The Crafted Object
Making things with your hands sets up dialogues – between the materials and you, between you and the stories you imbue into the piece, and between the eventual owner, their history and what meanings they overlay onto that object. It’s a beautiful dance.
And it’s never just about the technical skill required.
The crafted object : Mark O’Brien {cardboard}
Mark O'Brien makes chickens. From cardboard. And cars, guitars, robots and shoes... The Manchester-based illustrator who graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a degree in Graphic Arts chooses to work in cardboard for its accessibility, and...
Opinion : 3D printing and craft
Just how do 3D printing and craft fit together? Is it just a matter of using a virtual image or scanning in what you want and shoving a copy of that thing out of the printer? Or as many copies as you want out of the printer? And how is that craft? {click image...
Precision and surprise : the 3D printed jewellery of Cinnamon Lee
Cinnamon Lee's first encounter with 3D manufacturing technologies was at the Australian National University, while she was undertaking her Visual Arts degree. ANU had just acquired an FDM rapid prototyping machine, and she took to it immediately; she...
The crafted object : Sim Luttin {jewellery}
Australian jeweller Sim Luttin grew up wanting be an inventor. Time spent watching things being created by her grandfather tinkering in his shed and her scientist father had a profound and early influence on her. "I was encouraged to do things in a more labour...
The crafted object : Sandra Bowkett {ceramic}
Sandra Bowkett is one of those artists that the more you find out about them, the more in awe you are of them. Sandra is a ceramicist living in pristine woodland near Tallarook in central Victoria with her partner, producing cups and bowls in porcelain...
The crafted object : Britta Boeckmann {resin & wood jewellery}
Britta Boeckmann moved to Australia for love. When she got here, she fell in love all over again with its beautiful wood. Combining Australian native timbers with translucent resins and semi-precious stones, her jewellery looks a bit architectural with its bold,...
The crafted object : Chris Taylor {ceramics}
Looking at Chris Taylor's multi-coloured vessels I am reminded of layers of wallpaper in an ancient house. Pattern on pattern over paint, in colours that are both rich and muted. And just like wallpaper, layers on layers bring with them ideas of process, and each...
The crafted object : Moshikoart {jewellery}
I was a bit stumped for words when I first spotted the silver and resin jewellery of Moshiko Boshe (aka MoshikoArt). "Bright" and "colourful" didn't quite do it justice. Based in Tel Aviv, Moshiko's work is kind of a wild hybrid between organic and...
The crafted object : Cardboard Safari
When Chris Jessee first interviewed Luis Rodrigalvarez to come on board his fledgling laser-cutting business building model kits for model train enthusiasts, Spanish-born Luis could barely speak English. Chris was dubious. But then Luis showed Chris his portfolio,...
The crafted object : Your Organ Grinder (textiles)
I have long been fascinated by the curious felted viscera of Simmone Spring from Your Organ Grinder. Eyes, kidneys, teeth, brains, hearts, lungs, thyroid... Who buys them? Why? "I get to work with a lot of people who are ill or have had surgeries or have...
Opinion + Design how-to : There’s decoration and there’s decoration
There's decoration and there's decoration, and seriously, it's not just a matter of taste. What do I mean? I mean the thoughtless sticking on of stuff, just because "it's-popular-therefore-it-must-be-good" or even "it needed something, so I stuck a flower/bow/octopus...
Opinion : Hot or Not?
Yippee! SO excited about this new segment on tractorgirl. What I'm going to do is pick a current trend in craft and design, review it, and pull it apart to see if it's worth having as a trend. Whadya reckon? Be warned, the vagaries of my personal taste are bound to...
The crafted object : MarDeColorRosa {jewellery}
A long time ago, Montserrat Lacomba visited an island called Formantera, where she saw a pink sea. She called it "MarDeColorRosa". Now, she shares her time between her home and workshop in Girona, Spain, and the island, surrounded by her beloved...
The crafted object : Kelly Darke (textiles)
Kelly Darke works full time as an art therapist. "Creating art has always been a personal source of comfort for me and when I learned about art therapy I actually didn't believe it was a real thing - art and psychology? That seemed like a perfect combination. I love...
The crafted object : Maria Queen Maria {clothing}
The clothing of Maria Queen Maria is a wild hybrid of unstructured yardage and tailored forms, influenced by everything from Vivienne Westwood to Issey Miyake and Moschino with steampunk and pirate thrown in for good measure. Sometimes it simply borders on the...
