Soldier on

Have had an awful headcold this past week, no capoeira, no jogging, but a fair bit of Codral and a lot of studio mayhem. On Sunday the beau and our boy spent the afternoon looking under rocks for insects, so I had a few hours in the studio working on far too many projects at the one time, it felt a bit like motor skills dyslexia.

Hopefully in the coming week I'll have a few new samples ready, amidst undercoating the bathroom and planting vegie seedlings.

Twice Bitten

One of my most favourite places to visit is Pieces of Eight, I love the design of their logo, their shop, and their Northside location, 635 Brunswick St, Nth Fitzroy, opposite Edinburgh Gdns.

'Twice Bitten' is the name of their current show, which runs till the 26th of April, so this is the last week you have to see it. Thirteen jewellers were given the brief to make earrings, and so they have! The work shows a huge variety of techniques and materials, and includes my most fave, David Parker.

I have been lusting after his pieces for about 7 years now, and if I was a rich biiatch I would be festooned with his creations. I particularly love that his designs are so simple, so cleanly executed, and with tres tres high quality metals and stones. Apparently it's the way he sets stones that is so special, those in the know speak of this in admiring tones.

Maybe if I had started saving 7 years ago I would be on my way to some Sapphire Earrings by now......or perhaps a Topaz Tension Ring. Do you think I could drop some sizeable hints for Mothers Day?

Northside Muzenza

Yes indeed folks, we are teaching capoeira in Brunswick! Ever since I moved to Melbourne 10 years ago I have lived in or adjacent to Brunswick, and am very excited to be able to ride my bike 5 mins to class.

If you can't read the fine print details are as follows:
Arroz and myself, Maria Trovao are teaching beginners capoeira
7:30 - 9 pm at The Playspace
290 Albert St Brunswick,
which is between Sydney Rd and the Safeway carpark.

Black in Fashion

Last Thursday and Friday I led two workshops as a tutor in making leather accessories, all done at the NGV as part of their Youth Access program. This was in response to their 'Black in Fashion: Mourning to Night' show, which is stunning, even for a non-black wearer like myself.

The workshops were with boys aged 15-18 who are not in mainstream education or employment, and let me say they are feisty individuals indeed! The image below looks like we are about to do a B&D workshop, and one of the kids looked at all the tools we had lined up and said, "Are we gonna torture each other or some shit?"

I had a range of things they could make, but in true non conformist style they all chose wristbands, which they said were a bit too emo for them and that they would all try to sell them to some emos at Flinders St station afterwards. Entrepeneurs.

Thursday's session was a bit chaotic, but everyone left with a finished piece, some cleverly customised, and one bloke was so neat and perfect in his work, I was not surprised when he said he was a Virgo.

Friday's boys were a bit younger, and we did every step of the project together, which was much more streamlined. Some of the boys were talking about Crips and Bloods, acting all hard, and when I started asking them if they had been to Compton or listened to NWA, they were astounded that an 'old person' could school them about early hip hop. "Miss how do you know all that?"



Can't take credit for these, Vivienne Westwood is the one responsible.

Ta-da!

My babies are finished!

It's always the best feeling to get all the touch ups done, photos done, and then you can get them on your feet for the first time. As many makers know, the 'finishing' of any item is so frustrating and time consuming, and speaking for shoemaking, it's damn fiddly and there can be a lot of it. Sometimes when I make things for myself I cheat a bit, and leave a few things that I would finish to the nth degree for someone else.

I am also extra pleased that this week is getting to 28 degrees by Friday, so that I can give these marvellous wedges an outing. I have been a bit unsure as to what to call the style of this shoe, technically it's a mule, which means backless, but I have never been keen on that term. They could be a slide, but to me that signifies a flat shoe. I guess I have settled on calling them my Hong Kong wedges, the reference to HK being the shape of the sail and hull of a junk boat.

Walking in them is a new experience, I feel a bit like a Venetian lady teetering about on elevated chopines. All I can say is that the walking seems to be done from the toe, there is a big toe spring and I'm making the most of it.



I had to include a playing card somehow, to refer to the original below which was made for the Craft Vic window last Sept. The only place it could go was on the sock, which is the tasty detail I alluded to but kept secret a few posts back.

Yay, now there's room for something else on the list!

Mini Sneeks

I made these for my boy, they were started a while ago and now that they are finally done, his feet are too big! I love tiny sneakers, although the pattern pieces are so fiddly and easy to lose, stitching the uppers is an exercise in creative wrestling and swearing.

Generally it's quite nice to use small amounts of materials, and glue, the red suede uppers were salvaged from my scraps bag. It is a shame that he can't wear them though, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and if I was a three year old, these would be tasty indeed.

A question for those of you with kids, do you dress them like they were smaller versions of you? I sometimes notice that Leo and I are wearing the exact same colours, and in order to avoid that I dress him in earthy colours like brown and green, as I have a real aversion to all things brown.

My colour scheme is more like Napoleon's army, a lot of red, white and blue. Never ever ever black, it makes me feel invisible, same for brown, I feel like a drab bird. I love that others can wear these colours, they're just not me.

