The new face of craft
Craft. To most people the word conjures up visions of patchwork quilts, knitting and decoupage. But lately, it has undergone a modern revival as a global community of artisans, craftspeople, designers and handmade enthusiasts have forged links across the internet to share creativity and entrepreneurial skills. Three Coast women are leading the way with a blend of blogging and business savvy.
Words KYLIE JACKES
FLISS DODD
Fliss Dodd started a craft blog several years ago and has been hooked ever since. Working from her hinterland home, where she designs and creates “handmade friends”, including dashing toy penguins, foxes and fish for her label, Udder, Fliss’s morning ritual begins with a cup of tea while she looks at various craft blogs. Tapping into a global network of handmade artisans who create everything from paper goods to woodwork, she finds trawling inspirational and addictive.
“I travelled a lot and now I’ve settled it is sometimes hard being in one place all the time, so blogging is my outlet. There are so many creative people out there with great ideas. Sometimes I can spend two hours (online) in the morning when I am meant to be working. I even say to myself, ‘Get off the computer Fliss, get off’,” she says with a laugh.
Brought up in a family that valued handmade objects, Fliss explains her passion for all things crafty and creative was sparked at a young age. “My mum is a painter and my dad is a builder, so as kids, we’d always have offcuts of wood at home, which we’d make into little sculptures, paint up and give as presents,” she says. When her children, Max, 7, and Ochre, 4, were born, Fliss wanted to make them a gift, so she turned to her fabric collection to select pieces to cut up and sew into a soft toy for each of them.
The result was a quirky blue rabbit and penguin, which have since been carted anywhere and everywhere, and have had several spins in the washing machine. Six years later, these early creations have inspired the Udder friends she hand sews from carefully chosen recycled fabrics. “I’ve got a lot of friends who have good op shop karma, and many people have given me fabric over the years,” Fliss says of her collection, which includes tea towels, tablecloths, Japanese embroidered braids and her grandmother’s scalloped napkins, which she uses to create fox tails.
Although no two are the same, all have a heart stitched on their chest to reflect Fliss’s ethos that handcrafted pieces are made with love and care. Each also comes with a card featuring a quote penned by Fliss and husband Hal. “We came up with 10 different sayings but my favourite says ‘I am made by hand not in a factory, she gave me a heart not a battery’,” the designer says. Although her biggest fans are her kids, who love giving each penguin, fox or luna a hug before it is boxed and delivered to a store, Fliss has a substantial online following with her blog, Udder (see page 15 for blog addresses), generating worldwide interest.
Recently, her pieces were snapped up by Los Angeles store Reform School and the popular online US stores Twig and Baby La Rue. But, despite demand for her handmade friends, Fliss is happy to keep Udder a small boutique business as it ensures she can spend time with her family. Forming friendships with a range of crafty people online, Fliss has met several bloggers in person and swapped her work with other artisans. “I have a Lumi doll from Fanja in the UK who runs the blog Le Train Fantome. I sometimes get fabric remnants from (label) Aunty Cookie in Melbourne. And, at the end of last year … I also did a Chrissy Kringle type of thing where 10 of us decorated linen tea towels and sent it on to someone else. There are some nice things happening (on blogs) and it gets you thinking beyond the square,” she says.
Another project Fliss has been involved with is the craft book Meet Me at Mike’s by Pip Lincolne, who has both a blog, and a Melbourne store, of the same name. Featuring projects by 26 Aussie creative contributors, Pip handpicked Fliss’s work to include. Keen to make several of the craft projects, which range from mobiles to coasters, Fliss believes the book and the popularity of craft blogs is indicative of a handmade revival. “More and more people I think are getting back to basics, whether it is making things themselves or growing their own vegetables. And, writing about it on blogs is a great way of sharing what you do and generating ideas,” she says.
