, domestic decoration and the psychology behind creating personal or private space via a series of wooden 'huts'. 

The compulsion to 'decorate' is one we both feel keenly, and much of our craft practice both formal and informal has been tied almost symbiotically to this urge. Clearly we are not alone. Georgia Perry's tribal cubist geodesic entry arch set the scene and totally had us wanting to run home and start printing up an old school Queen Latifiah Mu-Mu. IT IS JUST SO GOOD. 

Regular readers will know that we are massive fans of Arts Project Australia, so we were particularly happy with the inclusion of Terry Williams. Again we were so inspired by his painted exterior - a colour and pattern explosion reminiscent of both baroque silk tapestry and pub carpet, and his interior soft sculptures of broken fridge and decaying contents were both hysterical and tragic. 

But for mine it was Sarah CrowEST's linen draped hut housing the star of the show that won the day... Obviously I'm a massive sucker for a swathe of raw linen and ceramics but it was her deft handling and light touch on far darker imagery that completely won me over. I kept thinking this could either be the space of a rainbow glittered unicorn or Satan worshipping, textile loving serial killer... or any combination thereof. The accompanying ceramic stalagmite tables and objects are complete genius and now totally on my must have list. 

Brilliant work by all the artists and a major achievement for curator Debbie Pryor. A must see. BECK

MAGIC MOUNTAIN

18 Jan – 2 March 

@ Craft

31 flinders lane Melbourne.

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

you are my sunshine

As is so often with the domestic crafter, I was inspired by what seemed a simple project in a magazine. 5 steps to a lovely sunburst mirror - brilliant! I wanted mine to be a bit more glamorous and opted for longer twigs and gold paint. Little did I know that this Saturday project would in fact take a week to finish.

Half a day was lost just trying to find a mirror. One thing that irks me about craft is how hard it can be to source suitable materials for projects. I do most of my supply buying online now because it drives me so nuts. A mirror is too heavy to pay for postage and I wanted it NOW! So some quality time in the car was required.

For most of this project it was truly a hot mess. Sticky wood glue, twisty branches, lack of patience made for not so much fun. The stick sticking alone took two days. Much of it involved resticking what seemed to be unstickable. I left it all overnight only to lift it up and have half the sticks fall off. Change of glue required.

Once the sticking was solved it looked terrible. I repainted the whole thing white so that my gold paint would have a nice even surface - 4 coats of white paint. Sigh.

Spraying the gold was the most satisfying part of the project. It looked actually kind of amazing after this process. A process that took 6 hours and 3 cans of spray paint. I also accidentally sprayed my shoes.

So here it is in situ. It took 6 3M Velcro tabs for me to feel safe sleeping beneath it. I do love it tho. It is up high enough so I don't catch myself in it at all (hate that) but makes the room feel lighter and bigger. Now having lived with it for a week the pain of the process is a fading memory. I'd like to make a smaller black lacquer version for a friend's birthday gift next month. At least now I know what I'm in for. RAMONA