Summer Workshops

Hi gang!

I am coming out of the woodwork in 2015, and the first event is the Summer Workshop Series run by Craft Victoria.

All the workshops are at Art Play in Birrarung Marr, just behind Fed Square.

My workshop in leatherwork skills runs for three Tuesday evenings starting Feb 3rd, from 5:30 - 8:30pm.

Here is the course description -

An introduction to leatherwork using leather from three different animals over three weeks: cow, goat and sheep. Learn innovative and interesting ways to work with these distinctly different materials via range of simple projects including a tassel keychain, a covered journal, a folded pencil case and a hand-tooled belt.  Participants will be guided through these projects, which showcase key leatherworking techniques and specific tools.

Each week will include examples and images of makers using these hides in a variety of ways, beginning with a history of shoemaking and leatherwork, and an overview of the tools, techniques and processes used in both conventional and contemporary practice.

Students are required to have dexterous hand skills, confidence to handle sharp tools and be ready to embrace the physical nature of working with leather.

There are 9 workshops in total, lead by some amazing tutors, and organised by the fabulous folk at Craft. I'm really looking forward to teaching, maybe I will see you there?!

Old Things

This weekend has seen us at the Museum, hiding from the heat, and also my neighbour has been cleaning out his ancient shed. So we have been mingling with 'old things' as I have been calling them.

Melbourne Museum's display of kitchenalia, I had ramekins just like these but they were trashed in my sharehouse days.

John Rodriguez's textile designs from the 60's. I'm coveting that apple tea towel.

Medals on rather splendid ribbons.

And here we have the stash from Dan, my neighbour. He and his sister Kate live next door in their Great Aunt's old house. They recently sold it and are now cleaning it all out, and we have managed to come away with some really amazing treats. The house still has embossed wallpaper and floral carpet from the 1940's, the kitchen and bathroom are original, they even have an old Kelvinator fridge from the 50's. It's too good, like walking onto a set.

Check out not only my fabulous new nail colour, but also this teeny feather. Aw shucks.


A comprehensive list of tartans. I wish us Greenwoods had a tartan.

Tins, tins and more tins! The tobacco ones still have that particular smell, the brush on the far right is a beauty, and I'm guessing from the amount of Laxettes tins that they could have done with some prunes....

Old pickle jars with bakelite lids, metal measuring tape, enamelled soap dishes, old door handles, enamelled mugs, phew, we also have old brooms, rakes, seeds saved over the years, clothes drying racks, linen cupboard, an upholstered armchair, shoe polishing brushes, embroidery scissors, padlocks, woodworking tools, saws - it's just as well I am not planning on moving house anytime soon.

I have been thinking of my Grandpa, his shed smelled just the same, of oil, rust, cardboard, timber and dust. Wishing that I had known my Grandpa better, and thinking that no matter how treasured the objects, they lose a certain something once they are removed from their original setting.

Listening to: Dick Van Dyke - Hushabye Mountain

Ode to my knife

Monday morning I sat down in the studio to do some work with my knife.
It was as blunt as a spoon and was really shitting me, after 5 mins of wrestling with it I hastily sharpened it on my stone.
Alas, I gave it a huge burr, and all the work I tried with it after that was even worse.

I asked myself how I could possibly call myself a shoemaker if I didn't have a well-sharpened knife? What was I playing at?

So after a moment's thought, I went back to the stone and methodically sharpened it for about 20 mins. First I took off the rounded shoulder which my slack sharpening had created. Then I worked on getting a nice straight edge on the blade. The rough side of the stone was swapped for the smooth side, then I took off the burr and lovingly cleaned it up on my leather strop.

Holy Smokes, this was a new knife! It's the sharpest and straightest bastard of a knife that I have ever used.

And I did it myself, with a bit of time, attention and elbow grease. It's a joyful thing to be able to restore my favourite hand tool to its glorious rightful state. Hurrah for paying attention to my teachers when they stressed how important knife sharpening was.

How about your tools/machines/apparatus? Do you need to maintain them but often forget/can't be arsed/never found out how? How good does it feel to get them to their optimal state? Yes indeed. That's what I'm talking about.

Listening to: Mack the Knife - Dinah Shore and Pearl Bailey - gorgeous!