Meet me Monday

Welcome to my first ever 'meet me mondays' where I am giving over my blog space to introduce some artists to you...I get to combine my love of craft and community and for me it's a joy to approach people who I genuinely admire and pick their creative brains!!

My first lovely local 'meet me' craft maker is Chrissy. I am always fiddling with the cute as a button eco ring she swapped me for one of my brooches at the Avid market which she attends once monthly. I love her jewellery and her joyful way of recycling...so over to Chrissy...

"In my Community/Public Art work I love making art accessible and collaborating with people, and love working with kids.

Sharing creativity rocks my world, especially if it’s also environmentally friendly!

I LOVE scrounging around op-shops for beautiful fabrics and funky materials to upcycle into jewellery and whimsical mixed media artworks. I have a fabric fetish and love pushing the pedal to the metal on my trusty PFAFF sewing machine!!

I use loads of recycled/reclaimed materials...there’s an element of alchemy in turning junk into something beautiful...something really special about finding inspiration from discarded items ~ they’re usually so unique and individual. I also feel proud that I’m diverting waste through my artworks and eco-art workshops.

I’ve really honed in a few op-shops that are still run by charities, with true, old-school stock without the exorbitant prices. Gimme gimme good ol’ op-shops! Digging deep through shelves and drawers in an op-shop like this is heaven for me! I’m also a regular at Reverse Garbage in West End, Brisbane ~ always a treasure trove of wacky goodness!

The first time I create something...I love the rush of (the feeling of) being a kid again and running up to Mum saying ‘Look what I made!!’, except now hubby has to be the one to look all starry eyed at my newest arty adventure....when I create something and it becomes a range, my first eco-brooch, my first mixed-media artwork, or my first fabric eco-ring.

I’ve recently come across an AMAZING artist who goes by the name of Eve’s Little Earthlings. She makes fantastic tree-lookalike stuffies out of old wool jumpers, which she salvages from op-shops. Trees + recycled materials?! You had me at ‘hello’!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EvesLittleEarthlings

If I had 5 minutes of fame I’d spend it showing parents and kids how to make art using things they’d normally throw out. There’s SO much waste the average family can reduce by getting creative! And what a great way for parents to spend quality time with their kids.

decorated planter pots made out of recycled milk containers,

colourful wrapping paper using painted newspapers,

hand-made journals using recycled printed office paper,

flower mobiles using bottle tops and tin foil,

animals out of cardboard containers and carpet off-cuts."

Chrissy generously shared the thoughts behind her work with me -it's only through others that my intention to promote ethical creative business and positive interconnections between folk can be realised so if you'd like to be involved drop me a line... I hope you enjoy meeting me on Mondays to meet others!

http://chrissyforemanc.blogspot.com/

http://www.chrissyforemanc.com/

xkate