Stockist Spotlight - Gretchen Mist

Today's Stockist Spotlight is Belinda Kemp, who creates under the pseudonym Gretchen Mist - View Point stocks a selection of her stunning prints.

who
belinda kemp

i'm an artist and a mum. i live in melbourne. 

what

art: painting, drawing, collage, mixed media

fabric and pattern design

paper garlands out of recycled fine art print proofs

when

i started painting roughly seven years ago ~ when left my full time graphic design job to have our first son. i really allowed myself to paint for the sake of it for a couple of months. the free time with an 'end' in sight allowed me to get right into making work i liked. 

why

it feels right. and i love it. i go a bit crazy if i don't work :)

where to next

i'm hoping to develop my painting/fine art work and also make more fabric design. i like to have a few things happening along side each other!

Stockist Spotlight - Pollyanna by Belinda

 

 WHO ARE YOU?

My name is Belinda Smith. I'm currently a stay at home mum to 2 beautiful kids - Cooper & Piper, & married to a Bendigo local, Matt Smith. I was born in Seymour in 1971 & moved throughout Vicoria during my childhood, attending Matthew Flinders Girls High School in Geelong. After meeting Matt in 1996 whilst living & working in Melbourne, we decided to relocate to his hometown, Bendigo, after I had fallen in love with the place! We married in 2001 then along came Cooper in 2002 followed by Piper in 2004.

I have a love of all things creative, particularly sewing, thanks to my mum & the Holly hobby sewing machine she gave me in primary school.

WHAT DO YOU MAKE?
Unique, retro & OOAK kids clothing using vintage, recycled & new fabrics & embellishments.
I have also been desiging & making headwear during the Spring Carnival season for the last 5 years - currently stocked in Mona Lisa or by custom order.

WHEN STARTED?
I have sewn since primary school & have always created "things" for as long as I can remember.

WHY?
After having touble finding funky boardshorts for boys, I began to sew shorts for Cooper around 2005, followed soon after by little girls dreamy creations.
I love sourcing all of the gorgeous fabrics & bits & bobs, particularly vintage items, & recreating them into something wonderful again. Generally no two items are alike, so I'm never getting bored!

WHERE  TO?
I am currently smack bang in the middle of the Spring Racing Carnival, and am thoroughly enjoying working with lots of lovely ladies to design a special headpiece for their racing event, as well as keeping them stocked in Mona Lisa.
My kiddies clothing range is now on sale in the View Point Gallery - feel free to pop in & have a browse, or check out my website (though still being stocked!!) at pollyannabybelinda.com

Thanks for your interest....love Belinda

Stockist Spotlight - Little Wise Owl

Who are you?
I’m Beckie VandeHoef, I live in Mt Martha on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, and I run a little thing I call 'little wise owl'. Just after a had my first son Roy (who is now 4 and big brother to 6 month old Des) I found myself filling the day making fun little creations from the mountains of fabric and other things id collected along the way.
That’s when ‘little wise owl’ was born.

What do you make?
whatever takes my fancy at the time ;)
mainly handbags, shopping totes, purses, and other accessories, with some softies thrown in the mix too.

When did you get started?

Way back in the spring or 1992 when i got a sewing machine for my birthday, ah boy the time flies when your having fun.
I have studied fashion design and fine arts at uni and have always had an interest in ’making’ and re using anything I could find. I remember very well being about 9 and dad bringing home metres and metres of wiring in all different colours so I could plait bracelets for my friends, so ive always been a bit of a re-user.
I have always created for myself and friends, but found that I had far too many ideas I wanted to try, and materials to use to keep it all to ourselves. i opened a madeit.com.au store in august of 2007 and quickly got a couple of great stockists on board. And now I can happily feed my vintage fabric collecting fetish!

Why do you make your 'thing'?

I love finding vintage tablecloths, sheets, doilies, and remnant pieces of fabric, trim, buttons etc and making new exciting fun things from them. I have issues with buying new things, so if I can resurrect an unloved item into something fun and new then im happy!
plus the environment is extra happy with all the stuff i save from landfill.

