Studio Space: Leslie Keating of Maze & Vale

It's with much excitement that I launch Studio Space, featuring the studios of other artists/creatives. I'm so inspired by other people's workspaces and would like to investigate how a space can influence creatives' artwork and practice. It's also fun taking a close look at the work of others and getting to peek into their life/space/work, so I figure other people will like to see this stuff too. 

What better place to start the series than with a fellow screen printer who's also based in West Footscray*, the lovely Leslie of Maze & Vale. Leslie's studio is a former hairdresser, complete with an old trough that is perfect for washing screens, and she moved in about 1.5 years ago.

Looking into the Maze & Vale studio from the entrance. The old hairdresser trough is perfect for washing screens. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

Leslie's background is in graphic design and she has a passion for textiles. She previously created quilts, toys and more under the name onegirl designwrks. In 2011, Leslie decided to make a sideways jump and started designing and screen printing her own fabric, and she hasn't looked back. 

Leslie now sells her fabric (and printing kits and more) online and at select design and quilting markets. She also holds screen printing, block printing and quilting workshops at her studio and teaches classes for The Craft Sessions and Work-Room Melbourne. 

There's also a wee interview with Leslie further down but first, here are the photos I took of the Maze & Vale studio space.

* Leslie left this space, moved to Riverside Studios in Footscray and is now based in Yarraville, where she runs a shop called Fibresmith, selling fine cloth and yarn (and sometimes printing Maze and Vale).

One of Leslie's beautiful freeform quilts. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

So many beautiful colours. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

Pegboard excellence. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

Lots of inks. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

Colours and more colours. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

The printing table and dropcloth. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

Dropcloth close-up. Previous dropcloth pieces are available to buy from the Maze & Vale shop. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

Fabric, fabric and more fabric. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

Clothpot kits - you can buy these from the Maze & Vale website. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

Fabulous succulent hanging all the way down the front window. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

The studio's exterior. Photo by Susan Fitzgerald.

LESLIE KEATING OF MAZE & VALE: Q&A

How many hours a week do you spend in your studio?

It really depends - I work around my kids’ schedules. Some weeks I might only spend a few hours in the studio and do what work I can at home but a normal week, I probably spend about 20 hours there. In the weeks leading up to a market that number usually doubles.

What's your favourite thing about the space?

The light is a huge bonus feature. It makes taking product shots really easy, but my favourite thing is my four meter long printing table. Small by professional screen printing standards, it works well for me and also gives me the space to spread out when I’m putting together kits or basting a quilt.

How, if at all, has being in this space influenced your work?

Having great light available has definitely improved my photography and made my Instagram stream more uniform, which strangely pleases me. Having a bigger print table allows me to be more productive during studio time.

What would your dream workspace look like?

My dream workspace would be a custom built space at home, ideally on a first floor with a bush or ocean view. About 60-80 square meters with bright white walls, worn wooden floors, maybe some exposed brick or beams, a pitched roof and huge windows perfectly placed to get the best light. It would be big enough to have both my printing and sewing/quilting equipment set up in their own areas and plenty of storage space… Sigh, so nice to dream!

Which other creatives are you influenced by?

Oh so many! Lately, I’m really inspired by the patchwork/quilting of Anna Farago, Season Evans, Maura Grace Ambrose and Meg Callahan, and the painting of Julian Meager, Stephen Baker and Tiel Seivl-Keevers.

MAZE & VALE: LINKS

Maze & Vale Shop

Etsy Shop

Workshops

Instagram

Facebook

I hope you liked this first instalment of Studio Space. It sure was fun for me to begin this project, and super inspiring - visiting Leslie's studio and looking at some of her beautiful freeform quilts made me want to go and sew one myself right away.

And don't forget to follow Studio Space on Instagram @studiospace_ #hellostudiospace. Thanks!

Annie Smithers' Christmas Baking Masterclass

Sometimes you just need to do something completely different and break the routine, clear your head and feel refreshed. So rather than working last Wednesday, one of my oldest friends and I took a cooking course in the country with the renowned Australian chef Annie Smithers. 

