Lenka's Way of LaceLace well done…
Posted on June 3, 2015
Season wrap-up wire lace workshop is coming on Saturday, June 27, 2015. It will harness the fresh summer energy to finish projects we started in previous workshops, to improve, strengthen and grow our skills and most of all, to release the creative potential locked in lace. Bring your unfinished projects in wire bobbin or needle lace with your questions about techniques and finishing, bring your finished projects to show and share with others, and of course, bring your ideas for future lace designs. Be ready for learning, brainstorming and fun!
Detailed information and registration
Spring Growth – Leaves, leaves and more leaves
Posted on April 8, 2015
April workshop follows the spring theme with leaf motif. Leaves have a special place in lace design. They are bold, prominent and quite beautiful. In fibre lace, the leaf tallies can be difficult to master, and because of that, they are often feared by new lacemakers. Wire medium is quite different, though, and suits perfectly to successful leaf-making. Exploring foliage in wire lace is exciting, because the process is so much easier that negotiating tallies in thread. Lacemakers can relax, have fun and create beautiful leaves of all shapes. In this workshop, instruction will cover three kinds of leaves: plaited leaves, leaf tallies and 3-pair leaves, as well as colour variations in leaf design and implementing leaf design in wearable lace jewellery. With just two pairs of bobbins, lacemakers will create a seedling pendant, and add one more pair to start a vine that can grow into a necklace, bracelet or a garland ornament. This workshop is suitable for beginners, but is also open to experienced lacemakers, especially those who want to overcome lacemaker’s leaf-phobia, and see that they can become happy and prolific leaf growers. Detailed information and registration
Large Black Chantilly Necklace
Posted on February 23, 2014
Large Chantilly Necklace
Material: Copper – enamelled and gold-plated, swarovski crystals
Technique: Chantilly lace
Size: 48cm x 25cm x 2cm
This necklace was created for the International Lace Award Competition organized by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia. It was selected among finalists and was exhibited in the Powerhouse Museum “Love Lace” exhibition in 2012 – 2013. The Chantilly Necklace as acquired for Powerhouse Museum Jewellery Collection and exhibited in a prestigious exhibition A fine possession: Jewellery and identity, from 24 September 2014 – 20 September 2015.
“The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences is delighted to present its most ambitious jewellery exhibition ever staged. Spanning millennia of jewellery history across continents and cultures:
A fine possession celebrates the central place of jewellery in our lives, from antiquity to the present-day, through a sumptuous selection of jewellery made, worn and collected in Australia, displaying over 700 rarely seen treasures.
“This stunning exhibition brings together objects from the Museum’s own rich collection that have rarely or never been seen, alongside prized possessions from a range of private and public collections from Australia and overseas,” said Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Director, Rose Hiscock.
A fine possession Curator Eva Czernis-Ryl says the exhibition will appeal to anyone with “an interest in creative jewellery from different periods and cultures, and in objects of intimate beauty that enchant, surprise and stimulate the imagination”. …. read the full article
Artist’s statement:
“I fell in love with Chantilly lace at the first sight. The black lace took my breath away and became my ‘dentelle fatale’. I love the irregular free-flowing patterns and shading of fine black silk. I love the feminine beauty and sensuality of the designs.
I consider this lace to be one of the finest achievements of the French fine crafts. It symbolizes the maturity, independence and refinement reached by the French in the Age of Enlightenment. A spirit of that era lives on in Chantilly lace – in preserved antique pieces as well as their modern reincarnations of contemporary machine-made lace. Chantilly’s timeless beauty keeps inspiring artists and designers, generation after generation.
In my own work, Chantilly lace continues to be the most difficult technique. The traditional patterns were designed for extremely fine silk, and it is a true challenge to adapt them for metalwork. I use very fine black-enamelled wire to re-create the delicacy of lace in a three-dimensional form. Following simple outlines and filling the shapes with an open half-stitch weave often poses technical questions that have to be solved creatively. Inevitably, not two pieces are the same, as they grow rather organically. Completed lace is layered, shaped and finished as jewellery.
Chantilly lace technique is rare in jewellery making. Nevertheless, it is highly suitable for creating unique, one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces. As a lacemaker, I find it highly rewarding to participate in the continuous progress of Chantilly lace.”
Photography: Marinco Kojdanovski, MAAS, and Peter Flynn Niznansky
Copyright © 2014 Lenka Suchanek. All rights reserved.
Genoese Scallop Large Necklace
Posted on February 22, 2014
Genoese Scallop Collection is inspired by bold and beautiful patterns of the Genoese laces.
Lace made in Genoa was very popular in the Renaissance fashion. Wide scalloped patterns were firmly rooted in a sacred geometry of the early Renaissance, which gave them a mysterious strength and rare beauty. This was lace of choice for the famous standing and falling collars that supported many royal heads of the European courts of the 17th century.
Genoese lace is uniquely suited for original lace jewellery. The patterns, which did not loose any of their magic and still evoke a regal connection, bestow the quality of one-of-a-kind heirloom.
Material: Fine silver with garnet beads
Genoese Scallop Large Necklace
In private lace collection.
Copyright © 2014 Lenka Suchanek. All rights reserved.
Lenka's Way of Lace 