But, while many bloggers leave rapturous posts praising Fliss’s “udderly delightful” creations, it is her children who provide the best feedback. “I have a piece of paper pinned up in the studio which Max gave me. It says ‘I love your toys’. It’s written in his own handwriting and spelling and it is so special. I think the kids do appreciate what I do. They always ask when I am going to make another one for them,” Fliss says with a smile.
SHANNON GARSON
It was while she was watching a documentary on musician Bob Marley that ceramicist Shannon Garson struck on the title Strange Fragments for her blog. “Someone described his songs as a bunch of strange fragments and that really clicked with me. I thought it was a good way to describe what ceramic artists do and how they think,” she says.
Establishing her blog three years ago, Shannon wanted to create a platform where she could provide insight into her processes and shed light on the work of an artist. “I think many people in Australia
see art as a hobby, so through my blog I wanted to show that wonderful ideas are just the tip of the iceberg.” she says. “I also wanted to create a forum for lively discussion and encouragement because being an artist is a lonely profession, especially if you live in the country.”
Similar to Fliss, who lives down the road, most of Shannon’s mornings involve an hour or two delving into the blogosphere seeking out information about other contemporary ceramicists and posting her own views on the Australian arts and craft movement. But, while she gleans daily inspiration online, it is the natural environment that informs many of her designs, whether it is the petals of a magnolia flower or fungi sprouting from the rainforest understorey.
Transforming domestic objects such as cups, bowls and vases into delicate works of art, Shannon’s porcelain pieces represent hours of work, and it is this careful craftsmanship she believes sets handmade objects apart from production pieces. “For me, pottery is a way of getting artwork into people’s day-to-day existence. I find that by using handmade things you are more aware of the world you live in and the objects you are surrounding yourself with. It is a way of having a more thoughtful life,” she says.
“There was a huge appreciation of the value of handmade things in the ‘70s and it is a trend that has increased again. The handmade movement is huge overseas . . . at the big furniture fairs in Milan and Britain designer companies are often producing limited-edition runs by a craftsperson or artist. In fashion, too, there is a huge element of handmade and embroidered textiles.”
And, with the growing popularity of blogs and various stores such as Etsy, an online marketplace for buying and selling handmade goods, Shannon believes the internet can offer enormous support for emerging artists. “It can be really difficult for artists to make a living from their craft, particularly if they are in remote areas, so blogs can be a really good business tool for networking and getting your name out there,” she explains. “I have had heaps of approaches from overseas galleries since I started my blog. I’ve sent work to America, which people have seen on the internet. And, because I write about craft as well, I have been approached by authors to review their books.”
Yet, while it is simple to start a blog or establish an online shop, Shannon says people need to be savvy to make a living from the web. “Selling your items on Etsy is like having a shop in the largest market in the world,” she says. “People are not going to find you unless they know where to look, so you have to become part of the blog world and post new entries and comment on other people’s sites so you create a whole web of links. After a while you will find you are part of a community.”
As art and craft enthusiasts look to nurture their online connections in person, an offshoot has been a growth in craft groups, with enthusiasts linking up and meeting in person. Popular blog Meet Me At Mikes has a group called Brown Owls, where members regularly get together in capital cities. It is a concept Shannon hopes to emulate. “I want to organise artist connection nights, where people can actually meet the people they have chatted to on blogs. When I travel interstate I think it will be a great way of meeting other artists from different cities,” she says.
NINA O'BRIEN
Surrounded by T-shirts, paper goods, swing tags, accessories and packaging, which fill her home studio in Montville, Nina O’Brien says it was the creative process, rather than the end product, that inspired her to study fashion design several years ago. “I trained in fashion design and learnt to make patterns and do production, but it was never my dream to be a fashion designer. I just liked making things,” she says simply.
