24th november, 2011

Hi, I would like to introduce you to one of my new clients as well as a friend of many years. Dieta and I met in Melbourne when I decided to re-locate and take time out from work and take up study at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (R.M.I.T.) where we both studied B.A. in Textile Design.

Dieta has a strong background in Art, in fact I am in awe of her artwork, hoping one day she will succumb to the canvas.

More recently Dieta has opened and is operating a business in Castlemaine near where she now resides with her partner Paul and first born Wilke, living a more simplistic lifestyle.

'Little Makers' was a much needed outlet where an assortment of people of all ages come together to create Art & Craft in a multitude of mixed media. It has also created a space where people can come together for a cuppa and exchange ideas and socialise.

Tell us a little about yourself Dieta
My mum used to say to me I should tell people where I grew up, but I always thought it was just a place with crazy hippies living in domes and dens in the bush!

Then one day I did, and it didn't seem that odd, compared!!??
I grew up in an artists community in the 70's near Melbourne. Painter Clifton Pugh named it "dunmuchin" and it now seems like a dirty word, everyone knows it.
But I wasn't inspired by the locals to become an artist, they were all crazy drug, drunk and poor. The community was NEVER dull!!!
I used to make cities out of my dads sand piles and thought I'd be an architect, but I also saved sugar ants from drowning in puddles,
and layered myself with as many outfits that I nearly always fell over!! So who knows where we find our groove.

It took me 6 years of art & textile design to realise that the medium that cranked my handle was - scissors, paper, glue! I yo-yoed between print & knit

I landed in the world of visual merchandising in the dreamiest of creative jobs, burnt out after 4 years and had to go to merch rehab!!

My wheat belt partner and I realised we couldn't live in a city cemetery block, so we had a LOCO idea to live OFF the grid!
Juggle that with a surprise baby and you have a Fredrick McCubbin pioneers painting!!!

What inspires you

The capacity of the wondering mind,

productive people, the happy call of a hungry guinea-pig,
a child's imagination, play school!!
My home & garden & little makers
Shoe box of riffraff that seems to be mandatory in the bush. Spreadings of the rusty tin shed.
I used to dream of volcanic undulating dairy farming like landscapes, and somehow I am in the same setting I grew up in. Go figure!!
40 acres of fire hungry bush, a solar system that could feed an entire thai village, a composting dunny that never smells, a 3000litre worm farm that feeds our riffraff
veggie patch and a continuos amount of farming like upkeep!!!
Shoe box of riffraff and eye candy have made it's way to the shop!!
I dreamed when I gave birth to our little girl Wilkie, of another baby. That baby had a lovely window I could
decorate for the small town of Castlemaine and inside create a world of imagination and play for the gazzillions of families flocking to the good life!!
Little Makers is still a baby but already the window is drawing regular curiosity, the art & craft workshops are creating dreamy kids and the eye candy is inspiring all who enter.
This is not your average store, even for city standards. Art and craft classes for kids, teenagers and adults along with craft kits and inspirational kit ideas, which are all made in the store
so that the consumption of plastic and puff packaging is non existent. And the awareness that hand made objects are precious and have or create a story to share.
The balance is to know when to create or do the dishes or fall asleep while watching play school!

Fav possession

At home is a 20 foot shipping container that hides all my hoarding!!

At work my alphabet stamp set(it helps with my dyslexic spelling), my obsession with MT tape & the 2x3 meter mirror the dude made that I wish I had at home!

Big thank you to Dieta, and look forward to seeing more of your innovative creations

9th november, 2011

Eclectic Critters

by ELISSA on NOVEMBER 10, 2011 in DESIGNERS, SEWING

3 delicious boxes filled with eclectic critter delight arrived at evoke last week. I’ve had so much fun unpacking them and playing with the toys while I labelled and photographed them. The toys are so beautiful to look at, and so cleverly made – I spent much longer than necessary arranging them on shelves Each toy is a treasure.

Mary is a local textile designer who often pops in to the shop for a chat. I am so happy to have her products instore!!! She has recently been interviewed by Megan ofThe Byron Life – a really great blog. Mary’s story and pics are here and Eclectic Critters are also on facebook.