Our second, much awaited interview comes from Melbourne handmade artisan Ciara Cross of Little House of Kokeshi. I am a huge fan of Ciara’s work - I own two of her pendants and I suspect they wont be the last!
Ciara, first can you introduce yourself to made’n’found followers.
Hi I’m Ciara and I’ve been running my craft business “Little House of Kokeshi” since 2006 from my home in Melbourne. It’s lots of fun. I’m so grateful that I’m able to be creative everyday and love that there’s no end to the ideas you can develop within your craft business.
Tell us about your crafting life - how did it start? What arts and crafts have brought you to now?
I was definitely headed down a different path…at university I completed two degrees, anthropolgy with Thai language and social work. After university I worked in child protection and refugee case work and then my husband and I went to live and work in Arhnem Land where I was the Women’s Centre & Creche Coordinator. It was at the Women’s Centre where craft was a part of everyday life and I was reminded how much I loved of being creative. The ladies were mostly busy with weaving, we would collect the leaves and dyes from the bush then come back to the centre and start the process of preparing leaves and dyeing them, when it wasn’t the right season for weaving we would collecting seeds for the ladies to make necklaces. We also did batik workshops and daily craft activities with the creche kids.
During this experience I realised how much I missed being creative.
Since I was little I had always done the holiday craft classes, weekend art classes, studio art through high school and completed year 12 art focusing on mixed media. I also did extra classes in water colour, life drawing and airbrushing and completed short courses in illustration and painting.
So when I moved back to Melbourne from Arhnem Land, I really felt like I needed to have the creative element in my everyday life just as I had there…and that’s when I started Little House of Kokeshi.
What about ‘handmade’ appeals to you as a creator?
To me, ‘handmade’ means special, one of a kind and made with passion.
Also very importantly ‘handmade’ creates an alternative to mass produced products.
Tell us about your focus on Japanese imagery. What draws you to these images? How has it impacted your personal journey?
I have always loved Japanese Art and Culture, there is such a rich history in handmade craft. I started collecting Japanese stationery in Grade two when my Japanese school friend gave me little friendship gifts of paper or bookmarks. I was also a little obsessed with origami, in grade three my friends and I literally made 1000 paper peace cranes after reading sadako and the 1000 paper cranes in class. I went on to study Japanese in high school and learnt to read and write so I developed quite a deep appreciation for Japanese art and culture.
I love that the papers have such a rich handmade tradition, Japanese paper making dates back to 600AD, the hand dyed paper that I use was first made in the Edo period (1600 -1860). Today they are mostly handmade using silkscreens.
I’m drawn to the rich colours of the papers, and this is important to the range I create. The colours I choose remind me of a certain feeling inspired by different types of Asian art and of the beautiful baskets made in Arhnem land which were all naturally dyed into bright beautiful colours.
Whilst researching Japanese papers at the start of my business I came across the kokeshi doll, a traditional folk art of Japan of which today kokeshi artists are still practising and it’s very much a celebrated art form. There’s even an annual ”Prime Ministers award” apparently much of the skill is in convenying expression in the face.
How important is being part of the “artistic community” to you? What communities do you belong to, online and in real life? What support does this provide?
I think its important to feel part of something bigger, I definitely miss working as a team and exchanging ideas. None of my mates are really into craft, but after doing the markets for a little while you really make good connections and it’s an opportunity to develop a great exchange of experiences and ideas, business strategies and friendships with crafty types.
I’m a professional member of Craft Victoria where they offer a few relevant seminars etc.
Are there any gaps in that support? What would you like to see developed for artisans in the future?
Definitely more seminars relevant to small business art and craft, I would find some statistics analysing craft markets really useful.
What goals do you have for Little House of Kokeshi for the future?
I’m happy with how the business has grown and developed, next I would like to focus on a social conscious side to my business to use some of my social work/development knowledge and combine the two.
Who do you admire artistically? Why?
James Castle who is an American collage artist from the early 20th century, his work is mostly 3D forms made with paper.
Kunbarllanjnja fibre artists, I have many baskets in my house given to me from my time in Arhnem Land. Some of the ladies had an exhibition at Museum Victoria, called “Twined Together”, a book was released of the same name. The baskets are made from dried pandanus leaves, the leaves are dyed with natural dyes collected from the bush, amazing colours are produced naturally such as bright, yellows, oranges, pinks, purples, greens and browns, I have them near where I work and find the coulours and texture inspiring.
Sansaku Sekiguchi, Kokeshi Artist. He has been awarded the “Master kokeshi” status in Japan, his daughter is also a kokeshi artist and does really cute pieces, her name is Izumi Oki.
Please give made’n’found readers a heads up on where they can find you!
You can check out my website www.littlehouseofkokeshi.com for contact information, markets and stockists.
Thanks so much for reading my interview!
