Meet Our KIN : Picnic Ceramics

As you may know, ceramics have always been very close to our hearts here at KIN, and we are very excited to have discovered the exquisite work of Picnic! Johannesburg-based ceramicist Becky Love does justice to the history of this ancient and precious medium, with dainty, hand-painted ceramic pieces made into wearable jewellery items. We stock Picnic's brooches and gorgeous stud earrings, and are constantly delighted by the new patterns and designs when we open the latest delivery. Read on to find out more about Becky's process and what has inspired her to follow her instinct and create Picnic Ceramics.

Why did you start making your products?

I loved the look of ceramic jewelry (that wasn't in the form of beads) and hadn’t seen it available anywhere – what started out as making jewelery for myself, quickly turned into Picnic Ceramics as a way for other people to enjoy the unique look of ceramic jewellery too!

How are your products made?

Each piece of jewellery is cut from a fine slab of wet clay. It is then dried and smoothed before being bisque fired. Each piece is then hand painted (hence my never ending quest for finer and finer paint brushes), the paint is fired on and then each piece is glazed with transparent glaze before one last firing. Each part of the process is done entirely with my own two hands.

What is your favourite part of the process?

I love opening up the kiln after the pieces’ third and final firing and seeing all the fine details shine under their transparent glaze. It never gets old!

How did you learn to make what you do?
I have been working with clay for over 6 years and experimenting with making ceramic jewellery for the past 4 years. Picnic Ceramics jewellery is the result of all those years of experimentation to get strong and delicate ceramic jewellery.
What materials are your products made from?

Our jewellery is made from earthenware casting slip - this allows for lovely, refined results. They are all then high fired to ensure strength despite their delicate form.

Do you have different ranges under your brand?
Yes, I have the Wanderlust Range made up of either a Forest, Sea or Mountain design on brooches, earrings and necklaces – inspired by my absolute adoration for the great outdoors.

I also have the Half ‘n Half range where I play with colours that I currently love and then the Skyline Range – presently this range has only my home-city of Johannesburg’s skyline, in minimalist black lines.

Do you have an interesting tidbit for us?

Since graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering nearly two years ago – I leapt straight into working with clay full time. I had suspicions that engineering wasn't really my calling and since being in a pottery studio full time – I became certain almost immediately!

When I am not making jewelry, I am either teaching adults and children how to work with clay or creating my own thrown and then decorated ceramic vessels in the studio.

 
 Follow Picnic Ceramics on Facebook & Instagram.

Meet Our KIN : Tyche

As you know, we love original SA designs - especially if they are pretty. And even more if they are pretty and useful :) May we introduce Ingrid Jones of Tyche who has created objects that can be simply gazed at for their pleasing forms and praised for their effortless functionality. Ingrid makes beautiful over-sized wooden puzzle pieces that fit together and can be used as book ends, sturdy trays for tea and rusks, artistic storage boxes or wall-mounted niches (to name a few).

Why did you start making your products?

Since moving from Australia to South Africa, I have been searching for a way to embed my roots
into Cape Town and make it feel more like home. I consider myself to be very lucky to have
settled in here, because it really is a wonderful and beautiful city. So in order for me to create a
home, I decided to create intriguing homely things and Tyche has provided me with this
opportunity. I hope my products inspire and delight you.

How did you learn to make what you do?

I studied industrial design for 5 years in South Australia and was always encouraged to create
products that excite and delight through hands on experience. As a student I was encouraged to
learn about many manufacturing processes and CNC routing took my fancy because I could
incorporate it into my understanding of graphic production.

How are your products made?

The products I am currently creating are either CNC routed or laser cut and I then hand assemble
them myself.

What is your favourite part of the process?

Studying shapes and forms and then creating the initial drawings that turn the idea into a reality.

What materials are your products made from?

Most of my products are made from locally sourced ply wood. My materials all come from South Africa. It’s best to stay local and support the local industry.

Do you have an interesting tidbit for us?

Watch this space! The dreams are big but the imagination is bigger!

Follow Tyche on Facebook here

Pop in to KIN on Kloof to see these lovelies in person!

Meet Our KIN : Ruschka Du Toit

If you've been to KIN on Kloof since our June revamp, you will have noticed we've added some gorgeous new ledges that are home to our ever-growing array of illustrations & prints. Joining our forces of superbly talented KIN designers, we would like to introduce Ruschka du Toit! Ruschka creates beautiful, light-hearted illustrations, and we currently stock her lovely pen & ink and watercolour cards. Her unassuming drawings will instantly capture your heart - scroll down to view some and get to know a little more about this free-spirited Cape Town artist. 

What is your favourite part of the process? 
 
My favourite part is definitely when an illustration starts to come together and can stand back and see something that was only an idea in my head, take shape. I also really LOVE meeting the people who purchase my products – that is probably my favourite part. 

