CWC Spotlight: Rhonda Pryor, visual artist

Last month we introduced a new monthly feature in which we profile one of our amazing CWC members. Following from our interview with long-time member Louise Jones, we thought it would be fitting to turn the spotlight onto a brand-new member. We hope you’ll love learning about Rhonda Pryor, her work and her creative path as much as we did!

What do you do or make?

I make 2 and 3D artwork and installations in which used textiles are often a feature. My work always relates to memory in some way, and sometimes I include photography in the mix somewhere. I find memory a limitless source of possibility. I also teach workshops.

What was the path you followed to doing what you do now?

I originally trained in fashion design, worked in the industry for several years, and then studied painting and photography at the College of Fine Arts (now UNSW Art and Design). It wasn’t until returning to university to do my Masters of Fine Art that my choice of medium changed (or, more accurately, returned) to textiles. It was then I found my interests really lay in ideas of time, and how we interpret memory. Textile is the perfect medium for this.

What does a typical day involve for you?

After duly processing and dispatching the family, I generally do a bit of email catch-up in my pyjamas before getting some exercise out of the way. Family admin follows, and then I’ll typically re-jig my to-do list and get down to writing (proposals, workshops, etc.) or continue working in the studio on whatever I’m involved in. I tend to get bogged down in research but once I’m in studio mode it’s hard to stop. I find it difficult to manage studio time, teaching, admin and all the other stuff that goes along with running an art practice. Somehow it all gets done, though. Evenings are generally taken up with family stuff but I do tend to continue with some writing, research or studio work in between.

What have been one or two favourite recent projects or commissions?  

I had the most amazing residency in Japan in 2016 (funded by a grant from the Australia Council for the Arts), learning about indigo, shibori dye methods, silk harvesting and making, and antique Japanese textiles. It really resonated with my practice of employing used fabric into my work, sifting through notions of memory and personal and cultural value.

Detail of Armchair Critic, by Rhonda Pryor

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your work? 

Not trying to be perfect. In fact, I’ve learned to value imperfection more and more. I’ve always loved wonky, odd or mismatched things. Now I have an outlet for it! In any case, trying to be perfect only clams you up, stifles your creativity and makes you a miserable stress-head. Use your mistakes as a method of discovery, another way to do things, a different direction, a new product…

What are your plans for the future?

I’d like to manage my time better so I can spend more time making in the studio. I’m always looking for time management tools to help in this regard. After much trial and error, I think I’m at last getting some procedures in order that (thankfully) work for me and my lifestyle. I’m also working toward more exhibitions and artist residencies.

What are you or have you recently enjoyed...

...watching?   The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale. Completely sucked in.
...reading?   Working Class Man, Working Class Boy, Alone in Berlin, The Last Girl. I lean toward nonfiction, or fiction based on reality.
...listening to?  Radio National interviews. The radio is always on, unless I have serious thinking to do and need silence to hear myself think. My husband has the most amazing musical ear so we have lots of styles we listen to, but in the studio it’s Radio National.

Can you list for us your top resources across any media for creative inspiration? 

In print media, Selvedge Magazine. Online, it’s Trend Tablet, Garland Magazine, Hiut Denim’s newsletter. All full of inspiring stuff.

What drew you to become a member of CWC?

I wanted to mingle with like-minded individuals with a view to possible collaborations, expanding my profile and gathering business tips and ideas.

What is the best advice you have ever received, and what is the one piece of advice you would offer to a young artist, maker or designer?

Mistakes are learning tools. Learn from them and find a way to use them to your advantage. Also, trust your own judgment. If you believe it’s good, it is. It’s your vision, not someone else’s. That said, always be receptive to constructive criticism. You can choose to reject it but always listen. Listening is underrated.

To learn more about Rhonda and her work, visit www.rhondapryor.com and www.rhondapryor.wordpress.com.

Phoebe Miller is a member of the CWC Board. Her professional background covers experience in marketing and communications for the corporate, arts and not-for-profit sectors. She also ran her own creative side project, designing and making accessories under the moniker Simply Phoebe. Follow her on Instagram (@simplyphoebe).

