HANDMADE FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison
The glass doorknob
November, 2006

Gracia and Louise are the dynamic Aussie duo behind the cool online shop hammer & daisy. They never cease to amaze me with their cute bird stuffies, pencil cases, handmade journals, zines, and prints. I love all that they do and I'm constantly inspired by their art. Gracia is a collage master and Louise's watercolor paintings are so lovely! Hope you enjoy this little peek inside their busy world and be sure to visit their shop to find a little treasure for yourself or your friends!

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Describe your perfect morning or evening.
hammer & daisy are a pair of night owls, a pair of barn owls from North Fitzroy, Melbourne with many cats in our nest. One of us a natural night owl through and through, the other more recently converted to the peaceful beauty of working late at night.

The morning holds many charms but none which can compete with the lure, the magnetic pull, of working late at night. The calm quiet of the night wins every time, hands down. Uninterrupted by distractions, vices and other work commitments, sitting up past the midnight witching hour is the ideal time to transform a brown piece of cotton fabric into a parliament of handsewn owl pinnies, the perfect time to unfold and cut up new fabrics in readiness for tomorrow. Undisturbed, surrounded by our cats Omar and Olive, there are few distractions and many benefits to be had working at this time, folding paper for journals until the eyelids droop and the back begins to sing out for a rest.

What is your ideal setup for creating?
For both of us, our ideal set up is determined purely by the task, though generally, as with our art practice, it is made in silence.

When knotting up several journal spines (a single A4 journal has 164 small square knots which make up its flexible spine, and takes a little over 30 minutes to knot), the last stage in making a journal, the trusty ipod is always called upon. The faster the music the faster one can knot, keeping in time with the music. Gogol Bordello (no surprises there) and old favourites The Clash, Manu Chau, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, and Fugazi prove ideal for this part of the process. 'Theme time radio hour with your host Bob Dylan' a further favourite work companion in our home based factory… each song introduced with anecdotal facts and informative particulars. Running for exactly one hour, it is a more pleasant way to mark time, two A4 journals knotted to one hours worth of songs devoted entirely to flowers. Talking books are another favourite when working on the more straight forward components of journal making, though generally we prefer the quiet hum of the day for it enables the mind to race ahead and think of new drawings, new plans, new schemes and (for Louise) new motorbikes to research and draw.

Which season inspires you the most and why?
They all have their benefits. Cooler days lend themselves to long stretches of work especially when it is wintry outside and you are tucked up, cozy and dry in your studio, happily tinkering away. Gluing the fabric covers of a pile of new concertina journals whilst people outside walk past wrapped up in woolly scarves, it all makes for a pretty tempting combination. That said the long hot summer/Christmas holidays are also ideal. The days of January seem to stretch for as far as the eye can see. This January we’re looking forward to printing some of our recent collages and drawings for the first time in four colour (as opposed to the usual, more affordable two colour).

Tell us the story behind one of your pieces.
One piece we are working on right now is a small bluebird stuffie. Similar to the limited edition canaries we made for Craft Victoria’s Yellow Christmas, this bluebird has been especially enjoyable to make as we are making it as a little thank-you meets Christmas present for all our friends near and dear. Little bluebird stuffies will be winging their way to many avid glass doorknob readers (hopefully) before long.

What are some of the biggest rewards of being a handmade artist? Biggest challenges?
By far the biggest reward is that hammer & daisy supports the making of our artwork, both collaborative and individual. We set up hammer & daisy for many reasons, one of which was to fund the making of our limited edition collaborative artists’ books and other works on and with paper. At present, the two sit well together, they feed off one another. Working on a line of journals allows us time to think about our artwork and to build upon our skills technically. It is also incredibly enjoyable, and seeing one item through from beginning to end, all components made entirely by hand, is without a doubt a thrill.

Studying bookbinding in Ascona for a spell (as part of a Freedman Foundation Traveling Scholarship for Emerging Artists in 2002) resulted in us not only being able to bind our own artists’ books but also to start hammer & daisy, which has grown from a line of handmade journals to encompass an army of bird pinnies and stuffies and more.

Who are some of your favourite handmade artists?
There are so, so many, especially since we happened upon the rich blogging community of talented souls in January of this year. Aside from all the folk listed in your side bar, here are a few more:
Beck Wheeler
Iggy & Lou Lou
Sticky for the zines
Words and Pictures
Spacecraft
Nancybird
Jessie Tucker
Dapple Grey
Bencke
And, GeorgieLove.
We also like to swing by handmadelife and Miss Woolly for further crafty links a little closer to home.

If you were to go on a holiday getaway, where would you travel and what would you do?
Anywhere, anytime. A holiday we’d greatly love.

What is your favourite holiday treat?
A favourite holiday treat… lolling in the back garden at the end of a long hot Christmas day to the sound of many cicadas and the gentle hum of a nearby conversation sampled in between Fats Domino’s Christmas album (playing for the umpteenth time).

When is the last day to place an order in time for holiday delivery?
For folk overseas – 15th of December (just to be sure)
For folk in Australia – 19th of December for all online orders or right up to Christmas eve if popping into one of our stockists.

Thanks Gracia and Louise!

The glass boorknob