Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Crafty Lady #07 - Gillian Bencke

If you are a keen crafter or lover of craft and pretty things then no doubt you have run into a Bencke doll or two as they are scattered around lovely little shops all over Australia.

Bencke dolls are delicately crafted by Gillian Bencke since 2005 and who is based in Newcastle, Australia. One of the many lovely things about Gillians dolls is that each one is handmade and in turn, each little creation is unique, no two are the same.

The story of how gillian came to be producing her quirky creatures begins at home in the scrub of dudley and leads to tales of plays and hikes and music and singing, as well as ones with chooks and sickles and bee stings. a degree in communications studies, led to photography, self-publishing, exhibitions, installations and collaborations. studies in digital media were followed by travel: a broken LOMO camera and the collecting of memories instead. somehow on the streets of paris the idea of 'dolls' from rescued fabric came to be.

Bencke works from the principle of rescuing and redistributing; taking meaning from the old and giving to the new.
- From Bencke website.

If you look at yesterdays post you will see Gillians patch for 'The Crafty Ladies & Gents Quilt'. So very beautiful. Please visit the Bencke website here to view more little lovelies, her blog here for to-the-minute Bencke news and her shop here which among many others has a very gorgeous cuckoo cushion for sale. Thank you Gillian!!
butterliebutterliein collaboration with High Tea with Mrs Woo

Selma read her diary when she had nothing else to do
Talula Turtle

butterlie with cloud

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