CWC spotlight: Louise Jones, textile designer

We know our readers love to learn about other women’s creative lives and journeys. So, we thought it would be fitting to introduce a regular interview series shining the spotlight on our very own creative ladies: our CWC Members!

Louise Fernando

We’re kicking off with Louise Jones, a textile designer from the Dandenongs in Melbourne who has been a CWC Member since 2012. Enjoy the interview! If you’re keen to learn more about Louise, don’t forget to check out her CWC Member Profile.

What do you do or make?

I specialise in original artwork for fabric, wallpaper, interiors and soft furnishings. I use a combination of different mediums in my practice, including watercolour illustrations and my own original photography.

What was the path you followed to doing what you do now?

After graduating with a Bachelor in Communication Design in 2007, I started my career in a boutique design studio. I soon realised my passion was illustration and pattern design as I was doing a lot of illustrative designs for retail and hospitality clients.

In 2010, I took the plunge into freelancing doing traditional graphic design work, whilst trying to work out how to break into pattern design industry specialising in interiors. My friend, Shelley Steer (a textile designer/illustrator), and I were becoming frustrated with the limited opportunities, so we decided to create our own pattern designs. We started a Tumblr blog called A Side Project, where we posted one pattern per month based on a monthly theme, along with developmental work and other inspirational posts. Some of my pattern designs gained recognition and I started to receive commissions from big companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch. Whilst working on other exciting commissions and other collaborations, I was building my own pattern library, which allowed me to follow my dreams of creating my own textile range specialising in interiors.

What does a typical day involve for you?

There is no typical day for me, as I manage parenting and running a business. I’m extremely fortunate to have a supportive family, which allows me two days a week in my studio. I aim to do all my creative work and planning on my ‘studio days’, whilst leaving all admin/emails for nighttime or whenever I can steal a few minutes during my parenting days. I like to visit local gardens and galleries during the week with my young daughter, Grace, as she also loves to discover new flowers and explore new spaces.

What have been one or two favourite recent projects or commissions?

Launching my new website, logo and online store along with a new fabric design, Dreamscape. I worked with some very talented people to launch my website, including Dylan McDonough, Atelier Upholstery and CWC members Martina Gemmola and Ruth Welsby (dream team!). I worked with Martina and Ruth to shoot some bespoke furniture pieces I had sourced to launch the Dreamscape design. The furniture pieces ranged from art deco to mid-century styles, all upholstered in Dreamscape colourways, along with ottomans and cushions. It was such a treat to work with other talented creatives on the launch of my website and online store. I have learnt that a lot of planning, sourcing, and general work goes into creating products and selling them online.

Dreamscape Copper cushion, by Louise Jones Design

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your work?

Understanding licensing and setting up proper agreements and contracts with clients has been the biggest learning curve for me. I have learnt to not undervalue your work and time, because not only does it affect your own creative work but it also impacts others in the creative industry.

What are your plans for the future?

I’m expecting a big year with my second baby arriving in March, so it will be a bit tricky working out new routines with family and work life. I plan to continue promoting and building my textile range in the interiors world by collaborating with other creatives, branching out overseas with international representation, adding a wallpaper range, sourcing more vintage pieces to showcase my fabric, and maintaining an online store of cushions and other soft furnishings. I’m also planning to put a dream project of mine into action later in the year, which is to collaborate with a furniture maker to create custom furniture pieces featuring my textile range.

Glass pendant lamp featuring Louise's Tropical design digitally printed on glass panels, designed by Italian industrial designer Francesco Favaretto for Italian lighting company Torremato.

What are you or have you recently enjoyed…

• Watching? Shameless, Fargo (all seasons), Narcos

• Reading? The Handmaid’s Tale

• Listening to? Arcade Fire, Whitney Houston (my 3-year-old daughter is obsessed)
  

Can you list for us your top resources across any media that you turn to when you’re in a need of creative inspiration?

• Instagram: I’m finding a lot of inspirations from contemporary florists, interior designers, stylists and furniture makers.

