Tag: design

How one local artist is combining creativity and consciousness to build community

Posted on by Chiara Torelli

More than merely a tool for bringing communities together, art spreads messages and sparks inspiration, exploring our motivations as individuals and bringing to the forefront issues that can only be solved as a collective.

So what happens when creativity, community and environmental awareness meet? Unique and meaningful works of art, of course!

Ipswich-based artist Rebecca Lewis understood from very early on the power of art to be a messenger, an inspirer and a platform for transforming mindsets.

Her own artistic transformation started early, during a childhood spent on an acreage in the bosom of a family with a highly attuned sense of their environmental footprint.

Although her parents would never have described themselves as ‘creatives,’ they were nonetheless continually finding creative ways to re-use materials and fabrics. Their imaginative perspectives on matter, function, and aesthetics have significantly impacted Rebecca’s own.

While creativity in her family was linked with a practical, economic, and ecological philosophy, Rebecca invariably took this practical inventiveness one step further. She perpetually had a pen or pencil in her hand, took up printing early on at afterschool clubs and then lino printing in high school. Textiles and printing would come to be the hallmarks of her artistic practice while her creativity would continue to go hand in hand with environmental awareness.

After having kids, it came naturally to Rebecca to combine working from home and being available for her children with furthering her creative practice. Like many artists, she needs to be exercising her creativity to find personal fulfilment (and not go stir-crazy).

Today, she reconstructs our discarded and unwanted objects in ways that enable us all to perceive the beauty and potential in them.

Working exclusively with second-hand fabrics, discarded craft supplies and found objects, Rebecca produces singular and quirky items, which you will find nowhere else. Browsing her Instagram page instagram.com/littlebrowndog, Rebecca’s childlike ability to see magic and beauty in everything is palpable. Joy and wonder emanate from each item her hands have crafted.

One of Rebecca’s priorities in working with second-hand supplies is letting the materials speak for themselves. Their stories, characters, and quirks inform the design of each work of art: they stay true to themselves even as they are transformed.

While most artists work in isolation, Ipswich art shops have opened up studios and performance areas, enabling artists to share workspaces and creative processes. Practising alongside each other and engaging in personal artistic growth as a collective has greatly strengthened an already lively creative community. Local artists frequently attend each other’s exhibitions and are deeply involved in each other’s progress and growth. As an artist in Ipswich, Rebecca has found her ‘tribe.’ (She shudders as she says this, having found no better word to describe her community but hating the new-age hipster vibe she is imbuing it with).

However, she really hit her artistic stride around 2014, when she ran one of the three teams taking part in a community grant project across Ipswich. For Rebecca, the Animating Spaces project was truly about showcasing the artistic talent Ipswich has to offer and getting artists involved with the local community. Gaining lifelong friends and a confidence boost, Rebecca grew in her practice, with stronger project management skills and more courage in working with the community and other artists. But this was only the beginning…

In 2017, Rebecca was part of the Queensland Regional Art Awards touring show; then in 2018, she took first place in their Digital Art category! While she found this hugely validating to her artistic ambitions and self-belief, even more valuable to her was being embraced in the wider Queensland artistic community. She found herself surrounded by like-minded people who aligned with her creative practice. To this day, the artists involved are actively supportive of each other and genuinely involved in each other’s progress.

Rebecca’s sustainable ethos has continuously informed her creativity and brought her into contact with like-minded artists from all over Queensland. Nevertheless, her immediate community is just as crucial to Rebecca’s practice. Community, the forging of bonds through creation and exploration of self, and the ability to spark discussions on pertinent and urgent themes are central to Rebecca’s artistic values.

In this spirit, workshops are an integral aspect of her creativity, and she loves creating environments where knowledge and understanding flow alongside creative development. Her workshops for kids and grownups build on motor skills and artistic confidence as well as being highly open, friendly and nurturing environments.

Although she’s an introvert, Rebecca also loves the face-to-face interactions which take place at markets. This aspect of the creative process is perhaps one of the most rewarding, and while ‘design and maker’ markets are always fun, her favourite is the Southside Arts Market, in Brisbane. Here, people set out knowing they’re going to purchase artwork, and there’s nothing a creator loves more than connecting with someone who connects with her creations. Rebecca is most moved when she witnesses a person genuinely relate with the one-off items she’s produced. Knowing she has impacted this person’s life in very personal ways is profoundly fulfilling.

