Not a skerrick or a scrap goes to waste in the screen-printing work of Leslie Keating.
The Kingsville resident has turned her love of craft into a creative career, earning a loyal following for her eco-friendly, sustainable screen-printed products.
Keating says she’s looking forward to exhibiting her work as part of the coming Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair.
Her one-off creations use only organically grown, sustainably made materials with water-based solvent-free paints hand-mixed to create unique colours.
“Being environmentally friendly is not always easy,” she says.
‘‘I have to source some of my materials as far as India to make sure they are completely organic, but the quality and eco-footprint make it well worth it.”
Keating will be exhibiting her toy-making kits, fabric panels and fabric sample packs, as well as dropcloth art, one of the most popular items available at her online store Maze and Vale.
Her dropcloth art is created by recycling the off-cuts of her screen printing process. The dropcloths pick up splashes of paints and random segments of screen printing designs.
“I could never reproduce the abstract and unpredictable nature of the dropsheet pieces. It’s great that I get to recycle my materials from a sustainability point of view, but as a designer, it’s frustrating I couldn’t replicate the beautiful pieces if I tried!”
The Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair is at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 26-29.
More details at www.craftevents.com.au