• Design magazines like Vogue Living, Architectural Digest, Belle and Habitus Living.

• Design blogs such as Sight Unseen and Design Milk
  

What is the best advice you have ever received, and what is the one piece of advice you would offer to a young artist, maker or designer?

Don’t be afraid to say no to paid jobs or projects that won’t lead you to your dream job, as it will only hold you back and delay you from doing the work you want to do. It took me a while to learn this, but once it became clear as to what I really wanted to do, I started to verbalise my dream job out loud to others as a way of making a public commitment. This made it easier to decline projects that weren’t aligned to where I wanted to go with my work.

What do you enjoy or value most about being a CWC member?

I love the speaker events. I find those afternoons to be such a great inspiration to hear the speaker's stories, and what works and doesn't work for them. And just catching up with familiar faces afterwards and having the opportunity to meet new creatives. 

To learn more about Louise and her work, visit her CWC Member Profile, her website and her wholesale textiles gallery.

Phoebe Miller is a member of the CWC Board. Her professional background covers experience in marketing and communications for the corporate, arts and not-for-profit sectors. She also ran her own creative side project, designing and making accessories under the moniker Simply Phoebe. Follow her on Instagram (@simplyphoebe).

Photo of Louise Fernando by Sarah Collins from Work & Co Photograph

Tools of the Trade: Ilka White

By Brianna Read “Art is the objectification of feeling, and the subjectification of nature.”

Susanne Langer (1895-1985)

This quote is from the text Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling by another inspiring creative woman –  I cannot think of a more appropriate way to introduce Ilka White. Ilka’s creative practice simply does not fit neatly into any box and while Ilka herself is unsure about labels, for the purpose of describing to the readers a little more about her work I shall informally call her a textile maker and educator.

One of the first questions I ask the subjects of this column is “Which tool makes your practice possible?” Ilka’s immediate response to this query was “My mind.” This  initially puzzled my very literal and practical self but through the course of the interview I came to understand a little better why Ilka’s work and teaching practice both leave an indelible mark on those who encounter them.

Whether works are initially explorations of materials or ideas White’s pieces always exude a depth of concept in partnership with a mastery of craft in each medium she employs. Often drawing both inspiration and materials from the natural world the work always speaks of where its materiality originated from and of the hands that shaped it’s new form.

When I inquired after how her practice has evolved over time, Ilka observed that recently her meticulous analytical nature has given way to a gentler approach to making and self-critique. This shift in her practice has also seen a change in the focus of her work which she described as valuing process as much as product  and an interest in “making work in response to the essence of something, rather than depicting it's physical form.”

Feeling that 'mind' did not adequately describe the essential tool of her practice, Ilka searched a little longer for the right words to summarise this elusive ingredient, and proposed 'perception and soul' as a more adequate answer. From the outside though it seems very clear that her work is extraordinary in its ability to communicate both the mind, hand and heart of its maker, of course there is no single word to sum this up as it is many things… passion, intelligence, talent, dedication, an open and inquiring mind and on the list goes.

Ilka’s work recently showed at the Counihan Gallery in Brunswick as part of an exhibition titled Material Culture, several of these pieces are currently on display at Pop Craft until the end of June. July and August see Ilka sharing her wealth of textile knowledge in numerous workshops across Victoria.

To contact Ilka about her work or classes email ilkajanewhite@gmail.com or follow the links below for further information on each event.

Decorative Techniques for Fashion (Intensive 5 day workshop at RMIT)

Responding to the Natural World in Textile Practice (Lecture as part of the Beautiful Silks Natural Dye Symposium)

Weaving Connections - A week of textile activities, classes and demonstrations in Castlemaine. August 20 - 25

Works by Ilka are showing in Petite Miniature Textile Exhibition at Wangaratta Art Gallery from June16  - July 22.

Brianna Read is a designer-maker based in Melbourne. Her knitwear label Jack of Diamonds employs hand-made techniques in combination with machine knit technologies. Brianna’s multi-faceted creative practice encompasses design, production, works for exhibition and machine knitting workshops.