This artist has big plans for the future – or does the future have big plans for Rebecca? Having attended a workshop on running exhibitions, she won the opportunity to host her own solo show, and her ambitions are running high! Be prepared to witness the fusion of sustainable art with secret histories.

Taking the family unit as her starting point, Rebecca wants to collect the ‘little’ histories that inform the daily lives of real people and real places. Giving them their place in the broader historical tapestries of state and nation, she’ll bring to the forefront the personal struggles that shape entire communities. Highlighting these ‘little’ histories will truly bring to light our power to impact society around us. Make sure to keep a look-out for her first solo venture in Ipswich!

Innovative designers marry style and function at Kirralee and Co.

Posted on by Chiara Torelli


Bridging the space between art and functionality, the four designers and woodworkers who make up Kirralee and Co. have burst onto the interior design scene with their reclaimed timber homeware.

Working from a solar-powered shed near Ipswich, Queensland, they come together to create design-orientated, minimalist and sustainable solutions for living and decorating in the home. Their user-focused functional sculptures manage to both embellish a room and elevate the useable area, creating eye-catching spaces in which functionality is never sacrificed to style.

The timeless quality of the minimalist lines and mid-century design results in wooden pieces that grow and change as we do, enhancing both our living spaces and lifestyles.

The pieces are created from locally sourced unwanted wood, with which the designers interact intimately when designing. Each item is crafted in response to the wood’s natural character, bringing out its inherent strength and properties. From eye-catching wood grain to a poetic imperfection or a distinctive curve, the finished object is a direct response to the original material.

Founding member Kirralee Robinson began this particular journey in January of 2018. She started creating collage works from timber and cotton string, building on her previous woodworking experience in the belief that timber never stops teaching. She was particularly entranced by her engagement with the built environment and began taking night art classes, which challenged her to extend her creative perceptions into a three-dimensional space.

From here, Kirralee and Co. were born, marrying environmental and social values with intelligent design. If you’d like to find out more or browse through their creations, have a look here http://www.kirralee.co/gallery.

In her personal work, Kirralee questions the very nature of shapes. She asks: what is the quality of shape? What are the elements of shape? How can they be manipulated while maintaining the integrity of shape?

Her abstract pieces deconstruct and reconstruct shapes and their elements, bringing into focus the interaction amongst shapes and spaces, as well as exploring the interplay between different mediums.

Kirralee’s photography displays similar inspirations, searching for lines and dimensions in everyday objects, their shadows, and their synergy with their environments.

Does the magical world of Kirralee and Co. entice you? Fear not! Kirralee herself will be hosting a workshop at Artisan (45 King Street, Bowen Hills, QLD 4006), on the 29th of June from 1 pm. Budding designers will practice metal bending and working with reclaimed timber components as they design and create their very own brass and timber bangle. You’ll get to experiment with a variety of workshop tools, like a mandrel, vice, Dressel and drill press, and play with materials such as steel wool and epoxy glue.

All the materials, equipment and tools will be provided, as well as some light refreshments. For more information about the workshop, go to https://artisan.org.au/blogs/workshops/brass-bangle.

A Nightingale’s Song

Posted on by Chiara Torelli


As autumn and winter descend upon the Sunshine State, we may need to start looking elsewhere than the sky for our fix of colour and joy. Look no further than Alice Nightingale!

This recently opened store is the domain of Alice Veivers, a Brisbane born and raised clothes designer and maker whose mission is to fill our streets, and our hearts, with sustainable, bold, cheeky, humorous and beautiful fashion. Summer sunshine and exuberance await through these doors!

Alice was always good with her hands, and pairing them with her creativity, she equipped herself with an unfailing recipe for spreading joy.

Leaving school early to complete her Diploma of Fashion Design, she started Alice Nightingale in 2009 when she was only seventeen, selling quirky and unique handmade clothes to friends and at local markets.