“I love things somebody has taken care to make and have love in them, rather than things that are mass produced, and that is what I wanted to do with our label, Kindling.” Originally working as a graphic artist with her partner, James Mannion, it was a love of screen printing and illustration that prompted Nina to create a range of men’s T-shirts, initially as a side project, several years ago. Selling them at the Eumundi markets, before shifting her retail focus online, Nina found there was considerable demand for her clothing emblazoned with sketches of flora and fauna. What started out as a hobby has now become a full-time career and passion.
As the shirts are entirely handmade, Nina spends her days screen printing various colour runs, cutting thick layers of fabric and sealing each print individually before they are sewn. Documenting the production process on her blog, Nina says she enjoys seeing her designs on paper transformed into something tangible and usable. “I love the process of making shirts because it is very in the moment. I don’t just want to draw a picture and hand it over to a factory and then in one month’s time you have 1000 of them. By making the shirts ourselves I am able to have complete control over the cut, finish, colour and design, so they are 100 per cent Kindling,” she says.
“I like to write about the process on my blog and each day I get contacted by people who have found my blog and feel inspired by the story behind a picture or a shirt they might buy.” Extending her range to also incorporate women’s and children’s T-shirts, accessories and recycled paper goods, Nina says craft is “the new black”. “Whenever I have a stall at a trade fair, I get the response from people that they can really feel the level of energy and love that goes into everything I make and that is what they are drawn to. There is a level of quality that feels special. And, with people starting to question how much money they want to spend on things, I think they are looking for things that will last longer and feel a little bit more unique.”
With her six-year-old son, Rimu, eager to become involved, he has been enlisted as Kindling’s official button maker. “He asked us to make him a business card, which we did. He is really proud of it and gives it to my crafty friends,” Nina says. Heading overseas, with hopes of gaining work experience with artisans throughout India and Asia, Nina and her family will be gone indefinitely. “I’ve been working hard to build up stock for while I’m away and my friend Katie (Gannon, from label Mother Maria) will look after distribution. Everything else I can organise on the web. I don’t see that anything is going to change apart from the fact I might be sitting on a tropical beach having a food massage while I’m organising for an order to go out.”
Story: KYLIE JACKES
Craft. To most people the word conjures up visions of patchwork quilts, knitting and decoupage. But lately, it has undergone a modern revival as a global community of artisans, craftspeople, designers and handmade enthusiasts have forged links across the internet to share creativity and entrepreneurial skills. Three Coast women are leading the way with a blend of blogging and business savvy.
Words KYLIE JACKES
FLISS DODD
Fliss Dodd started a craft blog several years ago and has been hooked ever since. Working from her hinterland home, where she designs and creates “handmade friends”, including dashing toy penguins, foxes and fish for her label, Udder, Fliss’s morning ritual begins with a cup of tea while she looks at various craft blogs. Tapping into a global network of handmade artisans who create everything from paper goods to woodwork, she finds trawling inspirational and addictive.
“I travelled a lot and now I’ve settled it is sometimes hard being in one place all the time, so blogging is my outlet. There are so many creative people out there with great ideas. Sometimes I can spend two hours (online) in the morning when I am meant to be working. I even say to myself, ‘Get off the computer Fliss, get off’,” she says with a laugh.
Brought up in a family that valued handmade objects, Fliss explains her passion for all things crafty and creative was sparked at a young age. “My mum is a painter and my dad is a builder, so as kids, we’d always have offcuts of wood at home, which we’d make into little sculptures, paint up and give as presents,” she says. When her children, Max, 7, and Ochre, 4, were born, Fliss wanted to make them a gift, so she turned to her fabric collection to select pieces to cut up and sew into a soft toy for each of them.
The result was a quirky blue rabbit and penguin, which have since been carted anywhere and everywhere, and have had several spins in the washing machine. Six years later, these early creations have inspired the Udder friends she hand sews from carefully chosen recycled fabrics. “I’ve got a lot of friends who have good op shop karma, and many people have given me fabric over the years,” Fliss says of her collection, which includes tea towels, tablecloths, Japanese embroidered braids and her grandmother’s scalloped napkins, which she uses to create fox tails.