I could ramble on about colour for weeks, tone on tone, pastels vs brights, and can pale skinned people wear yellow? Let me know your preference.

It's that time again

How boring is a post without pics?!
Well you'll just have to have a break from constant visual bombardment while I tell you about the next Creative Women's Circle gathering.

This is your invitation to the next Creative Women’s Circle gathering this Saturday at MARS Gallery.

Our topic: HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS ONLINE
Our speaker: FIONA DYER OF “FEDE”

Fiona is a full time Mum and creative thinker with a background in interior design. In 2005 Fiona established a small business called “Fede”. Fede is a range of hand crafted cushions and children’s toys birthed from a love of soft furnishings and an expanding collection of gorgeous textiles.

Fiona has recently set about creating a strong online presence for her brand and she will be sharing with us some tips on how she has done this through an online shop at Etsy.com and through a blog. You can take a sneak peek at what Fiona has been up to at http://fededesigntextiles.blogspot.com/ and also at her online shop http://fede.etsy.com

As always this will be an informal session with lots of time for questions, interaction and networking before and after our speaker.

WHERE: MARS Gallery, 418 Bay Street, Port Melbourne
WHEN: Saturday 5th April
TIME: 11am – 1pm
RSVP: info@dearneherrenberg.com.au by Thursday 3rd April

Separate identities

A quick hello to say that I have a new blog which is strictly for capoeira, Muzenzamelbourne. It's such a big part of my life, so I think it deserves top billing, and not having to share the limelight with all this shoe/fashion/art business.
Hope you'll visit!

Inflatable Fashion

I am not sure if the Japanese are responsible for this amazing feat, but the images came from a friend who is living in Tokyo. My jaw dropped when I first saw them, I love this creativity, completely lateral thinking, my cup of tea.

For a non-girly girl like me it is quite ironic that this one is my favourite. Not sure about polka dot woman though, esp. those flesh tights, eeewww!



A bit of 'guy craft' as Pip would call it, my son likes this one. I love how there is a man inside, to give a sense of scale, or just a convenient hiding place!

One question; who is blowing up all these balloons?

Order and progress

Well it's been a time of cork dust in my studio, sanding these babies into shape. The words of my teachers are always in my mind; work each stage methodically from one to the other, keep everything in straight lines, planes, take off sharp edges/add curves at the very last step.

I think that they are done, and ready to be covered. The cover pattern looks quite bizarre, but so do so many shoemaking patterns. I have such a great idea for the socks (bits that cover the insole as a last finishing touch), wish I could tell you now but it'll have to wait till the unveiling!

I only wish I had these done before the cooler weather set in, we had 40 degrees here on Monday, now I have my woolly slippers on and am reaching for one of my many nanna crochet rugs!

Moo

After all this time let me elaborate on the cowhide project. A capoeira pal of mine, the lovely and very tall Helen, has been working for the artist Angus McDonald, who has made a lot of work about cows and bulls. He has done some furniture upholstered in cowhide, and when he found out through Helen that I am a shoemaker it was obvious that he had to have some cowhide footwear and a bikini (of course!).These were shown in an earlier post, they have been titled 'Alicante'.


These babies are called 'Marcella', and have a cork platform at the front, and the handmade heels shown earlier.



Piece de resistance, 'Andressque' after Ursula Andress in Dr No. ('Scuse the studio backdrop)

The show is called 'Snort!' and opened on the 11th March at Tim Olsen Gallery in Woollahra, it runs till the 30th.

Genesis of a heel

This was such a fun process, getting a cypress post and trimming it down into heels. I got to use my new bandsaw, yay, and sniffed a lot of aromatic sawdust. I love the look of the hairy shoe with a raw wooden heel, but they were destined to be covered heels. Sam and I made a silicone mold and cast them in resin with a steel rod through the centre.

It's Fashion Week, Darlings Pt 2

Well the above text is obviously too small to read, so here's what's happening.

A touring exhibition, curated by Kate Rhodes and Craft Victoria, How You Make It explores artisanal fashion design practices that draw on traditional tailoring techniques to form contemporary collections.

Existing garments are deconstructed: unpicked, reconfigured and reworked, using fine tailoring and conceptual templates in order to create a new style of clothes. These conceptual Australian fashion designers open a dialogue between craft and design that places the focus back on how and why objects are made.

The designers in the exhibition create not only new garment forms and new ways of wearing clothes, they develop new design systems. How You Make It will be accompanied by an exhibition catalogue, to be launched on the opening night.

The exhibition features new works by the following designers:

 Simon Cooper, Paula Dunlop, Ess.Laboratory (Hoshika Oshimi and Tatsuyoshi Kawabata), FORMALLYKNOWNAS (Toby Whittington, Anthea van Kopplen, MATERIALBYPRODUCT (Susan Dimasi and Chantal McDonald), Project (Kara Baker and Shelley Lasica) and S!X (Denise Sprynskil and Peter Boyd).