Alice quickly came to the attention of a broader audience in 2011, when she attended her first Finders Keepers market. She’s never looked back!!

Through these events, she has become part of a supportive, creative community of designers, artists, creators, and locals, helping her develop her business and grow into her brand and ethos.

Alice Nightingale is characterised by a bold, feminine, and quirky aesthetic, awash with colours, striking and playful patterns, good humour, and vintage flair.

The designer finds inspiration in her love of Australia’s landscapes and wildlife, combining her enthusiasm for camping and exploring with her passion for making and creating.

Alice painstakingly handmakes every garment in her home studio, ensuring each piece is one of only a handful. From start to finish, through sourcing fabrics, pattern making, printing, embroidery, and sewing, Alice’s attention to detail and design permeates each creation, setting her apart from most designers and producers in Brisbane.

Something else which makes Alice stand out from the crowd is her focus on environmentally sustainable practices. She uses exclusively second hand, vintage, and locally produced fabrics, making her unique and one-off pieces environmentally and socially responsible as well as fabulous.

Adding print, embroidery, and other decorative elements to the second-hand fabrics, Alice renews reclaimed materials, thus reducing her demand for new fabrics and pressure on raw materials.

Sustainability and the environment have always been an essential aspect of Alice’s ethos. Her business model is geared towards low emissions, low waste, and high quality, helping her to steer clear of landfills and contribute more than just joy to our planet.

Alice is currently working on a project she affectionately calls Re(sh)use. Dismantling old and discarded shoes, she uses reclaimed fabrics and thread, alongside her creativity and ingenuity to remake them into brand new ones. Talk about upcycling!

You can find Alice’s eclectic and quirky range online at alice-nightingale.myshopify.com or in her new brick and mortar storefront at 22 California Lane McLachlan St, Shop 4 (Fortitude Valley), as well as at a variety of markets around the city.

What’s more, on June 1st, Alice Nightingale turns ten! Join the artist and a few top-notch entertainers for Aussie Trivia, workshops, and some great food and drink to celebrate one of Brissy’s best local makers. The fun will kick off at 5 pm at Alice’s store – see you there!

It’s Good to be BAD!

Posted on by Chiara Torelli


Brisbane truly is Australia’s new world city!

Awash with events and festivals which resonate on the international stage, it’s a thriving, evolving city where creative boundaries are continually being pushed.

If you doubted this, you have only to look at the 17-day design extravaganza that is the Brisbane Art Design Festival. From the 16th to the 26th of May 2019, over 150 Brisbane creatives will grace 25+ locations around the city with their innovative and dynamic exhibitions, performances, talks, art tours, workshops and open studios.

Here’s the low down on why it’s so good to be BAD.

Celebrating the collective creativity of Brisbane’s art community, this initiative of the Museum of Brisbane champions the emerging talents who are forging their name within the community, and welcomes home the established trailblazers who are shaking things up on an international level.

The Museum itself is the hub of this city-wide event and hosts the signature exhibition which is the heart of the festival every year. From the 10th of May to the 11th of August, Brisbane’s best and brightest will be celebrated on Level 3, where the BAD@MoB exhibition features artists and installations across a wide range of media and practices, from robotics, performance art, video, installation, ceramics, jewellery and painting.

Another highlight has to be the BADtours+CBD. On the 25th of May, from 11.30 -2 pm, public art curator Beth Jackson takes you on a bespoke art, design, and food tour focused on Brisbane’s distinctive character.

The tour leaves from the Museum of Brisbane, and in between art-filled alleys and public art and design sites, you can enjoy a light artisanal lunch and a natural wine tasting at Felix for Goodness, one of Brissy’s culinary heavyweights.

For an inside look into the process of putting together such a behemoth of an exhibition, join curator Miranda Hine on the 24th of May, from 2-2.30pm as she takes you behind the scenes of the curatorial framework of this celebratory showcase.

She’ll also lead you through an intimate tour of the artists on show, giving you the benefit of her sharp curator’s instinct and appreciation for innovative, creative design.

For an honest and loving insight into an artist’s impressions of her home city, check out Maureen Hansen’s exhibition at the Woolloongabba Art Gallery until the 31st of May.

