BirdSpoke

2011-10-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

For the bach.

Red Gull

2010-11-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Red, red, red. Red billed gull.

Black Robin

2010-10-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

The Black Robin. On vintage silk.

Peppermint Mag feature

2010-10-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

thanks Peppermint Mag for the full page fashion feature. Spring 2010 pg 51.

Bird Sale

2010-10-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

Over in my Etsy shop I am having a short sale on all bird necklaces. New Zealand customers welcome. Order now for Christmas.. and have your necklace delivered to you, how easy is that!

This weekend

2010-09-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

New embroideries at Kraftbomb. This Sunday 26th sep 11-2pm, Gry Lynn Community Centre.

Interview on Felt

2010-09-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

Featured Seller: birdspoke

Monday September 13th 2010
At her home near bush in Auckland, artist, crafter and budding birder Rachelle Wood sketches, stitches and models the creations that comprise Birdspoke. Inspired by local birdlife, she applies traditional hand-stitching skills learned from her grandmother and draws upon her love of sculpture to create her distinctive artworks.

What do you make?
I make bird-related jewellery, homeware, embroideries and plushies. Why birds? Because they are everywhere. On a rainy-day walk recently I noticed a seagull atop every other lamp-post. An underdog but a survivor, the common old seagull is my favourite.

How did you get into your craft?
I got sick of working in hospitality and decided life was too short to spend on somebody else’s dream. I decided to commit fulltime to my own art practice and as a means to earn a crust I developed the crafty side of my work. With all the craft fairs popping up I didn’t need to look far to find a platform to showcase my work. People were becoming very enthusiastic about the indie scene and the new craft object. General interest in craft now is very healthy and our awareness about producing things sustainably has grown.

My grandmother taught me embroidery when I was a girl. She talked about her experiences in embroidery school in the 1930s, which she described as art school for girls. My mother, also, was competent with a sewing machine but would get me to hand sew the hems and detailing of the clothes she made, something she hated doing herself.

Hand-stitching for me has always been soothing and therapeutic and feels like something very special passed down through the generations of women in my family.

In my twenties, I went on to learn dressmaking and pattern-drafting and even worked for a time as a knitting pattern designer. All these skills are connected with textiles with which I have a deep affinity.

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
Yes, I went to Elam Art School and majored in Sculpture. I loved every minute of it.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
Although I am constantly looking for new approaches to my work I typically like to infuse old-fashioned values into the modern and everyday. Doing less attracts me too, perplexingly harder than it sounds!

What inspires you? The big tree in our backyard.

Describe your workspace:
A sunny, frustratingly cluttered room in the front of my house. Oh, to have more space!

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
Fabrics, particularly silk. I collect patterned silks and feel warm and tingly when I see them arranged in colour-ways on my shelves. Also, any/all objects and their relationships with each other. I like to treat common materials with great respect and attention. And, I often marry these everyday materials with materials we consider precious and which are at the opposite end of the hierarchy. For example, I spend hours modeling the polymer birds for my long necklaces and then use silk, a luxury fabric, fairly informally as a carrier braid. This juxtaposition feels exciting and unexpected.

Five words that describe your mind: Determined, alert, enquiring, busy and sometimes undisciplined.

What are you currently listening to?
The birds and the traffic, I like to be connected with what’s going on around me.

Recommend an album: My all-time favourite album is Leonard Cohen, Songs From A Room.

Your favourite childhood book?
Thumbelina. Something about being very small in the wonder of the world.

What are you reading now?
Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov. I have a chapter read aloud every night while I sew birds. I also have a huge non-fiction library in my hallway that I am constantly dipping into. Apart from my study at art school, which feels like a long time ago now, I am largely self-taught, an autodidact.

Your hero/heroine:
I can’t say that I have a mentor or a heroine. I admire ideas, not so much the people who have them.

Do you have any pets? Old cat Feni, follows me around.

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Yellow, the colour of my room when I was a girl. I love yellow houses, kowhai flowers and summer.

Huia wall-bird

2010-09-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

Newly listed on felt. Plump, gothic ... extinct.

Sale Claw Pins

2010-08-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Yippee, sale on Claw Pins! Claws for sale

Bird Card Sets

2010-08-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

New cards listed on Etsy and felt. They come in singles and sets up to five designs.

Stitch birds

2010-08-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Stitched natives now being listed in my felt shop. www.birdspoke.felt.co.nz
International shipping options.

Lavender Bird

2010-07-30T16:43:00.000-07:00

Lovely, soothing lavender birds in french linen. I have one hanging next to my bed. It nests under my pillow when I need a calm night's sleep.. ahh.
www.birdspoke.felt.co.nz

Emboidered Bird

2010-07-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak preview of what I will have on my table at the fair this Saturday.
The Auckland Art and Craft Fair is shaping up to be a very exciting event. This saturday from 11am to 3pm at Auckland Art Gallery.
Come along and help me out! I will need lots of refreshments.

and if you miss it, the following day is Kraftbomb at Richmond Road community centre (11am-2pm). Yes, I will be there too!

Little Claws

2010-07-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

Charming House

2010-06-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

I am listing my Red House series of buntings in my various on-line shops. Bunting have a cottage, villa and bungalow theme. Charm to write home about.

Kokako go!