Exhibition open to the public: 6th March - 12th April 2008
Opening night: Friday 14th March, 2008, 6-8 pm
Guest Speaker: Karen Webster, Director, L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival

It's Fashion Week, Darlings

My awesome capoeira pal Ange has her fingers in many pies, the above flyer being one of her current projects.

'Fusing fashion, graffiti art and animation, this experimental new media performance will unleash Die Pretty's Winter 08 collection. This unique catwalk show, set against a stylised backdrop of super-cute digital graphics and virtual fashion, will take you on a mischievous adventure into the next dimension of style.
'Hosted by Horse Bazaar, one of Melbourne's premier new technology ventures, Stilettos in Cyber-Space will be screened with a cutting edge 8 projector setup. Illustrator Erika Jarvis, and media artist, Angela Barnett, have collaborated with fashion designer Rhea Amanda Brett, to produce this one off fashion experience that will entertain tech-heads and fashionistas alike.'

Sounds damn impressive, 3 creative ladies joining forces and doing their own thang. It's on at the aforementioned Horse Bazaar, 397 Little Lonsdale St, Sat 8th March at 9pm and it's free!

1st Muzenza Batizado

Well I said it would be a big week, which was true indeed, it was exhausting, a bit emotional and I definitely feel very much like I am a member of a great family.
During the week we started each class with music, lots of Ginga Mundo students keeping us company and celebrating Melbourne capoeira with us. On Wednesday we had a workshop with Professor Vira Lata from Ginga Mundo, a lot of students crammed into the studio, but the Brazilians always remind us that "in my country you have to fight for your space every class".

Friday was amazing in that Australians were doing capoeira on Friday night, not at the pub! And our Muzenza pants arrived just in time, fresh whites are always so good. Mestre Cicatriz from Sydney's Associacao Sinha Bahia de Capoeira gave a regional workshop focusing on armada, check out his kick below. He is so softly spoken and shy, has been playing for 26 years, has got awesome control and precision, and is so humble, it was so good for him to share his skills with us. (Check out Animacao giving thumbs up in this photo!)



Everyone hard at work.


Saturday our Batizado was held in Brunswick at the Playspace, for me it was so good to ride my bike for less then 10 mins to get there, I am a Northsider for sure! The studio was beautiful and has such a great floor, a strict no shoes policy which meant we had clean hands for a change!

Contra-Mestre Borracha from Sydney's Capoeira Acre led the warmup, which included a wheelbarrow walk in pairs across the room, a great way to break the ice. Then we were introduced to Mestre Goioere from Muzenza in Perth, who had flown all night to be with us. He is 2 or 3 times World Capoeira Champ, and is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. His workshop had simple elements but was complex in arrangement, different ways of putting it all together which had us all guessing. Beleza!

We then worked in pairs practicing takedowns, namely vingativa, tesoura and how to escape. Thanks to Simon from Canberra who repeatedly landed on his ass in the demonstrations.
Here is Boomi and Mestre Goioere.


Everyone got their new t-shirts and had a rest, it looks like we are on Capoeira Camp in this photo!


I didn't take any photos of the presentations, there will be ample footage getting around soon. It was quite emotional watching everyone receive their belts, finally finding out how we all did in the written test, and then playing all the Mestres, including Gingaginha the Angoleiro. Mostly they put us on our collective ass for the afternoon, pants not so white now!

We were there for about 6 hours in total, hands completely red from so much clapping, pandeiro playing and fierce berimbau action. Boomi and I received yellow/orange cords, which was one better than I thought I was getting, I'm glad I shared it with her, bless you Boomi! Also especially glad that Canela is finally officially down with our posse, that Valerio/Duende came to play (good to see you Val) and what a revelation to see Marco in white with his shoes off. I actually prefer him in his street clothes, which show his personality more than whites.

Yay Arroz getting his 5th belt, and a super surprise for Pantera, my capoeira buddy from way back, getting her 6th belt, truly well deserved for the 2 (or 3) of them! Pantera sang some great songs including Chama Yo Yo, and after the rhythm got into a frantic Sao Bento Grande pace it was capped off with some Samba de Roda, Garoa and Canela showing us how to shake that booty!

I was quite moved to recognise that it wasn't just us students cementing our appreciation and love of capoeira, but it was our whole school, and particularly Lorem. He is such a dynamic young man, (when I found out what year he was born in I burst out laughing, he really is young), he has really inspired us, and we all feel very strongly about wanting to train with him and be part of his Melbourne family.
It was amazing to see all the Mestres, Contra Mestres and Professors supporting him and celebrating his achievements in starting and sustaining our school, may this be the first of many Melbourne Batizados, Viva Lorem!


Sunday the Brazilians were late to Elwood Park, my boy Leo and I didn't mind, we were at the playground till everyone arrived. We couldn't stay long, but managed to see a creative capoeira hack game, check out Fominha in action. Mestres Goioere and Cicatriz provided gorgeous rhythms on the atabaques, we were musing that all parks should have drums installed.

It was a great way to finish off the week, the end of summer, and a new posse of Muzenza capoeiristas.