the fresh prince of fed square

THIS WEEK WAS ABOUT

This year hml have made it onto the Phillipo Raphael Fresh Award selection committee... what does this mean we hear you ask? Well, it means the next month will be spent frantically heading out to all the graduate shows trying to scope out the freshest selection of crafty student work. There's big money on offer for the winner ($5000) so the competition will be running hot. Needless to say hml will be run ragged and living on cheap wine and finger food for the next few weeks.

Our first picks are the 'Flat Pack' and 'Blooming Lotus' chairs (above) by Prapass Chairat from the Department of Built Environment @ RMIT Diploma of Arts Furniture Design program which waws on show at Federation Square, and we love em'. Now a disclaimer, just because we love them doesn't mean they're going to win the grand prize, and by showing them here we're not trying to curry favour for them. Our aim is to show you some of the best graduate works around and tell you where you can see them. It's a great time of year, all the exhibitions are free and some of the work will floor you!

run it up the flagpole and see who salutes!

SHE MADE THEM HERSELF

HML has known and been a fan of Deb Sestak's work for quite a while, and we were delighted to run into the lady and her work while scoping the Box Hill TAFE Diploma of Arts, Studio Stitch/Textiles graduate show way over in Mt Waverly. Deb's selection of alternative flags were sensitively pieced collections of reclaimed shirt fabrics, intricately stitched and artfully constructed.They made a big statement without having to shout about it and were easily best in show.

frou frou

SHOP STOP OF THE WEEK

Look it is not like us to go recommending stores where fabric is $37.50 a metre. You're much more likely to find the ladies of hml in the bargain bins at Spotlight going ga ga over some slightly dodgy denim and some weird foam shapes (surely we can do something with that? suggestions welcome...).
In our defence before entering the pretty leadlighted, exposed brick, cathedral ceilinged, eastern suburb haven of Calico and Chintz (yes that is the name of the store) we could be found burrowing through the record bins at the Glen Waverly Brotherhood of St Lawrence op shop. But if any of you are textile junkies like us then this place has some pretty high grade candy to tempt your Visa cards out of retirement.

We swooned at the fat quarters, we felt faint at the Rowan book section, we went wild for the bamboo crochet needles, we became obsessed with taking quilting classes! All jokes aside, those of you wizzing by on your way to Camberwell market or the Rivoli cinema should think about making a pit stop...

Calcio and Chintz is at 99 Auburn Rd Hawthorn

one velvet morning...

CRAFT FIND OF THE WEEK
Kate Rohde's vision of kitsch-baroque excess inspired us to forrage around our own collections in an attempt to find our own high camp versions of exhibitable peacockery. I happened upon my own when I dug out these much loved velvet souvenier paintings from such far flung locales as Guam, Hawaii, Japan and Pompei, the perfect rememberance of any happy holiday.



I think they're super cool, but I fear it may be a dying art as i've been hard pressed to find any newbies on my recent travels... That said, now that i've rekindled my love for them i've decided that they are back on my top five collectable list and i'll be heading straight to ebay, hitting the local garage sales, and heading out to the country op shops to try and bulk up the collection.

birds of a feather

SHOW/S OF THE WEEK

Opening this week is an absolute must see in the window of e.g etal. New work by jeweler and artist Anna Davern, long time hml supporter and all round good egg. Her work is witty, energising and beaut all at the same time. Bit like Anna herself really...

And have you ever had one of those moments where you walk past a window and something stops you dead in your tracks? You can't quite believe what you are seeing, but it must be real because there it is right in front of you. The ladies of hml had this experience last week while wandering up Gertrude Street. There behind the normally austere glass of Gertrude Contemporary Artspace was the current show by Kate Rohde. We were instantly seduced by this plastic fantastic baroque vision. A menagerie of strange bejewelled taxidermy mysteries that really has to be seen to be believed. It's a totally immersive experience. Those of you that can't make it this week will have to make with these images, which altho beautiful can't really express how wonderous this show really is...

Can you spot the HML team in the mirrors?

weapons of mass indulgence

THIS WEEK WAS ABOUT

This week saw one of us use her annual leave to sit hunched over her studio desk, goauche coated paint brush in hand while the other slaved away over her badgemaker and printer trying to meet Christmas orders...boring!

BUT as you'd expect even while we've been busy busy busy ladies we managed to take some time out and take in some of the great things on offer in Melbourne. Interestingly (but hardly surprisingly) everything we did seemed to revolve around an indulgence of some sort. Whether it was the confectionary aesthetic indulgence of the new Kate Rohde show at Gertrude St, (which by the way is tops) or the perfect orange/almond cake, coffee and Nina Simone combination at Enoteca that transported us to Paris for a good half hour, or Artisan books where we inhaled the new Selvedge magazine and drooled over the basket show, by the end of the day we felt suitably indulged.

We also happened upon the fabulous new show by Benedict Ernst at Platform 1, entitled "The Chocolate Revolution" which makes propoganda posters from chocolate wrappers and molotov cocktails from moulded chocolate. Viva la REVOLUTION!!

deceptacons

HE MADE IT HIMSELF

You know what we're like, if it get's to Thursday and it's looking like nothing is getting made, not even the bed, we here at hml are quite happy to ride the coattails of someone who did manage to finish something. In keeping with the robot theme we thought we'd show you a rare gem from the studio of flatland and flagship founder Tim Fleming, master plyman, dumb drawer and crafting dandy.

That isn't to say we're not trying (very trying some would say) there is evidence of activity at hml headquarters... see below.

WIP? our whole life is a WIP...