Category Archives: Kyneton

Lost Trades Fair 2018

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It is the weekend of the Lost Trades Fair at Kyneton, an hour or so from Melbourne.

Lost Trades “celebrates the art of skilled manual work,ancient crafts and rare trades,..These trades and the incredible artisans and real makers who continue to pursue these trades as a career deserve a platform to showcase their skills, incredible craftsmanship and share their knowledge.”   

Lost Trades was founded in 2011 and has over 15000 visitors through the gates over two days . There are over 120 stall of fascinating trades and amazing artisan, all passionate about their skill and happy to share it.

I stopped and sketched at a few stalls and listened to the demonstrations and the audience questions.

After the first warm up sketch, I decided to sketch with my Lamy Safari ink pen and then add colour to the tools or craft or sometimes the maker. All done on location. I also decided not to continue the sketch when I got home. I am interested in capturing what I did on the spot.

 

I will however, look up the details of the person and their trade and add that information to the page. I am interested in knowing what I sketched. 

 

This is my third (or fourth) visit and I will be back !. 

Next year I will stay overnight in Kyneton and go to the Lost Trades Fair on the two days.  

2016 part 2 

2016 Part 1

My burger at Lost Trades Fair

Lost Trades Fair 2015 Part 1

Lost Trades Fair 2015 Part 2

 

Lost Trades Fair Part 2

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Lost Trades Fair PART 2

Last week I wrote Part 1 of my visit to the Lost Trades Fair in March. Here is the next part of my day of sketching at the Lost Trades Fair.

I have been asked about who runs the Lost Trades Fair and here is a little information about Glen & Lisa Rundell. Please see more at their website Rundell & Rundell . There is a wonderful five minute video that gives an insight into the day. It is really interesting and well worth viewing.
Who are Rundell & Rundell ? Lisa & Glen Rundell initiated and founded the Lost Trades Fair and it has grown so quickly with their passion, drive and organisation. LISA RUNDELL runs “The Chairmakers Wife” traditional trading store in Kyneton, with international traditional quality makers and showcasing work by local artisans that are part of the growing ‘Lost Trades’ guild of makers. GLEN RUNDELL is a Chairmaker, designer, woodworker, artisan, instructor and craftsman and holds bespoke workshops.

MY sketching day  …
I wandered down the wide grassed areas , with white tents either side. I would choose a stall that looks interesting to draw, has a place for me to sketch, without blocking other people.

Mar2016 Whisky and Wolf LR
The first stall I stopped at was Whisky & Wolf , where I talked to Leon, the artisan leatherworker. I stood in the stall and sketched. There were the finely handcrafted leather goods in a beautifully displayed area – old fishing gear, a stuffed pheasant, old books and nests. I felt relaxed in these surrounds and started drawing the pheasant. I heard about the hand finishing and stitching of the goods, and how Leon got to be doing what he is today.

There are fascinating stories everywhere at Lost trades Fair.

Mar2016 Pete Von Trott LR
I often observed a stall for a while, firstly for my own appreciation of the skill and knowledge of the person and their trade. Secondly, to see how the person is going to move around while I try to sketch them. Often they are making a specific object by hand in front of a growing audience. They stand alone, the onlookers kept back behind a rope. They explain the process of creating the object as they do it. Sometimes it involves repeating processes and stances .

Pete Von Trott – spoon maker was a great example of this . He worked on the same block of wood, using different tools, to carve it down to a fine wooden spoon. He told us about the timber (sycamore) , wood grain and carving and tools.

Mar2016 Glen Rundell LR
In the stall next to him was Glen Rundell with his wood lathe. Glen is the Chairmaker and features in the video.

Mar2016 Doug Tarrant LR
But sometimes I didn’t discover how much someone moved until the person had changed positions and moved about. For example, Doug Tarrant, the blacksmith only used the fire to periodically heat the rods (I am getting all the technical names wrong here). He would pump with his foot, which would turn the wheel and add air to stoke the glowing coals. The majority of the time was spent with his back to me , talking to the onlookers on the other side of the table.
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Mar2016 Duncan McHarg LR

Duncan McHarg is a custom boot and shoemaker. He uses traditional construction techniques, and described them to us: from hand sewing every seam, to measuring and making of the wooden shoes lasts. This fascinating 4 minute BBC video explains a lot
Mar2016 Wood Duck Press LR

Sam Fray demonstrated the centuries-old craft of letterpress printing. Her company Wood Duck Press specialises in letterpress printing vintage, hand-fed, letterpress  She was working on “Daisy” a 240 kg press built in 1905, describing how she found the press in a factory alleyway rusty, neglected and how it came to be the working press in front of us.