Although no two are the same, all have a heart stitched on their chest to reflect Fliss’s ethos that handcrafted pieces are made with love and care. Each also comes with a card featuring a quote penned by Fliss and husband Hal. “We came up with 10 different sayings but my favourite says ‘I am made by hand not in a factory, she gave me a heart not a battery’,” the designer says. Although her biggest fans are her kids, who love giving each penguin, fox or luna a hug before it is boxed and delivered to a store, Fliss has a substantial online following with her blog, Udder (see page 15 for blog addresses), generating worldwide interest.
Recently, her pieces were snapped up by Los Angeles store Reform School and the popular online US stores Twig and Baby La Rue. But, despite demand for her handmade friends, Fliss is happy to keep Udder a small boutique business as it ensures she can spend time with her family. Forming friendships with a range of crafty people online, Fliss has met several bloggers in person and swapped her work with other artisans. “I have a Lumi doll from Fanja in the UK who runs the blog Le Train Fantome. I sometimes get fabric remnants from (label) Aunty Cookie in Melbourne. And, at the end of last year … I also did a Chrissy Kringle type of thing where 10 of us decorated linen tea towels and sent it on to someone else. There are some nice things happening (on blogs) and it gets you thinking beyond the square,” she says.
Another project Fliss has been involved with is the craft book Meet Me at Mike’s by Pip Lincolne, who has both a blog, and a Melbourne store, of the same name. Featuring projects by 26 Aussie creative contributors, Pip handpicked Fliss’s work to include. Keen to make several of the craft projects, which range from mobiles to coasters, Fliss believes the book and the popularity of craft blogs is indicative of a handmade revival. “More and more people I think are getting back to basics, whether it is making things themselves or growing their own vegetables. And, writing about it on blogs is a great way of sharing what you do and generating ideas,” she says.
But, while many bloggers leave rapturous posts praising Fliss’s “udderly delightful” creations, it is her children who provide the best feedback. “I have a piece of paper pinned up in the studio which Max gave me. It says ‘I love your toys’. It’s written in his own handwriting and spelling and it is so special. I think the kids do appreciate what I do. They always ask when I am going to make another one for them,” Fliss says with a smile.
SHANNON GARSON
It was while she was watching a documentary on musician Bob Marley that ceramicist Shannon Garson struck on the title Strange Fragments for her blog. “Someone described his songs as a bunch of strange fragments and that really clicked with me. I thought it was a good way to describe what ceramic artists do and how they think,” she says.
Establishing her blog three years ago, Shannon wanted to create a platform where she could provide insight into her processes and shed light on the work of an artist. “I think many people in Australia
see art as a hobby, so through my blog I wanted to show that wonderful ideas are just the tip of the iceberg.” she says. “I also wanted to create a forum for lively discussion and encouragement because being an artist is a lonely profession, especially if you live in the country.”
Similar to Fliss, who lives down the road, most of Shannon’s mornings involve an hour or two delving into the blogosphere seeking out information about other contemporary ceramicists and posting her own views on the Australian arts and craft movement. But, while she gleans daily inspiration online, it is the natural environment that informs many of her designs, whether it is the petals of a magnolia flower or fungi sprouting from the rainforest understorey.
Transforming domestic objects such as cups, bowls and vases into delicate works of art, Shannon’s porcelain pieces represent hours of work, and it is this careful craftsmanship she believes sets handmade objects apart from production pieces. “For me, pottery is a way of getting artwork into people’s day-to-day existence. I find that by using handmade things you are more aware of the world you live in and the objects you are surrounding yourself with. It is a way of having a more thoughtful life,” she says.
“There was a huge appreciation of the value of handmade things in the ‘70s and it is a trend that has increased again. The handmade movement is huge overseas . . . at the big furniture fairs in Milan and Britain designer companies are often producing limited-edition runs by a craftsperson or artist. In fashion, too, there is a huge element of handmade and embroidered textiles.”
