Mission Bay Art & Craft Market - Monday 28 January 2019

After some unexpected drizzle, when setting up and for the first part of the morning, the weather turned out good. By the afternoon there were plenty of visitors to the market and in terms of clearing old stock (in anticipation of moving house), it was a successful day.

Come and say 'Hello' tomorrow - the weather is looking good

I will be selling Swirl-StoNZ plus the last of my 'Studio Clearance' items, ready for moving house in the near future.

A beautiful day at Mission Bay

The weather was perfect today for this market, set by the beach at Mission Bay. My display was tightly packed, as I needed to clear my studio in preparation for a likely house move. I got a lot of positive feed back on my Swirl-StoNZ and it was a great day all round.

Labour Day Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay - 22 October 2018

The weather is looking good for this event. I will be selling Swirl-StoNZ and various other one-off original pieces on my 'Studio Clearance' table - come and get yourself a bargain!

A fabulous day at Mission Bay

So lucky with the weather at Mission Bay Art and Craft Market today. It was sunny, sunny, sunny. No worries about rain and not very windy either. It might have been a bit too hot for some people but I was lucky to have my stall under the shade of a large Pohutukawa tree. Just perfect.

In addition to my Swirl-StoNZ, I also had a 'studio clearance' table set up with older items that I wanted to move on but it was the Swirl-StoNZ that attracted the most interest and sales. A busy but really enjoyable day out for me.



I got some very positive and useful feed back, which I will take on board, as I plan to invest more to give my Swirl-StoNZ display a more professional look for my next event.

Auckland Anniversary Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay - Monday 29 January 2018

A Review of 2017

I made one of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2017 to 'be proud of my creative artwork' and I think I have managed to achieve this.

This year has resulted in some successful dot mosaic pieces but also the confirmation that as much as I love making them, the time involved does not make them viable to sell (apart from reproduced as greetings cards). So I think the dot mosaics will have to remain as a hobby.

I have also been developing my idea for Swirl-StoNZ, as a New Zealand made souvenir/gift in the lower cost bracket, so I can get back into doing some craft markets, which I have missed. After much practicing to master the technique, I had built up some stock and made some display panels ready to launch Swirl-StoNZ by Claire, at the Labour Day Art and Craft Market at Mission Bay, on 23 October 2017.

Disappointingly, this event was cancelled due to the bad weather so, I had to wait until the Christmas Art Markets at the Estuary Art Centre at the beginning of December. This was my first proper event selling and demonstrating how I make the Swirl-StoNZ (apart from selling a necklace and earrings set in an exhibition at the Estuary Art Centre and a few small pendants in their gallery shop).

The Christmas Art Markets turned out to be a big success, helped by a feature in the Hibiscus Matters local newspaper. The newspaper article had a photograph of a bowl of Glow-in-the-dark Swirl-StoNZ, which I had made for the Mission Bay event to attract children to my stall. These were so popular they sold out in the first hour. People came specifically because they had seen them in the newspaper. Consequently, I spent the next week making another batch of Glow-in-the-dark Swirl-StoNZ (discovering in the process that making my own glow-in-the-dark polymer clay was better than the manufacturers), so I could get them into the gallery shop before Christmas, for all those that were disappointed that they had sold out when they came to my stall at the Christmas Art Markets.

For years I have been trying to find something creative I can make that I can turn into a small craft business. I know, from the initial success, that I can build on the Swirl-StoNZ, with several branches on the idea to explore. So, 2018 will definitely be the Year of the Swirl-StoNZ for me.

Project Swirl-StoNZ - The Launch

The Launch: Come to the Labour Day Art & Craft Market on the Selwyn Reserve at Mission Bay in Auckland, 10am - 4pm on Monday 23 October 2017, where I will be launching my latest creative venture: Swirl-StoNZ

I will be selling jewellery, charms, key-rings and decorative accessories, all made from my first batch of Swirl-StoNZ. Great souvenirs, as they are made by a local artist; give as a gift or keep as a memento of a special occasion; longer lasting than a greetings card to convey a message. They also feel nice to hold in your hand, just as they are, and make great 'calming stones' for both adults and children. You can also watch me make them.

Enter the FREE PRIZE draw and you could win a Swirl-StoNZ pendant - my stand should be in Row 1, closest to Tamaki Drive, under the trees.

Labour Day Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay - 23 October 2017

I am currently working on ...

It will be a good six months until the Labour Day Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay (Monday 23 October 2017), where I plan to launch my latest project that I am working on.

