You don’t need to be a creative genius to do a little bit of DIY homemaking, but there’s nothing quite like attending a workshop run by one to get the laziness and inspiration block out of your system. So here we found ourselves - a food blog invited to a DIY furniture making workshop with an internationally recognised artist. Potentially a little out of my depth, but nonetheless Food Ramblings is venturing into the world of Home Ramblings - and it’s all thanks to a designer who made one chair a week for an entire year.
Rachel Vosila is a Sydney born designer of things. She’s always been a creator, a maker and an artist, but after studying a design at UNSW College of Fine Arts, designing furniture became her real jam, and it turns out she’s pretty good at it. After working in various design industry roles, Rachel decided to embark on a personal and professional challenge that what as quirky as it was ambitious.
She would design, build and complete a different piece of furniture every week for an entire year - for the mathematically challenged, that’s 52 chairs in total. We’re not sure how big her house is but we can only hope she’s had at least one 52 person sit down dinner to celebrate her new collection.
Fortunately, this was not the end of the @one.a.week project’s adventures. Rachel’s chairs were so unique and creative she commissioned one for a Prada eyewear display and another for the offices of none other than Google itself.
Rachel’s ‘One A Week’ exhibition is now being displayed at Homemaker The Valley in Brisbane and the artist herself taught us how to create our very own piece inspired by her beautiful designs.
We were given the following:
1 round piece of wood
1 strip of leather
1 wire stand
1 plant
Our first task was to name our plant. I named mine Germaine. I don’t know, someone needed the permanent marker and apparently that’s what my brain came up with under pressure - moving on. We were making a plant stand out of raw, recycled materials, using inspiration from Rachel’s beautiful designs while feeling a little nervous that she was watching as we attempted to be even slightly as creative as she is.
Step 1: Name Plant
Step 2: Attach leather strip to wooden slab
Step 3: Secure wooden slab to the white metal frame
Step 4: Place Plant on top and appreciate your masterpiece.
The one thing I loved about Rachel’s workshop is her relaxed approach to art and design. Creating something and experimenting artistically can be a little intimidating sometimes, especially with a well established artist looking over your shoulder. Rachel encouraged everyone at the workshop to experiment with our designs and let our pieces become our own, and I think this is what makes her so unique as an artist. Her pieces are weird, quirky and unpredictable - this homegrown artist is definitely one to watch.