Cornelia Weinmann: Portfolio: 7/19/09

July 23, 2009

Recycled furniture: Chest of drawers

My dresser Red Nose is one of those pieces of furniture that have done service for generations. I found it in the basement of an elderly couple’s house in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They did not want to bring it to their new downsized place. The straightforward proportions of this chest of drawers have influenced my design. Its name derives from the new round knobs that I chose because they make a perfect match for the red circles of my design.

Wood, acrylic paint. 1997.
Size: 99 x 51 x 84cm

July 21, 2009

Fabric design: Hand weaving

I learned how to weave while I was studying archaeology in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1983 and 1984. After returning to Munich I bought a Swedish countermarch loom and started creating table runners, shawls, curtains, wall hangings, cushion covers. One of my last pieces was this knee-length coat. Cutting into hand woven fabric seemed like a sacriledge, and the sewing proved difficult because of the rough wool I had chosen. But I was very fond of those colours, and of the binding.

Dyed sheep's wool from Cornwall. 1991. Munkabelte pattern.
Length: 105cm

July 20, 2009

Recycled furniture: Chest of drawers

This vintage chest was one of the first pieces of furniture that I painted. It illustrates my idea of recycling furniture, giving it a new life by painting it and by finding stylish matching hardware for it.
I had found the piece at a garage sale in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It appealed to me with its clean proportions. I named it Double Breasted because I arranged the knobs like on a men's suit.

Wood, acrylic paint, brass hardware. 1998.
Size: 76 x 46 x 84cm

July 19, 2009

Clay sculpture: Brooding Man

The figure, having such thin limbs, is mounted on a wire support.
This caused problems while drying: small cracks appeared - clay shrinks, wire doesn't... I was able to fill these cracks, using the same kind of clay.
You'll find more of my clay sculptures in newer posts - click on Clay sculptures in the blog archive!

Air drying clay with nylon fibres (Newclay), wire, wood. 2009.
Hight: 32cm

About my work

I have always been a maker of things, for as long as I can think back. My innate sense for colour, shape and balance first found expression in painting on glass, making linocuts and collages, assembling three-dimensional scenes in cigar boxes, sculpting with papier mâché and weaving. All these creative skills were put aside when I embarked on a career in the ivory towers of university. However, the call to be a maker rather than a university teacher did not remain unheard. I integrated academic experience with creativity and started working as an exhibit designer in my birthplace Munich, Germany. Making things became my profession after moving to British Columbia in Western Canada, where I opened a home based studio for functional art in the Upper Fraser Valley near Vancouver. I started painting furniture and fabrics. My work was part of the rapidly growing trend to refinish and reuse creatively: I mainly used vintage furniture and transformed it into bright focal points for unique interiors, complemented by my hand dyed, hand printed fabrics. These pieces, with bright colours and abstract designs, were shown in exhibitions and window displays.

I have since moved back to Europe and lived for a long while in the West of Ireland before taking up residence in Wales, and since 2014 in Perthshire, Scotland. During that time my focus shifted from functional art to more decorative work, to printmaking and painting applying a variety of techniques.

Then came the moment when I was asked to help promote the idea of reusing and repurposing materials by running classes in vintage furniture painting. This task reconnected me with expertise acquired in the past and led to many contacts with organisations and projects advocating waste reduction, recycling, the need to introduce new economic models of sustainability and circularity.

Learning how the fashion industry that we are familiar with harms the environment and fashion workers rights, and how much waste we produce because we treat clothing as throw-away items gave me a veritable shock. My response was to start altering some of my clothes rather than buying new ones - and I rediscovered my love of sewing. I attended sewing and embroidery classes and eventually decided to make textile art the new direction in my creative practice.

Now I hand-tailor unique garments made mainly from repurposed fabric and contribute to the production of sustainable fashion of high quality, and thus to a section of the circular economy. I feel proud that I was able to transition my small business in this direction, and I definitely like being noticed when I wear my own creations showing flamboyant colours and contemporary designs in my unique signature style.

My studio is located near Coupar Angus in Perthshire (check the business hours on my Facebook page). I sell from my studio, from my own web shop and and from my Perthshire Artisans shop.

For an easy overview of my work visit my website:
www.corneliaweinmanndesign.com
www.perthshire-artisans.scot

Or my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CorneliaWeinmannArtist