2010-05-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

Phew, what a lot of handiwork! Yes, I got out my power tools to create frames for my embroideries. Newly listed Kokako embroidery on birdspoke.felt.co.nz/browse/listing/23414/kokako-Embroidery Ready to hang, stretched onto a pine frame.

Birdspoke on Felt

2010-05-15T16:18:00.000-07:00

Birdspoke is now on FELT where New Zealand's indie designers sell their wares in one place. Check out my first few listings. All going well so far. http://www.felt.co.nz/browse/user/birdspoke

Polar Bears on Ice

2010-05-02T22:23:00.000-07:00

Set on ice ledges, hand modeled polar bears, climbing, standing watchfully, descending and playfully supine.

2010-04-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

New Zealand gothic

2010-04-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

New Zealand gothic Tui. This would make a wonderful Mother's Day gift. Newly listed on Toggle.co.nz. Housewares-Birdspoke. Check it out.

Fur Children

2010-04-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

New commissioned work.
I hand-embroidered this furry portrait for Amanda Fifield using a combination of stem and satin stitch. She sent me a photo of her beloved fur children and I worked from there. All up the stitching took between 6 and 7 hours. The sketching and prep work, however took a day. I stitched a few different colour samples to figure out shade and how to draw out the facial features amongst all the fur!
She was very pleased, in fact, I made her two.
Thanks for the patronage Amanda!

And here I am

2010-03-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Featured in Ellie Smith's 1st issue of Extra Curricular, Birdspoke poses in some bush and domestic settings. A lovely publication of artists and crafters doing their thing. Thanks Ellis for the wonderful article. Issue 2 of Extra Curricular is out now. Order your copy from www.Toggle.co.nz

New kiwi on the block

2010-03-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Soon to be listed on Toggle.co.nz under homewares. Adorable soft, freestanding kiwi. Lovely, cuddly, cutie.. pure wool and tiny handmade eyes and claws.

Bears on Ice

2010-02-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

New Polar bear work

Polar Bears

2010-02-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Beat the heat. Birdspoke with new polar bear work.

Bird Sociology

2010-02-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

thanks Leunig for this insight into the bird-human relationship

The Unfortunate

2009-11-10T13:56:00.001-08:00

Call of the corduroy

2009-09-21T05:23:00.000-07:00

New tui plushies for sale now on Toggle and at The Poi Room in Newmarket.
Hot and flighty!

Birds shrink to stay cool

2009-09-21T04:42:00.000-07:00

Take a native hottie to bed!

2009-06-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

Kokako hot water bottle and cover avaliable on Toggle.co.nz

Birds are Hot!!

2009-06-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

There's a hottie on Toggle!

2009-06-17T01:54:00.001-07:00

All hand-embroidered bird hottie. Warm up and get cosy with a flying tern hottie.. bottle and cover available now on Toggle.co.nz: http://www.toggle.co.nz/index.asp?action=shop&categoryid=3&subcategoryid=328.

Also selling at The Poi Room in Newmarket: http://www.thepoiroom.co.nz

2009-05-22T05:22:00.000-07:00

Birds in the trees
Shook dust from their wings
I thought of the heartaches
That shattered our love not long ago

Birds in the trees
Now asleep

2009-05-13T01:58:00.000-07:00

Polar BearWheat Bags. Cute and waiting to be warmed up in your microwave. For sale on line at Toggle.co.nz.

Argumentum Ornithologicum

2009-04-15T01:40:00.000-07:00

I close my eyes and see a flock of birds. The vision lasts a second, or perhaps less; I am not sure how many birds I saw. Was the number of birds definite or indefinite? The problem involves the existence of God. If God exists, the number definite, because God knows how many birds I saw. If God does not exist, the number is indefinite, because no one can have counted. In this case I saw fewer than ten birds (let us say) and more than one, but did not see nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, or two birds. I saw a number between ten and one, which was not nine, eight, seven, six, five, etc. That integer - not-nine, not-eight, not-seven, not-six, not- five etc. - is inconceivable. Ergo, God exists.

Jorge Luis Borges

Big SALE

2009-01-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

Hey all, I am having a MASSIVE SALE in my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5733489.

All bird necklaces and brooches are reduced.. for a short time.. check it out.

Yay, it's the Craftwerk market!

2008-12-07T01:15:00.000-08:00

Crafts-music-zines and film fair! Bound to be a fantastic night.

11th Dec thurs 6-10pm
Down the end of St Kevins Arcade, K Rd, Auckland.

Thin Ice

2008-11-09T01:33:00.000-08:00

I am listing a new range of polar bear necklaces in my Etsy shop. Very cooooooool.

BirdSpoke Necklace in various colours

2008-11-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Some of my most interesting work is available for sale online at Birdspoke.etsy.com.

2008-11-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

hey, check this out.. my boyfriend is still an idiot!
theaxemen.wordpress.com

BirdSpoke Cat Rug

2008-11-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

Hey, check out my hand-crocheted cat rug. Yes, it took me many hours and it's a beauty!

It's a one-off. It is for sale at Toggle.co.nz Look for Inner Bird by Birdspoke under HOMEWARE. Inner Bird is the name I use to list things I create for beautifying the nest.

Welcome

2008-10-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

Hey, hey, welcome to my new blog.
Stay tuned and I will let you know what latest bird madness I am up to in my studio!

Wilma Birdstock