Swirl-StoNZ by Claire - hand sculpted ‘stones’ for all occasions

This is part of the display info that I am working on:

What are they for?

Great as a souvenir from New Zealand (I remember when I was a child taking pebbles home from the beach as a souvenir of my holiday) or as a gift; they can be made into jewellery, key-rings, charms and decorative accessories. They can be used to give a message or as a memento of a special occasion. My StoNZ also feel nice to hold in your hand, just as they are, and make great ‘calming stones’ for both adults and children

How do I make Swirl-StoNZ?

By rolling selected colours of polymer modelling clay into a ball and rotating it up to 100 times using the polymer clay lentil (or century) bead technique. I often add some extra detail, with slices from specially made canes, or write words into the pattern before they are baked to harden and preserve the design. Each one is unique.

I call the resulting lentils ‘StoNZ’, as they are created here in New Zealand. The swirl pattern is reminiscent of the Maori ‘koru’ symbol, which represents new beginnings, growth and harmony (see below for more info). As all StoNZ are created by myself, I can make them in your choice of colours or personalise them to commemorate special occasions – please ask.

The koru symbol – widely used in Maori art, carvings and tattoos, has also come to represent New Zealand (Aotearoa). Derived from an unfurling silver fern frond, the koru represents new beginnings, growth and harmony. New Beginnings both literally, in terms of new life and growth, and also a new start or new phase of life involving personal growth. To be in harmony with life is to understand, grow and change.

A beautiful day at Mission Bay

The weather was perfect for the Auckland Anniversary Art & Craft Market at Mission bay today. The sun was shining, the sea was blue and sparkling, and everyone seemed happy. It was a lovely day.

Monday 30 January - Mission Bay Art & Craft Market

I will have a stall at this event, so hoping it is a sunny day. You should find me in Row 1, nearest the road (Tamaki Drive).

10am - 4pm on the Selwyn Reserve at Mission Bay, Auckland.

For more info see
https://www.facebook.com/MissionBayArtCraftMarket/

Mission Bay Art & Craft Market - Monday 24 October

Monday 24 October is Labour Day and the bi-annual Art and Craft Market will be on at Mission Bay. Once again I am having a 'Studio Clearance' to make room for my new mosaic artworks. There will lots of small pieces, mostly jewellery and some small artworks, which would make ideal Christmas presents. Start shopping early and grab yourself a bargain, as most pieces will be priced to clear - I disparately need the space!

A fabulous day at the Market

 

The great summer weather we are having continued for the Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay this Auckland Anniversary Day. My table looked crammed at the start of the day but there was a lot less to take home. It was a great market, with plenty of visitors enjoying the stalls, the sunshine and celebrating Auckland's 175 years.

Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay - Monday 26 January 2015

I am having a spring clean of my studio, to make room for my new large scale dot mosaics. So, I will be selling off a selection of artwork, sculptures and jewellery, at less than half price, at this event. This is a great opportunity to pick up some unique polymer clay pieces at bargain prices. Get there early because once they are gone, they are gone!

 

The event takes place on the Selwyn Reserve at Mission Bay, Auckland on the 26 January (Auckland Anniversary Monday) from 10am - 4pm.

Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay - Labour Day

 

This is my much smaller scaled down set up, without the gazebo, so I can do the market on my own. Here I am just trying to clear the Fashion Clips and PINZ I have left. Next time I hope to use the opportunity to be working on a larger mosaic work, more for publicity and so people can see what is involved.

PINZ by Claire

For a while I have been thinking about reworking the Art-Brooches I made a few years ago but presenting them in a more modern way and calling them PINZ. They would be small wearable pieces of sculptural art, which I enjoy making, and it is a way to share my creativity with a wider audience, as people more readily buy jewellery and fashion accessories than a larger work of art or sculpture. I could almost create mini versions, to sell in gallery stores, where I have larger sculptural artworks on exhibition.

 

I think of ‘pin’ as the American term for ‘brooch’, however, the English Oxford Dictionary defines pin (in this sense) as a ‘small brooch or badge’, giving reference to a lapel pin. A pin sounds less old fashioned than a brooch and also means I can spell it with the ‘NZ’ ending, reinforcing that they are made in New Zealand. Back in November last year, when the idea came to me for making souvenir pins for tourists that were actually made in New Zealand, I was thinking of calling them ‘NZ-PINZ’ but have recently settled on ‘PINZ by Claire’. It is short and descriptive, encompassing the important facts: New Zealand made pins by me (not mass produced in a factory in China).