This Brisbanite is captivated by the way light plays with nature and its colours, creating joyful and fresh observations of life in Queensland.

In ‘From Life: Brisbane Light’, Maureen explores feelings of change in Brisbane, interpreting her surroundings in authentic, honest, and endearing paintings.

On the 25th of May, from 11.30-1pm at Griffith University Art Museum, children aged seven and above can learn the basics of drawing cartoon characters and adapt their physical appearance to reflect their personalities or feelings.

Kids will pick up a variety of skills, including making characters move, designing frame and speech bubbles, and outlining story progressions. Drawing materials are provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own journals!

In short, BAD is an artistic whirlwind of talent, vision and creativity, which promises to shake Brisbane to its roots and proves, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that our city owns its place on the world’s design stage.

For a full list of other locations and events, check out the BAD programme here!

Happy viewing!

There and Back Again: one Brisbanite’s design journey

Posted on by Chiara Torelli

Jewellery has long been an essential element of our self-expression, from the first decorative stones used by our early human ancestors, signalling our progression into abstract thought, symbolism, and aesthetic appreciation, to the myriad styles, tastes, budgets, and occasions which are catered to today.

From the jewellery which we save for that ‘special’ occasion to the pieces that never leave our skin, the spectrum of jewellery design knows no bounds.

One artist and designer who continually pushes those bounds is Brisbane’s own Christie Nicolaides, whose opulent, languid aesthetic speaks to her motto: it’s always summer somewhere.

Bright colours, silver and gold plated brass, and a sense of luxury and exoticism are the hallmarks of her many and varied creations.

Born and raised in Highgate Hill, Christie found herself enthralled by the bold fashions of the women in the Greek villages of her grandparents, the coastal towns of Italy, and the streets of Turkey.

Through her travels around Europe, she developed her passion for jewellery and her admiration for the boldness of the southern European styles.

When Christie couldn’t find what she wanted back home in Brisbane, she took matters into her own hands.

Having identified a niche in the jewellery design market, the self-taught designer opened her first pop-up store on James St in late 2013.

It quickly became apparent that her designs resonated with many women, and, emboldened by her success, the stylist drew on her contacts in the design world and invested a substantial chunk of her savings into creating her own collection.

More pop-ups followed, and Christie eventually created an online store as well, bringing her collections to fashion-forward women worldwide, who lapped up her exuberant and decadent aesthetic with joyous abandon.

Six years down the line and Christie has forged an international network of trusted manufacturers and suppliers, family-run factories who ensure her products are of authentic and high quality.

This international team, tight-knit despite the distance, know and understand Christie’s aesthetic, helping her to push each collection further than the last.

She focuses on increasing the fluidity, feminity, and wearability of each new collection, always pushing the lengths to which she can go in her designs before giving her jewellers a hernia.

A tango of development and re-development defines her dialogue with her manufacturers, resulting in dynamic, boundary-pushing, yet eminently wearable design stocked in stores worldwide.

Six years down the line and Christie has taken a step which cements her place in the Brisbane design world.

In late 2018, she opened her first (of many, hopefully), brick and mortar stores, basing her business in the city where it all began.

The shop, at the corner of Edwards and Margaret St, is a little haven of European summer in the CBD. The street-level entrance flows down a curved stairway to a pink-marble floor, dark timber beams, and exposed brick basement retail space, where her signature pieces sparkle invitingly in the gentle lighting.

The space doubles as her business headquarters, from which she hopes to expand her stores into Sydney and Melbourne, becoming closer to the sophisticated customer base she has developed in these cities.

By now, almost eight months after opening her shop, Christie has a thriving face-to-face business. She has been working steadily on her August 2019 collection, her bridal collection, and is gleefully working toward adding eyewear, handbags, and clothing to her design portfolio.

This long-standing figure of the Brisbane design world finally has a place to call her own, putting down roots so she can better spread her wings. Her basement boutique brings together her Greek origins, love of Europe, and loyalty to the place in which she was raised, through her luxurious, beautiful, and ever-evolving creations displayed in the heart of the CBD.

For more information about Christie’s journey, check out her website at https://www.christienicolaides.com.au.