bookmaking

One day we will do this together...young hands learning to run fingers over texture, beauty. Gathering, folding, cutting, stitching...an art that is ancient yet indespensible. To create a series of surfaces that contain thoughts, dreams, history, future. To collate all of this hope in one bound volume, a legacy.
Book making has been around for as long as people have had a need to record. To carry some of that history into the hands of those that will hold the future....
For now, I am making books for them...running fingers over texture, cutting, collating, stitching. So that they might make their mark upon its cover, its pages.

packing

One of my favourite things to do, gather materials and pack kits...something soothing and ordered about rows of natural-coloured bags, systematically filled with class goodies!
The latest goodness to take over my table are those in progress for the beginning of our stamp making series starting at Riverbend NEXT MONDAY 17th OCTOBER!!
If you would like to join our three week series, there is still room left in this after school class - PLEASE BOOK NOW!

Stamping wrap up

I so love this stamp making series!
With a small group of chatty engaged children, a mix of boys and girls, hands busy - carving and concentrating - we thoroughly enjoyed our three afternoons together at the Gallery Cafe! The environment is warm and inviting and with the promise of hot chips and milkshakes for a late afternoon snack, they enthusiasticly engaged in our learning + creating!
Our third and final week was all about learning to use our stamps - creating pattern repeats and learning basic print making techniques. The children, after planning their designs, stamped up a storm and made some beautiful custom leathergoods - a bookmark, keychain and small pocket notebook as well as gift tags!
This series is a wonderful introduction to the art of carving and printmaking, using kid-friendly rubber + foam and basic design ideas. The children have left with some beautiful work, stamps they can re-use again + again and having learned a new skill - I am sure there will be much more stamp carving going on in these households in the days to come!

on the stamping journey

We had a wonderful introduction to stamping last week as we talked about inspiration from nature, geometery and things they liked that inspired them! We created some very basic stamps or 'negative print images' using foam sheets and a blunt pencil to 'engrave' designs...this is a great art project idea at home. I encouraged the children to practice their 'print repeats'at home, making a pattern out of their designs!

This week, we will launch into learning how to carve our designs in rubber!
I can't wait to see what designs they come up with!

material delight

Oh there is something about a wild windy, rainy day and being tucked inside creating!!
There are some days when I love my job to bits!
The smell of weathered leather
The precision of cutting and punching holes
The satisfaction of gathering...especially in newly made vessels!
The delight of a little voice on the bench beside me singing 'miss polly had a dolly who was sick, sick, sick....' while thrusting a toy stethoscope into said dolly's tummy!
I think I will lay these out for a little after-school test-making
ready to be stamped with unique designs, just as we will do in the Gallery Cafe stamping series commencing this Thursday afternoon...
this week we will begin with inspiration from great artists who have used linocut technique in their art, we will sketch and plan our designs...ready for our coming weeks when we carve + create...and finally stamp some beautiful leathergoods + stationery with our very own designs!
Such satisfaction in gathering...such anticipation of wonderful making!

gathering * part II leather goodness

We are very excited about the creativity that comes forth at the hand of your children as they learn to carve their very own stamps! In this second series of stamp making, we will look at new inspiration in geometric shapes and patterns.
Right now, we are loving the leather - soft and beautiful - ready to be made into exciting products and stamped with their very own designs - notebooks, keyrings, bookmarks - just the perfect gift idea for a special Dad on Fathers day!
Book now for this exciting 3 week series running on Thursday afternoons from 3.45-4.45pm at the Gallery Cafe Carindale.
PLACES ARE LIMITED AND FILLING FAST! We start two weeks today - Thurs 24th August 2011!

new classes * gallery cafe

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
ALL NEW THREE WEEK STAMP MAKING SERIES

We had such a successful + enjoyable time in the after school stamp making classes last term, there have been requests to repeat this series - HERE IT IS!

COMMENCING THURSDAY AFTERNOONS 24th AUGUST 3.45-4.45PM
RUNNING FOR 3 WEEKS

In these classes we will explore the technique of handcarving and experiment with different mediums, eventually carving our own rubber stamp designs. We will then make some exciting products using our stamps and learn about printmaking in the process!

THIS IS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE UNIQUE GIFTS FOR FATHER'S DAY!
We will provide lots of exciting ideas to make within our last class.

I highly recommend this series as the children really enjoyed learning how to carve, experimenting with the tools and design ideas until they were happy with their creations. The children came away having learn't a new skill, made some beautiful stamps that they could continue to use and some wonderful products with those stamps - journal cover, gift tags and drawstring bag to keep their stamps in!
I urge you to book now as there are limited places in this class - earlybird and sibling discounts apply!

stamp making wrap up

What a wonderful series this was! The children produced such amazing work and are inspired to go and purchase their own tools and keep carving! They headed home loaded up with handmade stamps, gift tags, journals with handmade cover and a small drawstring bag to keep their stamps in - half the fun is all the things you can take home after all!!
I will let their work speak for itself below...what amazing artists!

thanks so much to my friend K for snaping some photos of our last session xx

Final Stampmaking class

We have had such a marvellous time in our intimate afternoon stamping class. The children have tumbled in windblown from a day at school and it has been wonderful to see how much enjoyment and enthusiasm they have shown for their art class!

:: Australian Artist, Rachel Newling linocut

In our first week, we looked at the ancient art of woodblock carving, through lino carving and enjoyed inspiration from the masters, Matisse and Picasso as well as contemporary Australian linocut artists. We then began planning our designs, drawing and learning about positive and negative images. We completed this full class with a basic introduction to stamp production, a negative image using a blunt pencil and sheet of foam...

:: Caleb's creations - aren't they wonderful!

In our second class, the confidence and enthusiasm was mounting as the children learned a new skill, the art of carving their own positive and negative images in soft rubber to make their own stamps -the results were spectacular!
This week, we complete the series by using our very own stamps to make gift tags, gift bags, and stamp on fabric and produce a journal cover! The children will take home the products together with their handmade stamps, and most inspiringly, a new skill learned. It is my hope there will be many more making days ahead at home!
I have so enjoyed the intimate group and watching their confidence blossom as they mastered the techniques. Our conversations have been imaginative and inspiring!

Thank you to each of my students - you truely are artists - keep creating! xx M

it begins today!

kits packed
inspiration collected
weather perfect for cozy-creating
an afternoon coffee-break for mama's
so looking forward to beginning the journey of stampmaking with children today
this class will inspire with great art and equip with new skills
most of all, it will encourage confidence in thinking creatively
here's to an exciting journey!

stamp making series - BOOK NOW!

I am just finalising the lesson plans for the after school stamping series - really excited!
Not only will the children learn a new skill, how to design + carve their own basic stamps, they will take home some lovely journals, gift tags + stationery made with their very own stamp design!
We will explore some wonderful inspiration both in nature + in the work of other artists to create our designs.
If you are considering enrolling in some of our classes, I would recommend this short course - the process consolidated and learned over three weeks will be one that your child will reuse again and again!
YOU'LL NEED TO HURRY - CLASSES BEGIN NEXT THURSDAY 9TH JUNE 2011 - DON'T MISS OUT!!

:: sourcing beautiful materials!

:: for those who are curious...my 9yrold carved the leaf stamp (seen in the top image), in fact many leaf stamps and gives them as gifts!!