This series of videos from Etsy’s Handmade Portraits are always a nice glimpse into the artists world and motivations.
One of my dear friends, Mitsy from Artmind, was asked to share her story in one of these portraits and I think it is very sweet and the whole message behind her project is one worth spreading to others. So here:
5 pieces….
bright colours…
form a flower on your table…
.. a sunny warm day and the boys of this house are in the middle of the Ardennen in Belgium, camping. Us, girlies stayed home enjoying a bit of quiet.
I love camping, but doing it with a 3 month old baby, didn’t seem quite the practical task.
So, in the few minutes my little girl sleeps her 10 minutes power naps 
I keep experimenting with porcelain.
…apreciate the presence of felt and hand dyed fabrics. Never too far away!
Sometime ago I learnt in a workshop with Mitsy from Artmind, how to colour porcelain with pigments. It was a great super relaxed workshop. Great value for money really… I love when you go to a workshop and everything is ready, every detail already thought of… and the food! abundant!!!! The cool thing is above all, to sit around the table with like-minded people, crafty people… great conversation and ideas.
Well, then I made this spoons (obsession with spoons is not new!):
and some more…
Well, experimenting with this technique again, I made a few plates. Came out with this pretty pastel colours… lilac and yellow.
I do love how glass melts in the kiln and forms these cracks and pools of colour…
The mint is from our garden… things are growing already! Home grown photo props!
…and the blueberries are frozen, as you may be able to notice, and they are from last year’s crops; grown here in the neighbourhood. I love frozen blueberries!
Good luck to everyone tomorrow at the 1m2 event in Hasselt!
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What follows is the invitation -in dutch- to an event happening on the 22nd of April in Hasselt, Belgium. It is an innovative market in which artists, thinkers, doers… are given one square meter in which to show, demonstrate, explain their art and ideas. Think about it… just one square meter! You have to be very creative in the way that you portrait your craft to make the message go through. Anyway, to those who are in the area… this is worth visiting!
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Hallo allemaal,
Op 22 april vindt “één vierkante meter” plaats in hartje Hasselt, in de oude jeneverstokerij in de Raamstraat 17. Samen met Annemiek van Two Trees World organiseer ik dit event. Eén vierkante meter wil makers, ontwerpers, artiesten, doeners, denkers en creatieve ondernemers een platform bieden om eigen werk te tonen of te verkopen op 1m².
Een bijzonder concept dat iedereen uitdaagt om op een minimale oppervlakte, het maximale eruit te halen. Je kan dit event gratis bezoeken van 10 tot 17uur.
Als bezoeker mag je een brede waaier aan variëteit verwachten, zowel in deelnemers als in disciplines. Je zal er naast al bekende namen uit de handmade wereld, ook kennis kunnen maken met nieuw talent uit België en van over de landgrenzen. Je vindt er handgemaakte artikelen van vilt, stof, keramiek en papier, tot hout, zilver en glas. De makers verkopen en/of demonstreren hun werk zelf. Het geheel wordt opgeluisterd door live muziek.
De 35-tal deelnemers worden uitgedaagd hun stand zo creatief en inventief mogelijk in te richten. Want zeg nu zelf: zo’n kleine oppervlakte stimuleert om het beste van jezelf te geven.
Etsy, hét verkoopplatform voor alles handmade, en ‘de Knappe Knoopjes’ zullen samen een stikstation uitbaten waar geïnteresseerden de gelegenheid krijgen om zelf eens achter een naaimachine te kruipen, een keertje te haken of met naald en draad zelf een textielobject naar keuze te maken. En dit allemaal gratis en met degelijke begeleiding van de Knappe Knoopjes.
Heb je nog geen plannen en wil je graag verrast worden door mooie, leuke en bijzondere dingen?
Aarzel dan niet om eens langs te komen op 1m²!
Graag tot dan!
groeten,
Mitsy Sleurs
ArtMind
Handmade creative concepts
www.artmind.eu
oh the panic! yes yes I’m still interested in textiles. I still have half a head boiling with textile ideas.
Ceramics has always been in my life. I think I started with it when I was 5yrs old and joined for the first time an arty class for children at a local cultural centre in my home town. Cultural centres are common in Argentina, almost every town has one, and they are usually subsidized by the goverment, so classes are cheap and popular
(or were in those days…).
Last year for my birthday, my husband surprised me with a ceramic kiln as a gift. I’ve wanted one for… ever. It was a dream come true! Although ceramist friends have helped in previous times (and I’m very thankful for their generosity!), there is nothing like the independance of being able to fire your kiln whenever you want.
These days, with a 3 month old baby, it’s just easier to grab a lump of clay and do small things sitting by my baby’s side; rather than pulling out all the gear for felting; which is also a much more time consuming project. It just takes longer and the logistics for ‘putting away’ a half finished, wet, felt piece are much more complicated.
I’m looking forward to doing some natural dyeing soon too. I’m just waiting for the weather to get a bit warmer!
A few months ago when I went to the shop were the ceramic supplies are sold, I was stacking up the porcelain bags when I saw this grey, raw looking clay. Porous, a bit harsh to the touch, but interesting nonetheless. I kept wondering if, once fired, it would still retain those qualities and the dark grey colour. So, I bought a bag. I made a few quick things just to try it out.
First firing returned this charcoal looking pieces which sizzled as they were wetted. After a lick of transparent glaze (for protection as these are meant to be used daily ) and a few drops of white or red here and there, some of that dark grey was lost -which dissapointed me. A pink or a lilac tint showed up in the background mixed with the grey. I thought it still looked rough, rustic… a bit campestral even.
They have prooved to be handy and sturdy so far… even child proof!
The fabrics used to set up the pics, where all hand dyed with natural dyestuff such as walnuts in this last photo and logwood (palo campeche) for the purple pieces in the last post.
All fabrics are recycled linen or cotton and handmade felt. All of them hand dyed with logwood and/or wallnuts.
Have a lovely weekend, eat a lot of chocolate and laugh a lot!
…still here… doing simplle little things…
