Inspiration: Lucienne Day

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Lucienne Day, circa 1952The work of Lucienne Day inspires a lot of contemporary interpretations, but it always worthwhile to know more than the surface of a designer's work. Day's work is part of Designing Women: Post-War British Textiles: a current exhibition at the British Textiles Museum. The book Robin and Lucienne Day: Pioneers in Modern Design by Lesley Jackson (Chronicle, 2001) is also worth adding to your library.

Around the web:

• Lucienne Day 1917-2010, remembrance in the Guardian

• Robin Day obituary

• An interview and home tour of Robin and Lucienne Day with Wallpaper magazine, December 2008.

• V&A Lucienne Day archives

• Classic Textiles' reissue of some iconic designs


CalyxLapisFall

Ducatoon

photo by Anne-Katrin Purkiss

National Stationery Show

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Some of UPPERCASE's favourite stationery companies will be at the National Stationery Show (May 20-23). 

The following are all represented by Crow & Canary, a fine art card and gift representation company:


Dear Hancock

Susy Jack

Pie Bird PressStudio Olivine

If you're exhibiting at NSS or Surtex and you'd like us to consider featuring your work on the blog, send us your url via twitter! 

Ornitholego Society

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Gloria GoldfinchBritish bird and LEGO enthusiast Thomas Poulsom created a series of gorgeous local birds in LEGO blocks. Pictured here is Gloria Goldfinch, but he's also done a puffin, a woodpecker, a kingfisher, a robin, and a blue tit. 

Thanks to the LEGO site Cuusoo, amateur designs like this actually have a chance of being made into official LEGO products, if they get 10,000 supporters on the site. Poulsom's birds still have a very long way to go, but they are very deserving with their lovely simplicity. 

via Make.

Stitch: Amanda McCavour

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I get a lot of email and lots of submissions and suggestions and genuine interest in the magazine. It can get overwhelming in that I don't have time to reply as personally or quickly as I'd like to, but I do review everything and it all gets categorized into Evernote for future reference and possible posting on the blog. I appreciate your submissions (keep them coming!), but be patient with hearing back from me...

Amanda McCavour sent some notable examples of her installation work this week. Using thread and dissolving fabric, she sews intricate scenes of domesticity.

In my work, I use a sewing machine to create thread drawings and installations by sewing into a fabric that dissolves in water. This fabric makes it possible for me to build up the thread by sewing repeatedly into my drawn images so that when the fabric is dissolved, the image can hold together without a base. These thread images appear as though they would be easily unraveled and seemingly on the verge of falling apart, despite the works actual raveled strength. 

I am interested in the vulnerability of thread, its ability to unravel, and its strength when it is sewn together.  I am interested in the connections between process and materials and the way that they relate to images and spaces.  Tracing actions and environments through a process of repetition, translation and dissolving, I hope to trace absence.  My work is a process of making as a way of tracing and preserving things that are gone, or slowly falling apart.  

Calling all fearless designers

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Chicago's Firebelly Design came up with an interesting solution to all the internship requests they receive. Camp Firebelly, an intensive apprenticeship experience like no other, was created for 10 talented folks looking to break into the design profession and use their powers for good. Camp Firebelly challenges students and recent grads to address social issues through a collaborative project of their own design.

Are you a fearless and highly talented designer? Get your application in by May 4.

Hillman Curtis

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In honour of the inspiring creative force Hillman Curtis who passed away this week from cancer.


"Be prepared to reinvent yourself, be prepared to go out on a limb occasionally, and be prepared to do the things that you feel strongly about that maybe other people don’t… For me what started out as a creative vacation…has become my life calling." 

Ties that bind

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We received this video from Etsy last week. It is about Aysegul & Sebahat Cetinkaya, a mother/daughter team from Bolu, Turkey who run an Etsy store (irregularexpressions.etsy.com) and make accessories with a  crochet hook, needle, some thread, and beads.

Their work is breathtaking and is now on my covet list. But, the video is about more than their craft; it's about the relationship between a mother and daughter, one that is both singularly unique, and yet somehow also universal in nature.

I come from a family of women who have created a stunning handwork legacy. My Grandmother could walk through a department store and recreate a coat she saw. My Aunt and I are linked through the creation of handmade Teddy bears. My Mother is a prolific knitter and has blessed us with many handknits. One recent Christmas morning, Mom and I each presented the other with a handknit cowl.

I am humbled by the talents of the women in my family and blessed to be able to pass these skills to my children. For us, handwork and creativity really are the ties that bind.

Guest Post: Crafter-noons and a suitcase full of paper

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Skye writes:

"I began scouring the internet for anything ‘paper’. And immediately felt totally intimidated! If you look at the back of PAPER BLISS there are a wealth of ‘inspiring sites and people’ to look up. And these, among many more, have been my inspiration. But you know, you do what you do. We each have our own abilities and aesthetic, and what made me feel confident was that I was just like so many other people: unsure of my skills, uncertain of how projects might work out once I’d thrown myself full throttle into them. So, I have no idea how to construct paper couture, or minutely fanned and intricately folded origami sculptures. But, I consoled myself, I have my own, somewhat ‘shabby’ aesthetic, and that, my friends, would have to do! There was no turning back.

