Quite honestly, the possibilities are endless. Simple cards that a child could do, or more creative projects, like the purses I made. I have gocco-ed fabric, paper napkins, books, leather, felt and more… let me know what you have gocco-ed. Ohh.. an by the way, for the purses, I used 4 different screens, each one with a design I sketched by hand.
This was entry for the Cheongju Craft Biennial in Korea: suffice it to say I did not win ;( The theme for the competition was: (you can skip this part if you want.. a little long winded!) The theme for the 2009 Biennale, Outside the Box, proposes that craft be considered or approached as a composite whole, rather than as a series of fragmentary and contending disciplines. To think outside the box, as the phrase goes in the West, is to transcend spurious divisions through the human faculty of imagination. In newly-merged artistic and managerial discourses, ‘outside the box’ is where the indispensably ‘innovative’ is to be found. But it is also where a state of integration becomes attainable; where meetings become possible. As what is devised as a necessary means to an end, craft and innovation have ever been one and the same. By the same definition craft is integration; with nature, with others, with its collective self. It therefore has the power to unite and represent all human values, in the here and now. …
The creative process is often a solitary one. Meeting other artists – sharing your experiences and techniques… being free with your knowledge – it is important! Mark my words. I have met many an artist and craftperson over the years, some of whom keep their knowledge locked away, never divulging their secrets. Potentially afraid that once told, that the knowledge would lose its value, becoming part of the “common knowledge” per se. Others have been open, freely telling the how’s and why’s of what they do. I have come to learn that what goes around comes around. I remember once asking a fellow artist how she accomplished a certain task. She said it was her secret, and that sharing it was not an option. She said she had spent many years learning her craft, and could not tell. I left feeling quite perplexed… yet all the more determined to find a way to do the deed regardless. After many an hour researching online (something I spend way too much time doing), I found a device that …
Cynthia Reynolds 