Cornelia Weinmann: Portfolio

July 8, 2011

Ceramics: sculpture

One of my experimental pieces, something semi-architectural. Since I prefer not to use glaze, I tried out clays of different colours, but with the same body. Fortunately I didn't get bad tension cracks. The bizarrely bent and rusty nails were epoxied in after the firing. I protected he surface of this House Box with beeswax.

Stoneware clay, grogged, cream and chocolate colour. Nails. 2009.

Size: 15 x 15 x 28 cm

Painting: Watercolour

Two samples of work done a little while ago at my watercolour class in Caerphilly, tutored by Howard Jones who just had a lovely exhibition in the refurbished Dahl Gallery at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre in Cardiff Bay, Wales.
More and more I realise that I'm drawn towards mixed media work and highly textured surfaces. Exciting to slowly develop a personal style.

Lighthouse

SAA watercolours on Bockingford NOT 300gsm. 2011.

Size: 28 x 38 cm

Wall after the Rain

SAA watercolours, chalk pastels and ink on Bockingford NOT 300gsm. 2011.

June 12, 2011

Recycled furniture: Chair

This chair is part of a set of four stylish oak chairs which I traded for a recycled and refurbished chest of drawers. The bland looking wood was sanded and stained, the drop-in seats needed re-upholstering. I dyed and printed cotton canvas and gave it to Eve Kyle, an interior designer in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. She did a great job fixing the seats and covering them with my fabric. Four chatty people might sit on four chairs around the table at a dinner party, so I called the chairs Conversation.

Oak, cotton canvas, Procyon fabric dye, Setacolor fabric paint. 2000.

Painting: Watercolour

Work created in my watercolour class, practising the use of a sword brush, and how to set accents with ink drawing.

French Chapel

SAA watercolours on Bockingford NOT
300 gsm. 2011.

Size: 28 x 38 cm

Clay sculpture: King and Queen

Vaguely influenced by the work of Czech artist Lubomir Silar I slab built these two figures. For a change I applied glossy brush-on glazes. The mount is still missing - I need to think about whether I should use one pedestal for each of the figures or put them together on one base.

Earthenware, brush-on glazes and underglazes. 2010.

Height: 35, 37 cm

Fabric design: vegetable print

My only sample of a fabric printing technique where one uses cut up vegetables to transfer paint onto cloth, here an apple and leek. I didn't apply this technique more often because I don't like wasting food - but the effect is interesting. I learned about vegetable and fruit printing at an excellent workshop facilitated by Maiwa Handprints Ltd. on Granville Island in Vancouver, Canada.

Cotton T-shirt, Procyon fabric dye, Setacolour fabric paint. 1998.

Design: utensil containers

In Canada I used to sell my hand painted furniture at many different craft fairs in the Vancouver area. Not too many big items would fit into my Jeep Cherokee, so I painted a few smaller pieces which also added variety to my sales display. Here is one sample in different designs: a box with many small drawers (yes, it's from IKEA). Useful for storing pencils, erasers, paper clips and other small stuff that usually clutters one's writing desk!

Plywood, acrylic primer, paint, varnish. 1998.

Sizes: 28 x 21 x 28 cm, 41 x 21 x 28cm

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