Studio visit: Vanessa Lucas

This week, here is look at Vanessa Lucas' impeccable studio at the Nicholas Building. In addition to being an accomplished ceramicist, Vanessa also is a talented clothing designer and tailor. Vanessa's ceramics practice takes place in picturesque Mansfield, leaving her free to centre the 'textiles' side of things in her very own corner of the Nicholas Building, which is conveniently close to several important suppliers like Buttonmania and Tessuti!

Vanessa creates bespoke special occasion and everyday garments for a select and loyal clientele, and you can view some samples of finished works and works-in-progress in the images that follow. It's so remarkable when we meet an artist who is skilled in not one but two(!) crafts... we hope you enjoy this look into the 'other side' of Vanessa's creative pursuits.

Thank you for having us Vanessa!

To view more photos from our studio visit, please visit our Facebook album.

Photography: Kim Brockett

New craft tv video: Philip Stokes

For our next instalment in craft tv, we visit Philip Stokes' studio in Cremorne, Melbourne. Check it out here!



craft tv: Amorphous from Craft Victoria on Vimeo.

Philip Stokes has owned and run his own studio since 2002 and is currently located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Cremorne. His studio provides hot shop and cold work access and workshops and looks to support emerging and established glass artists and to provide a vibrant arena for creative exchange

"With a background in theatre I find that handling hot glass is surprisingly similar to the stage; Spontaneity, improvisation and chance are all elements that I enjoy and exploit, both in the making and in the final installation. 

Stimulated by the sculptural possibilities of human form and the organisation of musculature, I hope to create dialogue between the viscous and sinuous qualities of the glass medium. 

My latest works are playful groupings excited by fire and inspired by the dance and rhythms of life which are captured in the moment and remain in the colours and contours of the glass forever. 

Making large scale works is exactly like a choreographed dance where the ensemble of glass artists works as one to create expressive, movement suggestive sculptural works in hot glass."

Thanks to the lovely team at Bandit Films (Tom & Daniel) for their fine work. If you missed the first episode of craft tv where we visit artist Nicholas Jones, click here!

PS, like the music? It's this song by Golden Ego

Craft Cubed open studios program: this Saturday 20 August!

Just a reminder folks that happening tomorrow is the Craft Cubed open studios program!

We've got ten awesome studios lined up and spread across town for maximum travelling pleasure and we've listed them here so that you can plan your day!


CITY - Carlow House, corner of Flinders Lane & Elizabeth Streets
On level 8, check out the jewellery studio of Anna Davern, Nicky Hepburn and Cass Partington. Sadly these lovely ladies are moving out and with 16 years' worth of history in their studio, they are hosting a garage sale where you can pick up a bargain or two and have a cup of tea (or even a glass of wine).  

Carlow House, Level 8
10am-5pm


A few floors down on level 4 is Lord Coconut, one of the latest additions to the Melbourne contemporary jewellery scene. As a special treat, jeweller a.l.i.Alexander will be in store creating by hand a special lapel pin in wax throughout the day which will then be cast in sterling silver the following week. The completed lapel pin will be given away to a lucky store visitor.  

Carlow House, Level 4
10am-4pm


NORTH-ish -  Cremorne, Abbotsford, Collingwood and Brunswick East

After your jaunt in the city, catch a train to Richmond and make your way down to glass artist Philip Stokes' studio and gallery. If you saw our recent studio visit to Philip's studio, then you'll know how exciting it is!

20 Gwynne Street, Cremorne
10am-4pm

Heading further north to Collingwood are Alexi Freeman's studio and the Lightly Studio & Showroom. Both artists are stockists at our shop, and it's a wonderful opportunity to have a behind-the-scenes peek at what they do. PS, come view Alexi's collaborative work Interstellar Gown (which was produced with jeweller Tessa Blazey) at Craft Vic in the morning before you visit the artist!

Lightly
3 Glasshouse Road, Collingwood
11am-4pm

Alexi Freeman
Level 1, 66B Johnston Street, Collingwood
12-5pm
 
This year, we're super excited to have The Mercator Building involved in our open studios program. Quite a few of our stockists have studios there, so be prepared to bring your wallet (hehe). 


The Mercator Building is located on the eastern edge of the Abbotsford Convent precinct at 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
10am-4pm

Further along the way towards Brunswick East are two more wonderful locations to visit: Northcote Pottery Supplies, one of Melbourne's finest ceramics studios and Pop Craft, a pop up shop presenting 'luxurious fibres for classy people'. Pop Craft is only open for a couple of weeks more (it closes at the end of the month) so if yarn is your thing, you won't want to miss it!


Northcote Pottery Supplies
142-144 Weston Street9am-4pm

Pop Craft
510 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
10am-5pm



SOUTH-ish - Middle Park and Albert Park

If you live on the other side of the river, visit the two fantastic ceramics studios that are right by your doorstep. Shelly Panton's beautiful studio/shop (located in a century-old butcher's store) and the Gasworks Ceramics Studio are bound to impress. Shelly will be busy working away at her wheel, showing you how her tableware is made, and over at Gasworks it's a double-whammy as the open studio also coincides with the August farmers market!