L-R: Annie's baked goods - mince pies, shortbread, speculaas and almond crescents

For the last six or more years, just before Christmas, this friend and I set aside a full day for baking sweet Christmas goodies. We're both pretty into cooking and the day is super fun, though it's often 12+ hours of prepping and cooking, so full-on! But we're getting a little tired of our repertoire, so by doing this course, the Christmas Baking Masterclass, we thought we could get some fresh ideas to be added to our production line.

Annie covered 10 recipes, including classics such as mince pies and fruit cake, to florentines and even nougat. There was no mucking about - we had to stick to a tight schedule to get through everything - and much was learned, as it's so great observing a professional chef. We then checked out Annie's amazing and massive garden, where she grows produce for du Fermier, her bistro in Trentham. While we did this, Annie made us lunch - some delicious roast chicken and homegrown asparagus sandwiches, with mayonnaise she had just whipped up in front of us.

Here are the rest of the some photos I took at the course. I'll also make sure to take photos of the annual Christmas cooking day, which will happen sometime in December, and share them here, along with a recipe or two.

Annie's version of Geoff Beattie's Rich Dark Fruit Cake

One of Annie's adorable cats, a British Shorthair called Kitten

Just some of Annie's massive 'backyard' garden

Going to seed

Annie's other adorable cat, Fenn

The greenhouse

How is it that a washing line of dish rags look so good?!

Garden boots

Just picked asparagus

Lunch - chicken sandwiches, homegrown asparagus and homemade mayonnaise

So next time you need to clear your head and reset, do something you really want to do rather than what you always have to do. You won't regret it and no doubt your work and your life will benefit from you being refreshed and rejuvenated. And as an aside, I've been so inspired by Annie's garden that I've spent hours and hours since then in my own garden, prepping and planting summer seeds and seedlings. Fingers crossed I will soon have some produce I'll be able to share here. And I want a mini greenhouse. They are amazing!

X Susan

Upcoming Markets

It's nearly that time of the year - the time for lots of markets! I'm looking forward to being involved in a handful of lovely local markets this spring/summer, all updated on the events page.

And I've been going through lots of old photos I took and never processed, from last year's markets, which I thought I'd share here, to give you an idea of what I might have on sale. These are from Maribyrnong Makers Market in Seddon, my local.

My stall, blowing in the wind

This is me, smiling for the camera

Some of my wares - zip pouches and baby dribbler bibs

Lots of fabric mix packs

Lots of fabric fat quarters

Lotta Inspiration

Lately I've been thinking about how I came to screen printing and what inspired me to start experimenting with my own designs and prints. Back in 2005 and 2006 the handmade & craft world was starting to get big and there were lots of inspiring books and blogs. When stumbled across Lotta Jansdotter, probably reading about her in a blog, I knew I'd found someone special.

Lotta is from Sweden,  a country which has a rich history of beautiful and stylish design, and she is much loved by the Japanese, also known for simple, natural and useful design. Lotta creates minimalist and often hand drawn designs and then prints many of her patterns onto fabric, often beautiful, raw flax linen. Back then she was into block printing, screen printing, stencilling and more. I bought lots of her books and swooned over pictures of her great studio workspace. 

Lotta's moved around a bit - she's from Sweden, lived in San Francisco for many years and is now based in Brooklyn, New York. When my boyfriend and I were planning a US trip last year, I couldn't believe my luck when I realised one of Lotta's few open studio days would coincide with us being in Brooklyn. Little did I know, she was also teaching a class at the studio on that day and I could have booked into it - somehow I missed this vital detail. But I was pretty happy just looking around at her workspace, seeing some of her beautiful products and I even saw Lotta herself, while she was teaching. 

Here are some of the photos I took there, and the last photo is of some Lotta fabric I bought years ago, totally love and just can't bare to chop up :)

X Susan

New blog!

After some more tweaking, here's my new new website and blog. There won't be too many posts but I hope to share all the news here. For a near-daily update, subscribe to my Instagram feed (I'm addicted!) To be the first to hear the latest news, events, sales etc, please join the mailing list. 

Cheers, Susan