Skye's friend Mimi waving the tissue petals dry after painting their rims pink.

And I did what I always do: had madcap ‘crafter-noons’ with friends where we sat around my outdoor table and ate nice food and drank tea (and maybe some wine) and got to making something from the stuff that was in front of us. It was amazing to see people’s skills revealed in this way! It taught me much, which I was keen to pass on as tips throughout the book.

 Skye during a crafter-noon.

I also went on holidays with my paper! Much to my boyfriends bemusement, I took suitcases full of paper bits away with me. Clothes would come a very poor second or third, after inspiring books and yards of interesting papers to construct things from. At the airport, I scurried through the people scanner, wondering how I might explain it all should I be asked to open my bulging bags."

 

Next up: A paper baby.

 

Guest Post: Using technology to mock up a book about paper.

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Skye's early mock up of Paper Bliss.

Skye writes:

"Not surprising, perhaps, for someone so visually orientated, I started with a visual representation of my idea. I gathered images from the net and from things I’d made over the year and plonked them all in a desktop folder called ‘Paper Book’. I then did a rather bad mock-up I now realise (though I am a designer in many senses of the word, I am no book designer!), scattering a myriad of images that took my fancy around square pages in INDESIGN, which I use despite not really knowing an awful lot about it, technically speaking!

I had this 20-odd page document printed onto lovely heavy-weight paper, spiral bound it and wrote an introduction and a few sample projects, plus a contents page. I pretty much made that up, as I wasn’t sure yet which projects would make the cut or not. The ideas I had for things to make were really rather a ‘wish list’…I’d find out if I could do them afterwards (I’m a cart-before-the-horse kind of person!)."

 

Next up: Crafter-noons and a suitcase full of paper

 

 

Monday Guest Post: Inspiraton for Skye

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Skye writes:


"I got the idea for Paper Bliss from having so much paper around me all the time! I was on the lookout for things to do with paper and card samples that I would otherwise put in the recycle bin. It was this, but also a strong desire to ‘go deep’ into something…and to find an excuse to spend time physically making things rather than on the computer so much. A book allows an immersion into a subject that not many other things do: it’s kind of like doing a Uni (college) degree (I never did one, so it’s my kind of University degree!)…or a thesis of some kind.There were also a plethora of cool, how-to crafty type books being published in Australia and I wanted to join the fray!"

 

Next up: Skye talks about the process she used to create Paper Bliss

 

Guest Post Monday: Skye Rogers

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While you are waiting for your favourite postal person to deliver issue #13, we thought we would share recent work from one of our previous contributors. Skye Rogers shared stories of her life with paper in issue #12.

Skye has been an illustrator for a good part of her adult life. But the long apprenticeship to her career was her childhood passion: she has been drawing on, cutting up, stamping on and pasting bits of paper together since she was very young.  

Her book, Paper Bliss was released on April 1st.

From the publisher:

PAPER BLISS has fantastic paper craft projects for all levels: from those at ′infants school′ and only at paper-aeroplane level to more advanced projects for ′paperians′ to get their teeth into, to those at paper high school who want to advance their skills with some more complex and elaborate projects. With some easily sourced items: scissors, cutting blade and mat, glue, fancy fasteners, paper punches, needle and thread and some found, pre-loved, new, hand-decorated, plain or recycled paper, there are hours of fun to be had with these projects. Whether it′s the simple completion of something that inspires you, a gift for a special friend or spending part of a day with the kids away from more pressing demands, you might be surprised by what you find.

Next up: Sky shares her inspiration for the project.

Monday is guest post day on UPPERCASE. If you are interested in participating, please contact Erin.

w.i.p.s wednesday: Andrea D'Aquino

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final illustration by Andrea D'Aquino

When you work with illustrator Andrea D'Aquino, be prepared for her enthusiasm, generosity and amazing talent! Andrea illustrated the cover of issue #9 (which is one of my favourite covers) and so I asked her to illustrate an article in the current issue about quilting and community. She outdid herself with so many great images to choose from. She called these "roughs" but they're all publishable quality, that's for sure! Look at this abundance of riches:

Thank you, Andrea. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.

You can read more about Andrea in Work/Life 2: the UPPERCASE directory of illustration, international edition.

Eva Franco

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Last summer I had the pleasure of visiting Eva Franco in her amazing studio in Los Angeles. Eva has been an UPPERCASE subscriber for quite a while and she came to visit our booth at the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles. Eva and her studio will be featured in the spring issue of UPPERCASE that is currently in progress. (A primary themes I'm exploring in the next issue is indie fashion as well as luck/superstition and how weather influences creativity). 

Eva's just posted this video on her blog. It offers a glimpse at her creative process and will whet your appetite for more!

 

Source: modcloth.com via Janine on Pinterest

 

 

A selection of Eva's clothes are available through ModCloth. More of my favourites on Pinterest.