Why did you start making your products?
 
I was starting out as a freelance designer and illustrator and needed some extra money over the festive season so when I got an opportunity to sell some art at a Christmas market I decided to make some greeting cards just for fun. They pretty much sold out! Being a freelancer I am often required to follow a brief so my products are my creative outlet where I get to explore and just have fun. 

How are your products made?
 
All the illustrations for my stationery are original and 100% mine. I print my products on environmentally friendly paper in Cape Town. My artworks are all done by hand using ink, watercolour, gouache and collage.

What materials are your products made from?
 
My greeting cards are digitally printed on an environmentally friendly, uncoated paper called Munken (I love Munken papers!). Original illustrations are done using inks, watercolours and fineliner. I usually work on a 200gm (min) watercolour paper.

Do you source your raw materials in SA, if not, where in the world do they come from? 

All my products are printed locally and the paper I use for my cards are made at one of the world’s cleanest paper mills in Sweden.

Find Ruschka on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Meet our KINfolk : Claudia Allmann

Claudia's elegant blue & white drawings have already caught many interested eyes since they first joined our collection at KIN on Kloof in March. We love their quiet frivolity, Claudia's unusual play with composition, and the fact that these are all one-off original pieces. We thought we'd share a little more on this captivating new artist here on the blog:

Why did I start making my product?

Sketching/drawing/illustrating is something I’ve always done. It’s my way of escaping or dealing with whatever I am going through. It’s also just fun to create characters that make no sense but complete sense at the same time. And then over the last year and a half, when I became more confident and started to show people my work, I enjoyed seeing the different reactions that people had when they saw my illustrations.

How are my products made?

My ‘product’ is a joined effort from the people that chop down trees and then turn them into paper, the people in Japan that make the magical 0.38 Muji Pens and then my brain, right hand, fingers and the wonderful or awful people and environments I surround myself with/in.

How did I learn to make what I do?

My overall concept of thin blue lines on white backgrounds started in my second last year of Design in high school. We got an assignment where we had to take inspiration from any one of Garth Walkers iJusi Magazines. I was immediately drawn to his ball point issue and started creating my own designs based on that. At this point I was still very lost as to what my style was, but this helped me find it very quickly.

What is my favourite part of the process?

This would be the moment when whatever is going on in my head, or what my vision of how the illustration should be turns out exactly how I wanted it, or sometimes even better. Another favourite part would be when I am sitting somewhere and I witness something that immediately inspires a drawing.

What materials are my products made from?

A very exciting and elaborate combination of white paper and blue ink.

Do I source my raw materials from SA, if not, where in the world do they come from?

I buy the paper in South Africa yes, but I have wonderful friends that travel overseas and come back with blue Muji pens for me. If I run out I try and find the next best pen in stationary shops around Cape Town (it can take me up to a half an hour to find the right pen).

Which part of the country, and which city do I make my products?

In Cape Town, which is in the Western Cape.

Are there special care/cleaning methods you can suggest to customers?

Please handle the illustrations with loads of love and care, like you would a baby, but unlike a baby please oh please don’t try clean them, because they will get ruined.

Do I have an interesting tidbit for you guys?

Tidbit is such a fun word. Tidbit.

Uhm I have a childhood story that kind of explains how my mind works that tends to make people smile (or worry about me).

You know when you’re lying with your ear on your pillow and you can hear your heartbeat in your ear? Well when I was little I did not know that it was my heartbeat so I used to think that there were tiny little soldiers in my pillow that were marching up and down. I would lie there hoping that they would march over to my older brother and attack him in his sleep with their tiny little spears.

I don’t think that there is one specific thing that has inspired me. It’s an accumulation of inspirations throughout my short 18 years of life.

Claudia's work can be found at KIN on Kloof.


Follow Claudia on Instagram here

Meet Our KIN : Flagg...

If you've visited KIN on Kloof recently, we know your heart would have been completely captivated by the tiny creatures living in their own little worlds inside Flagg's beautifully made dioramas. "What is a diorama?" you ask - loosely defined it's an encapsulated 3D scene which re-creates a specific instant in time. In Flagg's neatly boxed moments, each character is lit with tiny LED's and caught mid-thought, illustrating her brilliant sense of humour. From grouchy penguins to repenting sharks - it's almost impossible to pick a favourite!

Flagg will be exhibiting her new work as well as an extra large diorama in #KINonKloof's windows for the month of April 2015. This is definitely something you have to experience first hand so pop in to 99B Kloof Street to see these fresh wonders!

In the meantime, let's chat to Flagg...

 

Why did you start making your products?

I started making these dioramas because its something I personally wanted to see with my own eyes :) If someone else had been making them I would have gotten just as excited about buying their work. I've always been interested in the concept of "looking in". I like the idea of having a small static scene within an object, with only your imagination to bring it to life.