 

A clutch pin is easier for the wearer to fasten on clothing and only pierces with one hole, compared to the traditional bar pin brooch finding. Using the clutch pin fastening also means I can make them quite small and, due to the light weight of polymer clay, it is also possible to create pins of a larger size than the norm for a lapel type pin. This gives flexibility for creating various pin designs, especially as the design does not have to fit round hiding the bar pin finding.

 

I am aware that many people still prefer to wear a pendant rather than a pin/brooch, so I will include a free ‘PINZ Converter’ with each large pin sold. The pin can be fastened to the converter, which has a tube at the top to thread a chain or cord through, enabling it to be worn as a pendant. For the smaller pins, I am thinking of a surround mounting, in different colours, onto which the pin can be fastened and a chain or cord threaded through - these will be offered as an optional extra.

 

I am currently working on various designs and hope to have my first PINZ available for public reaction at the Labour Day Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay on Monday 27 October 2014. I will then seek suitable places through which to sell my PINZ, as well as trying online through www.felt.co.nz and possibly www.etsy.com.

A Review of 2013

When I look back at the plans I had for 2013, some have been more successful than others.

1.    Re-establish a monthly market spot – maybe the Devonport Craft Market or back to Coatesville Market. I started with the Devonport Craft Market for a couple of months, as this was specifically a 'craft' market and only a ferry ride from the city centre for tourists. I hoped it would be better for me than the farmers markets that mainly focus on food, but it did not attract large numbers of visitors. Then I discovered that a new monthly craft market had started in Browns Bay, so I tried that, hoping it would work out for me. It was so handy right on my doorstep and nice to be able to support a local market but after a couple of tries this actually turned out to be the worst market for me in terms of sales. At this point I decided that making lots of small, low cost items to sell at markets was not what I really wanted to do but that I would do the twice yearly Mission Bay markets to sell off old stock. However, the Labour Day Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay was poor  for sales this year and I reluctantly said to my husband that I would not even do that any more, as it was not returning enough to warrant his time as well as my own for the whole day. Although I will miss the customer interaction that I enjoy at markets (hopefully the teaching workshops and the Auckland Polymer Clay Guild will compensate for this), I feel it is now time to aim higher and focus on selling my work through galleries, gallery stores and selected shops.

2.    Exhibit at the Dunkleys Craft Show (North Shore) in October 2013. I had been looking forward to doing this all year but was very disappointed at the number of visitors to the show for all the time, cost and effort. Also the small number of people taking part in the daily workshops and the sign-ups that followed was disappointing. So sadly, I would not do this show again.

3.    Promote polymer clay through slide shows and demonstrations to encourage people to sign up for my workshops. I have not had the chance to pro-actively do as much of this as I would like, mainly due to my time being taken up preparing for teaching workshops and the Dunkleys show - hopefully I can do more of this next year. However, I did set up the Auckland Polymer Clay Guild in August this year (not in my plans!) and I am currently the President of this group.

4.    Expand my range of workshops to include some half day technique focussed sessions e.g. extruding with polymer clay and making canes. I have prepared a number of other workshops and now have five: Introduction to Polymer Clay, Retro Canes, Simple Canes, Polymer Clay Mosaics and Painting with Polymer Clay and am now looking to offer these at other venues, in addition to the Lake House Arts Centre, rather than running them from home. This means I do not have to spend so much time promoting and sorting the administration, which is quite time consuming when I have a limited amount of time.

5.    Complete my “50 clips for 50 years” project to promote CLIPT. This project has not happened as I had intended, in fact it has not happened at all. My original plan was to make one clip a week, illustrating a different technique. Unfortunately work, life, and exhibition, show and teaching deadlines have all taken priority. I would like to think that I will have photographs of the clips that will be featured in this book before my next birthday - but that may be a struggle with everything else that I need to do in the first few months of the new year.

Mission Bay Art & Craft Market - for the last time

The weather held out for the market on Labour Day, with the sun shining for a good part of the day, which was nice. I have done this twice yearly market since arriving in New Zealand and feel quite said that this will be my last one.

 

It is a hard decision, I love going to Mission Bay for sentimental reasons, as it is close to where we first lived when we moved to NZ but my work is evolving. Since I have been concentrating on teaching polymer clay, my own work is focussing on one-off gallery and exhibition pieces, not suited to this outdoor type of market. So it is with sadness that this will be my last time here as a stallholder.

Labour Day Art & Craft Marketat Mission Bay - 28 October 2013

I will be selling my Fashion Clips along with other polymer clay work at this market - and of course there will be some end of line/trial pieces at bargain prices. A great time to start Christmas shopping.