1m2 in pictures

 

1m2 was fantastic! 

I really loved the energy that came from all the participants and it made all the hard work worth it. I never realised that organising an event would ask so much preparation. At first I thought: a great concept, a different location, lovely participants and some promotion and that's it. 

But I soon learned that there was more to it than what I thought. So I was super lucky that I had a partner in crime who I could really count on: Annemiek from TwoTrees!

We formed a good team and all went smoothly although we had our share of worries about the location, the insurance and... the electricity. The fact that there was only one plug for electricity while we needed about 20 different power points for our participants and our sewing station gave us a few extra grey hairs I think. The location was very, very basic and that had it's charm but it was also a bit dark which some found that it gave it this cozy atmosphere and others found it too dark to show off what they made. We love light too but we didn't have any choice because if we put up more light, the power would probably risk power cuts. Choices are hard to make.

But apart from these worries, our work was carried by the wonderful participants who with their enthusiasm made it all very real and happening! The participants showed so much creativity on their square meters that it was pure joy to see it all come to life!

We have no clue about the amount of visitors but all who didn't come certainly missed something! :)

Below you see an image of the sewing station that we installed and that was run by 4 people from the sewing group I'm part off. They were super enthusiast and invited people to come in and make something themselves. It was a huge succes and lots of people tried to sew or crochet something and we saw lots of smiling faces. There really is no better feeling then to encourage people to make, do, create! The sewing station & event were sponsored by Etsy which gave us a bit of breathing space towards decission making and materials.

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to take pictures of all the stands and activity but there are plenty of people who did. Here you can find the pictures on our Facebook page and on the EtsyNL Facebook page. The following blog  of Sandra from ZsaZsaZsu and Karen from  Karen Vandelaer really have some great images from all the square meters and atmosphere...

PS: I was a bit shocked to see myself in the first picture at 24 weeks pregnant. Didn't realise the belly was that big already... ;)

1m2

I apologize for my absence but I've been really busy with the event, 1 square meter, that Annemiek (TwoTreesWorld) and I are organising this weekend. If you're in the area, don't hesitate to pop by. Hope it will be a blast! :)

The making of... passionate

The feeling passionate is made with starting out to roll a slab of very thin clay. I cut out shapes of flames and save them in a wet cloth. Then I start applying the flames onto the still moist feeling. When all the flames are applied, I go over them with my clay rib to smooth them out a bit. Then I make sure that you don't see much of the rough edges of the flames anymore and use a wet paintbrush to go along them. It is then too wet to touch so I'll let it dry for a while and afterwards I use my pointy rib tool to make it all smooth. With a fine needle on a cork, I apply some lines on the flames so that it gives it a bit more depth. Our cat loves to sit on my lap when I work which is not always the most comfortable position but I can not refuse her to sit with me... :)

Sjiek

Past weekend, the local newspaper published a small article about me and my work in their new weekend magazine 'Sjiek'. It's the most read newspaper in my province.
I used to live in a very small village and moved to the city nearly 12 years ago. By moving to the city, I did loose touch with friends from 'the past' and obviously they don't know what's keeping me busy. So it was fun to receive e-mails from them the past week telling me how much they love my work. Nice hey?
I'm a bit shy so articles like these always make me blush (hence my red cheeks). :)

Studio time

The last time I did any decal work was when Anna from LilaRubyKing was here in November. I do like applying the decals as it's so different from the usual routine I have in my studio. I do need a clean table in order to do decals so it's a bit of a pain to clear away everything.
But in a way it's good as it's always refreshing to start making a new mess again...

Happy Easter!

image Vanessa Pike-Russell

Wish you a generous Easter bunny! :)

The making of... curious

To make the feeling curious, I have a little template I use to transfer the 'keyhole' onto the feeling. I trace the template with a blunt pen. Then I cut out the sides and the hole. When the clay is still soft, the sides usually get a bit wonky so I use a thin piece of wood to make it even again. To finish it off, I use my paintbrush with a little bit of water. That last bit is the most intricate part of it all and practises my patience...