How did you learn to make what you do?

I had an idea of building a lit scene in a fish tank about 4 years ago. I just REALLY wanted something like that next to my bed. But like all good creative ideas I completely ignored it for a year and let it simmer. And then literally on the morning of my very first exhibition 2 years ago i decided that NOW was a good time to rush around and try and make one in the couple of hours before my show. I made a small scene of a dinosaur saying " Sugary drinks are for weekedns only" and boom, i just couldn't stop. In terms of "learning" how to make a diorama, its been a giant amount of trial and error. Lots of testing new methods, happy mistakes and hundreds of burns with the soldering iron.

What materials are your products made from?

This is a bit of a hard one to answer as my work can often consist of what ever is floating in my studio or in the bottom of the kitchen draw. I try to RE USE things like old toys, found objects, recycled files, books, LED strip lights, 9 Volt batteries, all kinds of fun toggle switches, clear perspex for the screens, random christams cracker toys, and things that I pick up off the floor.

Do you source your raw materials in SA, if not, where in the world do they come from?

Yes, all from Cape Town.

Which part of the country, and which city do you make your products?

I make all of the dioramas in a dark garage in Cape Town.

What is your favourite part of the process?

My favorite part of my process it to finally put the diorama together, clean and organise my studio, turn off the lights and turn the newly made diorama on. Best feeling in the world :)

Show some love and  follow Flagg on Facebook here

Introducing : Clay Creations 56

Perfect for holding anything from delicate pieces of jewellery to tasty nibbles, Clay Creations 56's ceramic bowls make exquisite gifts. From the smallest bowl to the largest round platter, each piece is hand-formed and has signature handpainted details. Debbi Radomsky chats about how her pieces are thought up, created and loved.

Why did you start making your products?

I've always been a numbers person and financially minded, but have also always had a passion to be creative and work with clay. Since starting, I am completely passionate about my ceramics and find it a good switch off from the numbers world too.

How are your products made?

All hand made - most using moulds to get the basic shapes

 
How did you learn to make what you do?

I attend ceramic classes but work mostly on my own and just use the studio for firing my work mainly.

What is your favourite part of the process?

Seeing how the products come out the kiln as things change when fired and you never sure how the final result will look.

"I am completely passionate about the ceramics range I make and enjoy every moment of my time spent creating each item. I love the creative process and experimenting with new and different techniques. I find time flies when I am creating and I completely lose myself to the outside world."

Debbi Radomsky

What materials are your products made from?

All ceramics made from clay, painted and then clear glazed applied and fired in the kiln.

Which part of the country, and which city do you make your products / have them made?
All in Cape Town

Are there are special care/cleaning methods we can suggest to customers?

I would suggest hand wash as items are delicate, although all products are dish washer (and oven) safe.

Introducing : Reverie Designs & Ministry of Memories

Claire Sandham of Reverie Designs & Ministry of Memories talks about why she began making jewellery, her inspiration, processes & designs and working with fellow artist Sharon Boonzaier.

Tell us a bit about your brands and designs
Reverie Designs is my brand and Ministry of Memories is a collaboration brand between Sharon Boonzaier and myself. Reverie has several different designs which are mostly inspired by organic shapes. I try to create my pieces so the shape of the piece is open to interpretation. Memories are changeable and mean different things to different people, I hope my designs do the same.

Why did you start making your products?
Reverie Designs was born out of a desire to preserve memory and moments. Each piece encapsulates an experience, which, superfluous in word alone, comes alive on the wearer’s body. Memories are snapshots in our individual histories, lost as easily as they are born, but the Reverie Brand strives to create enduring reminders of who we are, where we’ve come from, and which stories we’d like to keep and share.

The aim of Ministry of Memories is to create illustrations (inspired by our past) that can be worn as jewellery. I have always been inspired by Sharon's work, in fact three of her artworks hang in my room. We collaborated to create unique pieces documenting our roots and fond memories. Each piece starts with an original artwork by Sharon which I then translate into a jewellery piece.

How are your products made?
Each design requires a different process to manufacture but we do not use laser cutting at all. All of our pieces are designed in studio and then manufactured or assembled by hand.

What is your favourite part of the process?
Seeing a design go from a sketch on paper to a functional, wearable piece of jewellery. I never get tired of looking at the finished product and thinking "only a few days ago this was only a concept now it is something that I can hold and wear."

 

Do you have an interesting tidbit for us?
I will always remember the feeling of completing my first piece of jewellery. I looked at the piece and thought, this started as granules of raw metal. I looked at my hands and could almost not believe they had made the piece. I have kept that piece and it reminds me daily to never loose sight of why I am a designer and why I manufacture.

Find Reverie Designs & Ministry of Memories at KIN at V&A

Follow Reverie Designs on Facebook here