It was two months ago that I visited the Lost Trades Fair. Looking back through my sketches and writing this blog has made me realise that I will remember these people and their passion and their skill for a long time.

Lost Trades Fair Part 1

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In March this year a friend and I took a one hour train ride from Melbourne to the regional town of Kyneton (population 8000) to go to the Lost Trades Fair. It was first held in 2014 and has rapidly established itself as an event, this year attracting over 15000 people in two days.

What is the Lost Trades Fair?

“The Lost & Rare Trades Fair celebrates the art of skilled manual work and ancient and traditional trades and crafts, their special tools, traditions, languages and secrets which are now threatened by mass produced products in our modern society.  Our aim is to unite people that still have these skills and reignite the significance that these trades and crafts have in todays environment, setting them on a steady path for the future, before they are lost to history.  “

Read so much more about this incredible initiative at the website Rundell and Rundell

There were over eighty amazing, knowledgeable and skilled traditional tradespeople set up in white tents in the grounds surrounding the Kyneton racecourse. These artisans practiced their crafts and explained them to fascinated onlookers. It was very interactive and the people are passionate about their trades and craft. They included an armourer, cooper, fletcher and windsor chairmaker.   The crowds grew during the day, but there was food and entertainment to sustain us.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my lunch sketch.

14mar16 LTF lunch

Last year I eagerly raced around, trying to take it all in, wanting to sketch everything and not miss out on seeing anything. This year I decided to focus on a few craftsmen and artisans, and be prepared not to see everything – quality not quantity. The stalls that I sketched were not chosen for a specific reason, I just happened to be there and there was a good place to sketch nearby. Sometimes the artisans did not know I was sketching them and others I chatted to while I sketched. I sketched 11 stalls. Maybe next year I will go for the two days of the long weekend.

Mar2016 Vintage Caravan LR

A Country Affair – vintage coffee cart

On the day I took a while to ‘warmup’ and feel comfortable in my role as sketcher for the day.An initial wander took us to coffee.  I sat down, trying to decide what to draw and what style to use. So I drew what was in front of me – the coffee caravan, In hindsight, it was far too ambitious. I should have stayed in my comfort zone and drawn my coffee, and then moved on to scenes.

Mar2016 Lost Trades Fair leathergoods LR

I then sketched the leathergoods stall across from me.

I was also choosing which medium to use when – my watercolour pencils and my Lamy ink pen. I also brought along an A4 Moleskine watercolour sketchbook to try and draw larger, as well as my everyday 19×13 cm Moleskine watercolour sketchbook. My aim for the day was to attempt to give character and movement to a scene – capturing the moment. I was not attempting to draw a portrait (although it is always pleasing when the figure vaguely looks like the person) but some of them are such characters that they are unmistakable.

Sometimes I started sketching in pencil and capturing the moment. Once I discovered the person was going to stay still or repeat the moment I added colour and features. Here are the sketches. Note: The combination of light graphite pencil sketches and light watercolour pencil does not scan very well and I am disappointed that they do not look like my originals.

Mar2016 Dean the Cobber LR

Dean the cobber – a really enjoyable time here as I sketched Dean mixing clay with an enthusiastic member of the crowd, who was really enjoying getting stuck into the mud. Her brother and then her family chatted to us . Dean builds a cob oven from clay, sand, straw and water. I was watching on and sketching but so tempted to join in. I could almost feel the mud between my toes. This was in an A4 page.

Mar2016 Spoonsmith LR
I was feeling weary so sat under a tree, but it had to be one with a view to sketch and it was the Spoonsmith.
This was the other sketch I did on an A4 page

Mar2016 Penny Farthing LR
Penny Farthing – attracting attention with the Penny Farthing Bicycles and steampunk gear. Large circles are difficult to sketch sometime so I tried to focus on the costume.
I will continue with Part 2 next week, with some more of my sketches from the day and the stories behind them.

You can see my sketches from last year

Lost Trades Fair 2015 Part 1

Lost Trades Fair 2015 Part 2

My burger at Lost Trades Fair

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Yesterday a friend and I spent the day at the Lost Trades Fair at Kyneton, just over an hour by train from Melbourne. The Lost Trades fair showcases traditional, rare and unusual arts and trades and actively promotes the people who practise these skills.

The weather was just perfect  and I sketched all day completing 10 pages. I was experimenting with reportage sketching – telling a story.  I still have to scan my sketches and write commentary. I need to reflect on how I managed the day and what I would do differently. These will be the topic of a later blog.