Gasworks Arts Park
Corner Graham & Pickles Streets, Albert Park
10am-1pm

Shelly Panton88 Park Road, Middle Park
10am-5.30pm


Wear comfortable shoes, bring a smile, get yourself a $3 weekend transport ticket and HAVE FUN!

*1,000th post*! and introducing... craft tv

craft tv: Nicholas Jones from Craft Victoria on Vimeo.

This post marks our 1,000th on CLOG - wow! Here's the to the next 1,000.

To celebrate this, today we're proud to debut the first instalment of craft tv. Producted in association with Bandit Films, this is the first episode in a series of short films on individual Melbourne artists and craft makers.

Nicholas Jones is a Melbourne-based sculptor who uses books and printed paper to make works which question the manner in which books are ‘read’.

Books are capsules; vessels designed to hold information, borne of investigation or of personal expression. These objects are often venerated, held aloft as are amulets, as the source of reasoned knowledge, the fecund field awaiting the harvest. Sequestered away in dusty libraries, spines anticipating the eye of the beholder, these books tactility remains at arms length.

The physical act of folding, tearing and sewing book leaves, may be considered iconoclastic (extinguishing the fire of reason, perhaps). Although sometimes iconised for their content or historical importance, more often than not, books are discarded as cultural detritus.

These transformed books aim to highlight the poetic nature of the book as form. As historical phenomena, books have reflected the evolution of mankind, and although besieged by new technologies, the book remains steadfastly both the solver of the riddle and the creator of the labyrinth.

Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for sticking around!

Studio visit: Sophie Milne

It's been a while since our last studio visit, but we're back! This week we're featuring Melbourne ceramicist Sophie Milne's beautiful space at Northcote Pottery in Brunswick East.

OK, OK, so we may have been sitting on this one for a while, but for good reason! On Saturday 20 August, Sophie along with the other ceramicists at Northcote Pottery will be opening their studio doors to the public as part of our Craft Cubed open studios program. This is usually a private studio, so it's a wonderful opportunity to visit these talented and lovely people! They'll be open from 9am-4pm, and to get there catch the 1 or 8 tram to the Lygon x Weston Street stop in Brunswick East. Easy-peasy.

Anyhoo, Sophie is one of our most beloved stockists at our shop and we've seen dozens of her tumblers, jugs, bottles, bowls, platters and condiment dishes go to dozens of loving dinner tables over the years. On a sidenote, Sophie is also a fantastic teacher as recently two of us (Anita & Kim) enrolled in her basic wheelthrowing class at Northcote Pottery (which we highly recommend!)

When we visited Sophie she was working on some new designs, some of which we've cheekily previewed here - can you spot them?

Without further ado, we hope you enjoy our visit to Sophie's studio!

Sophie is very neat! and organised!

Works in the kiln

Remember, the Northcote Pottery open studio day is on Saturday 20 August from 9am to 4pm. You'll be able to visit Sophie's studio along with other ceramicists Raymond Laurens, Connie Lichti, Demelza Clayton, Wendy Reeve, Rene & Lucy Carrasco. Click here for more information.

A big thank you to Sophie for her time! Be sure to check out her blog six hundred degrees as well!


Photography: Kim Brockett

Coming soon...

A visit to ceramicist Sophie Milne's studio in Brunswick East!

Studio visit: Emily Green

Today, CLOG is proud to present a visit to the wonderful Emily Green's studio! We first met Emily when she participated in our emerging artist market Craft Hatch back in 2010, and after enjoying roaring success Emily soon began stocking at our shop. In fact, this lady has been so successful that she now has her work in 28 cute boutiques all over Australia. That's right, TWENTY EIGHT! Talk about world domination!


In addition to being awesome, Emily has also managed to find time to create a super cool installation for our enCOUNTER window space. Entitled Polygramatic, this exhibition consists of suspended large scale collages done in her signature style. Our good friend Dawn Tan has beat us to the chase and taken some beaaaautiful installation shots including the one below:

Photo by Dawn Tan

Polygramatic is on for a couple more weeks till 30 July. enCOUNTER is a street level 24/7 space, so you can view Emily's installation ANY TIME!


A lot of you might be already familiar with Emily's bright fimo necklaces and collage brooches (seeing as how they're stocked pretty much all over town), and we hope you enjoy this peek into the processes behind Emily's beautiful work. Enjoy!

Works for Polygramatic

Emily also always has the BEST outfits on! Seriously!

Necklaces waiting to be finished - we have some in stock at the moment at the shop and online

A big thank you to Emily for letting us visit her studio at Harvest Textiles :-)

 To view more photos, please visit our Facebook album!

Photography: Kim Brockett