Where to next for you? (what direction do you see your work heading in?)

i love trying new techniques, so im dabbling in a bit of crochet and embroidery at the moment, and hopefully working on some paintings too (all featuring vintage fabric of course)

Stockist Spotlight - Lulu's Lamps

Who are you? Hello my name is Kristen Smith and I am the creator of LuLu's Lamps. I live on the South Coast with my fabulous partner and our two children.

What do you make? I make a variety of different lamp shades, some are revamped old shades and others are made new, by myself.

When did you get started? I got started about 8 months ago after moving away from all our friends and family and going from working to full time stay at home mum I found my self with a little extra spare time. This is when I began creating my lamps and shades.

Why do you make your 'thing'?  I have always loved funky lamps but found that there really isn't to many of them around or any shades and lamps that I liked were outrageously expensive. I wanted to create unusual shades and lamps that you can't find any where else but are quite affordable. I get inspired every time I walk into a fabric shop or open up a decorating magazine and really enjoy creating individual pieces that are exactly what my customers want.

Where to next for you? (what direction do you see your work heading in?) For the time being I will just keep plodding along and doing what I am doing. I am so surprised at how far my little handmade business has come over the past few months and am excited to see what the future brings!

Stockist Spotlight - Woodpile Woodturning

My name is Rob Wood. My wife's maiden name was Pyle, hence our business is known as Woodpile.

I've always been interested in woodcraft. This, coupled with an interest in antiques, evolved into a restoration business. In those days if one needed to replace a broken knob on a chest of drawers one had to find a craftsman who could turn wood.This was such a frustrating experience that I bought a small lathe and taught myself to turn.Gradually I became proficient and other restorers started asking me to do small jobs for them.Eventually this developed into a full scale wood turning business specialising in custom table legs for cabinet makers, but alas, the world moves on - huge quantities of imported furniture put most of my trade customers out of business. I retired, but not being one to sit around watching the grass grow I set up a compact workshop in a fine new shed in my backyard - after all I still had the tools and equipment used in my previous business.

Nowadays instead of making wooden things for customers, I make what I like and sell my work through galleries, markets and the internet. I'm in the happy position of being able to pick and choose commissions.

Of all the different items I've made I discovered that wooden pens sell best. I use recycled Australian timber and try to link the timber to a local area. Because Bendigo is in the heart of Ironbark forest country I've produced Red Ironbark pens for ViewPoint Gallery.

My pens are often bought by people travelling overseas who want classy looking gifts which don't cost a fortune and take up little space. As an example just in the past few weeks my pens have gone to Japan, China, Ireland, Germany, Spouth America and the US.

What's next for Woodpile? Improve my woodcraft skills; learn more about timber and try to make sense of Facebook.

Stockist Spotlight - Stephen Guest

Who are you? Hi my name is Stephen Guest and yes i am the husband of Michelle (textiles artist, she has her textiles in the shop) we live in a lovely town call Taradale

What do you make? i do slump glass and photography

When did you get started? i started do glass in Woodend. Michelle had gone to a class there when she came home she said i should go there because she thought i would enjoy it and yes i did we have set up a studio at home. Photography i just love taking pictures still on film.

Why do you make your 'thing'? i love creating and making and seeing people enjoying your work.

Where to next for you? (what direction do you see your work heading in?) Getting more creative and have lots more fun doing what you love doing.

Stockist Spotlight - Sputnik Playwear

Who are you?

I am a WAHM (work at home mum) with 2 young children – my son just turned 5 and my daughter is nearly 2.  We live in a fab 1930s cottage with my husband and we’re working toward moving out to the country in the next couple of years.

What do you make? 

A range of vintage styled children’s clothing including shortie pyjama and bloomer sets, caped collar and retro pinafores, bonnets, boys shirts and boys briefs.  I use a mix of modern nostalgic and vintage fabrics with ric rac, ribbons, tucks and buttons.  The range is dynamic - limited run in terms of fabric but a standard style collection is maintained with some one-off pieces and lounge pants thrown into the collection.  My inspiration comes Australian movies and miniseries set in the 1940s and 1950s like ‘Smiley’ and The Shiralee. 

When did you get started?