The crafted object : Boo and Boo Factory (jewellery)
Neon-vibrant and fearlessly wild are just a few of the words I would use when describing the work of Christina Anton, the maker behind Boo and Boo Factory. Her earrings, necklaces and other accessories are vividly unmistakable in their flamboyant combinations of...
The crafted object : Irregular Expressions (textile jewellery)
When I first saw the freeform crochet of Irregular Expressions, I was hooked, so to speak. It is an intriguing mix of traditional stitch, rich colours and lush, organic form that is folk craft with a large slice of edge. But when I approached the family team that form...
Surface design : Cressida Bell
Cressida Bell is an extraordinary artist for several reasons. A fabulously talented surface designer, she designs, paints and screen prints, producing a wide range of objects for the home, stationery, and accessories for men and women. AND she is also an utterly...
Craft icon : Julie Blyfield {jewellery}
Julie Blyfield's beautiful pieces have been on my radar ever since I came across them in an exhibition of work from the Gray Street Workshop in Brisbane, during the Australian Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group conference in 2000. She spends a lot of time observing and...
The crafted object : Danielle Gori-Montanelli {felt jewellery}
Danielle Gori-Montanelli's glorious felt pieces are vibrant with colour. Handcut and handsewn from felts sourced throughout the US and Europe, they are tactile and chunky, radiating playfulness and whimsy with their licorice allsort layers and their exuberant gardens...
The crafted object : Nepinka {beading}
In Ukranian, there is no such word as 'Nepinka'. Olya Mytsko chose the name just because it sounded interesting. Olya is pretty interesting herself. She is fascinated by the nexus between old and new, preferring to keep her eyes open to the road in...
The crafted object : Rosie Perl – Artworker
There are layers and layers and layers to Rosie Perl and her artwork; and it's hard to define exactly what it is that she does. Sometimes she's a surface designer, sometimes a sculptor, sometimes an installation artist; but there is always the thread of craftsmanship...
The crafted object : Susana Teixeira {jewellery}
I was first drawn to Susana Teixeira's jewellery for the little pods of colour in her rings and pendants. Inspired by sponges and corals from the sea, they are tactile and intriguing. And of course, who am I to ignore rich, vibrant colour when I see it? ...
The crafted object : Woolspace {Vaiva & Liudmila – knit}
The handknitted wool socks of Woolspace are steeped in the centuries-old tradition of the folk crafts of the Baltic, twisted through with new ideas and fresh approaches including the use of upcycled yarns, bright, non-traditional colours and modern motifs. Mother and...
The crafted object : pipapiep {jewellery}
Pipapiep Esty Gertzman {aka Pipapiep} manages to straddle that line between bright and fun, and seriously, elegantly good. Bulbous beads of painted wood in bright colours combine with fluffy pompoms in pieces that are both amusing and beautiful. They are eclectic and...
The crafted object : Susan Hanft ~ ceramics
The simple shapes and hand drawn patterns of Susan Hanft's ceramics tread an elegant line between amusing and serious. Like cartoon versions of themselves, their chunky contours are outlined and patterned with simple things - checks, dots, stripes and crosses, in a...
The crafted object : ArtKvarta {jewellery}
Yulia grew up in a small town in the Ukraine, with few opportunities and conservative attitudes towards art, but she always loved making things with her hands. She never wanted to work in an office for someone else, and just wanted to make a living doing something...
this. magazine ~ celebrating two years of tractorgirl
this. magazine YES! Next month marks the two year anniversary for this blog. It has been SUCH wonderful fun to scour the interwebs for the visually stunning AND be rewarded with such great stories from the artists as well. That's why I've decided to...
The crafted object : Jibby and Juna {polymer clay jewellery}
When she was tiny, Genevieve Williamson used to play with her imaginary friends, Jibby and Juna. It is the perfect name for her polymer clay jewellery. "In my mind they still epitomize childhood, freedom, imagination and most importantly, play." ...
The crafted object : iheartfink {clothing}
Kristen is the one-woman show behind iheartfink. Starting with sourcing the remnant and recycled fabrics she uses, she designs and makes her own silkscreens, mixes her own water-based inks, handprints the fabrics, and then sews them into her original designs, which...