Today is all about my lunch at Lost Trades Fair.

14mar16 LTF lunch

After sketching and talking to some incredibly interesting stall holders, we stopped for a well earned lunch at Sidonnia Hills Natural Beef for their Drover’s Burger.

 

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We sat on hay bales and I sketched my burger and finally ended up eating a slightly cool, but delicious burger. I chatted to people in the queue about sketching and my pencils. 

I like to draw a detailed object in watercolour pencil and then use my Lamy ink pen to sketch the context. In this case it was the people at the markets.

Here are the watercolour pencils I used (with a waterbrush)

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Left to right : Grass green, Chrome Oxide Green, ivory, Burnt Ochre, Cadmium Yellow, Light Yellow Ochre, Deep Scarlet Red, Walnut  Brown, Burnt Umber, Magenta, Burnt Sienna, Madder Crimson.

All are Faber Castell  Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils, except the last , which is a Derwent.

See my blog posts  and sketches from last years Lost Trades Fair

http://www.alissaduke.com/2015/03/lost-trades-fair-sketching-part-1.html

http://www.alissaduke.com/2015/03/lost-trades-fair-sketching-part-2.html

 

 

Weekend in Kyneton

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12jul15 kyneton

A friend & I visited Kyneton for a long talked about long weekend. Kyneton is a thriving country  town 85 km from Melbourne in Central Victoria and is just over an hour by train. It has become renowned as a country destination for good food. It has Art galleries  and lovely shops for home furnishings, craft, books, nurseries, gifts, food, wine and clothes.

These are my drawings from the weekend.

10Jul15kyneton

I started in my sketchbook the night before, drawing a map of the area and listing the train stops along the way. Then I sketched at Southern Cross Station.
Our cottage was newly renovated, stylish and also cosy and warm on a chilly weekend.

10Jul15kyneton3

I sketched inside and out.

10Jul15kyneton8

 

Exploring Kyneton

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Kyneton Museum

Unlike a majority of towns in the area, Kyneton predates the Victorian Gold Rush  having been established in 1850, and gold rushes started the year after that. Some of the finest Bluestone buildings to be found in Victoria are a main feature of the town and date back to the Gold Rush era when Kyneton was a major supply town for the diggings.

10Jul15kyneton6

Food from the farmers markets

The food at the farmers markets. Delicious to look at and draw. The stallholders were delightful to talk to and we had some lovely conversations. A place to return to.

Lost Trades Fair sketching part 2

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This is part 2 of my sketches from the  Lost Trades Fair, last Saturday 7 March 2015. If you missed it Read Part 1 here. There was so much to see and sketch on the day so  I decided to do two blog posts

Just in case you missed out, the Lost Trades Fair is held at Kyneton, one hour train ride from Melbourne. (Their facebook page has lots of interviews and features). The Lost Trades Fair supports “rare, forgotten and traditional trades and crafts and those that practise them”. The fair had over 60 stall of traditional trades, rare crafts and forgotten arts. We got to meet these talented makers that practise these trades.

On this page are some of my quick sketches from the day. Even though they are quick sketches, I spent time looking at the object or person as they moved around an object they were crafting or worked with their hands. Often their movements were repetitive, so I could watch the angles of the body, arms and wrists. Other times they moved a lot and I could only get an impression of how they work. As I stood sketching,  I also had the opportunity to listen to the conversations between the artisan/tradesperson and people passing by. These people have so much knowledge and passion for their area of interest.

wooden sword maker

wooden sword maker

 

armourer

armourer

 

 

7mar15 pennyfarthing

1mar15 cobber

1mar15 Lost Trades Fair 1

 

1mar15 fletcher
1mar15 corrn dollies

I am really looking forward to next year and perhaps visiting some of these Lost Trades during the year at other events or their shops.

Welcome to 2015

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Welcome to 2015 and my new website.

This new year is full of opportunities and promises many adventures.

Like my dishmop drawing (below) I am having a clean out in the New Year.  2015 has started well as I have successfully moved from a Blogger blog to a WordPress website, which you are looking at now. I still have the same address www.alissaduke.com

A clean out in the new Year. Even the everyday is interesting !

You may notice differences on my blog page formatting and I hope to smooth these out over the next weeks.

As well as a blog,  WordPress provides the options of a Gallery (to display some of my drawings in themed groups such as food, travel, nature) , a Shop and more !

I am spending time looking at the process of getting my drawings from the pages in my sketchbook onto cards and prints.

I have been busy spending time working on my website, but have still been drawing everyday – even through a recent headcold.

17jan2015 quail eggs

16jan2015 a cold