I began making children’s clothing for my son, nieces and friends children in about 2007 using my 1956 Necchi Supernova sewing machine that my mum in law gave to me about 10 years ago.    I received so many lovely comments about the shirts and little girls clothes for my own daughter born in 2010 and friends daughters that I became confident enough to begin selling online and through word of mouth in 2010 – all still using my lovely Necchi.  Jess at View|Point has given me my first retail opportunity which I am loving so far.

 Why do you make your 'thing'?

Sewing and vintage are my passion so I enjoy combining the two and knowing some special little person is wearing something that was handmade just for them.   I love the process of taking a piece of fabric and turning it into something beautiful.  Inappropriately aged clothing is on the increase too so I love to offer parents unique ‘proper’ styled clothing.   

Where to next for you? (what direction do you see your work heading in?)

I see myself maintaining a small niche presence in the handmade industry (and at View Point!) behind looking after my children until they are older.  My final range is just developed so I’m just enjoying the stage my hobby business is at, at the moment.

Stockist Spotlight - Scentual Flair

 

WHO- I am Charlene Camilleri, I have just this year celebrated my tenth wedding anniversary with my husband Brien and we have a gorgeous
little 8 year old boy. We live in a beautiful suburb next to the Swan Valley wine region, Perth. Besides keeping myself busy with my business, I also
love photography and teach scrapbooking and craft classes at my local scrapbook shop.I love walks along the beach and spending time with my family.

WHAT- I make a beautiful range of soywax melts, candles & tealights, gorgeous handmade soaps and a range of giftware such as decorated gift jars, boxes, cards and keepsakes.

WHEN- like all other crafty souls, I started creating things from a very young age and never stopped! I launched Scentual Flair in late January 2011.

WHY- I create products that I personally love and I am very lucky to do so. I love to create products that make people feel good and set a beautiful
relaxed ambience in their homes. Everyone loves to receive gifts which is why I added my range of handmade giftware.

WHERE- In the future I would love to incorporate some of my photography into my designer giftware. I would eventually love to supply my product as favours for
weddings, birthdays and special events.

Stockist Spotlight - Swoon & Blues

   

Who are you?


My name is Lisa and I'm one half of Swoon & Blues. We started Swoon & Blues as an umbrella for the individual and collaborative pursuits of myself and my dear friend Lee. It is a merging of art and design, textiles and textures. I live in Erskineville, Sydney and Lee lives in Katoomba, Blue Mountains. 

 What do you make?

I use my original designs for hand screen printed tea towels, screen printed clocks, greeting cards and ceramic tiles and hearts. I also collaborate with Lee who is a pattern maker, seamstress and designer. We have recently begun getting my designs digitally printed onto fabric to create garments and home furnishings. Our collaborative creations take baby steps due to distance, work, and family (lee has a lovely wee one Katja), we love working together and are finding ways to make those baby steps bigger.

 When did you get started?

We began Swoon & Blues early last year, following more than a decade long friendship between Lee and myself. I have a background in Visual Arts, Education and Textile Design and Printing. I teach the wee ones 4 days a week at a local Primary School, which I love almost as much as my making. Lee has a background in Fashion Design and Fashion Manufacturing, and has worked in both aspects of the fashion industry. 

Why do you make your 'thing'?

I just love drawing, painting, designing and making things. I completed a course at Ultimo TAFE a couple of years ago in Design and Fabric Printing. I was able to extend my screen printing skills and create designs facilitated by passionate and talented teachers. The drawing and design part of that course was so inspiring. The teachers really pushed you and provided challenging briefs that totally refreshed my aesthetic and designs. I also developed from that course an obsession with repeat patterns and a love of screen printing. The immediacy, process and ability screen printing gives you to reproduce designs is just wonderful. 

 Where to next for you? (what direction do you see your work heading in?)

I want to focus on my tiles more. It would be great to get them into some bathrooms and kitchens! I think the repeat patterns would work beautifully as splash backs, full bathroom walls or even in a funky small bar. I would also like to start doing some regular market stalls which I'm in the process of applying for now actually. Also, another step is to find some more stockists. View Point is my first, thanks guys! Finally, turning the collaborative baby steps with Lee into giant ones, well double baby steps at least.