And, with the growing popularity of blogs and various stores such as Etsy, an online marketplace for buying and selling handmade goods, Shannon believes the internet can offer enormous support for emerging artists. “It can be really difficult for artists to make a living from their craft, particularly if they are in remote areas, so blogs can be a really good business tool for networking and getting your name out there,” she explains. “I have had heaps of approaches from overseas galleries since I started my blog. I’ve sent work to America, which people have seen on the internet. And, because I write about craft as well, I have been approached by authors to review their books.”
Yet, while it is simple to start a blog or establish an online shop, Shannon says people need to be savvy to make a living from the web. “Selling your items on Etsy is like having a shop in the largest market in the world,” she says. “People are not going to find you unless they know where to look, so you have to become part of the blog world and post new entries and comment on other people’s sites so you create a whole web of links. After a while you will find you are part of a community.”
As art and craft enthusiasts look to nurture their online connections in person, an offshoot has been a growth in craft groups, with enthusiasts linking up and meeting in person. Popular blog Meet Me At Mikes has a group called Brown Owls, where members regularly get together in capital cities. It is a concept Shannon hopes to emulate. “I want to organise artist connection nights, where people can actually meet the people they have chatted to on blogs. When I travel interstate I think it will be a great way of meeting other artists from different cities,” she says.
NINA O'BRIEN
Surrounded by T-shirts, paper goods, swing tags, accessories and packaging, which fill her home studio in Montville, Nina O’Brien says it was the creative process, rather than the end product, that inspired her to study fashion design several years ago. “I trained in fashion design and learnt to make patterns and do production, but it was never my dream to be a fashion designer. I just liked making things,” she says simply.
“I love things somebody has taken care to make and have love in them, rather than things that are mass produced, and that is what I wanted to do with our label, Kindling.” Originally working as a graphic artist with her partner, James Mannion, it was a love of screen printing and illustration that prompted Nina to create a range of men’s T-shirts, initially as a side project, several years ago. Selling them at the Eumundi markets, before shifting her retail focus online, Nina found there was considerable demand for her clothing emblazoned with sketches of flora and fauna. What started out as a hobby has now become a full-time career and passion.
As the shirts are entirely handmade, Nina spends her days screen printing various colour runs, cutting thick layers of fabric and sealing each print individually before they are sewn. Documenting the production process on her blog, Nina says she enjoys seeing her designs on paper transformed into something tangible and usable. “I love the process of making shirts because it is very in the moment. I don’t just want to draw a picture and hand it over to a factory and then in one month’s time you have 1000 of them. By making the shirts ourselves I am able to have complete control over the cut, finish, colour and design, so they are 100 per cent Kindling,” she says.
“I like to write about the process on my blog and each day I get contacted by people who have found my blog and feel inspired by the story behind a picture or a shirt they might buy.” Extending her range to also incorporate women’s and children’s T-shirts, accessories and recycled paper goods, Nina says craft is “the new black”. “Whenever I have a stall at a trade fair, I get the response from people that they can really feel the level of energy and love that goes into everything I make and that is what they are drawn to. There is a level of quality that feels special. And, with people starting to question how much money they want to spend on things, I think they are looking for things that will last longer and feel a little bit more unique.”
With her six-year-old son, Rimu, eager to become involved, he has been enlisted as Kindling’s official button maker. “He asked us to make him a business card, which we did. He is really proud of it and gives it to my crafty friends,” Nina says. Heading overseas, with hopes of gaining work experience with artisans throughout India and Asia, Nina and her family will be gone indefinitely. “I’ve been working hard to build up stock for while I’m away and my friend Katie (Gannon, from label Mother Maria) will look after distribution. Everything else I can organise on the web. I don’t see that anything is going to change apart from the fact I might be sitting on a tropical beach having a food massage while I’m organising for an order to go out.”
Story: KYLIE JACKES
