If you're looking for a fun and cozy crafting event to host with friends, look no further than Pla Pla! This recent gathering was held at my house, and it was a truly stunning affair. This month’s Pla Pla theme was BEADOS (those small plastic beads that you melt together with an iron) and we made all sorts of stunning and unexpected creations, from fruity keychains to mod earrings and abstract, nostalgic scenes.
As usual with Pla Pla, we had a few key (but also totally optional ha!) rules for attendees. They were:
To bring an item of show and tell. (The highlight of our evening’s share was Delilah’s show and tell item which was a copy of ‘For The Love of Meat’…a strange book from the 70’s about the history and preparation of…you guessed it, MEAT. Thanks Delilah for those memories!)
To wear something dotty (because why not).
To decide on a pizza flavour (because DINNER).
As usual, we didn't have any set rules or expectations for our beado crafting session. We just let the conversation and creativity flow and had fun experimenting with all the different possibilities and GOSH, I was totally blown away by the different approaches and creations that everyone made. Ivy’s fruit key chains were particularly professional and Elleni made some truly iconic mod jewellery creations. Everyone truly DAZZLED and it just showed (once again) how this type of open-ended play is so important. It really does allow us to explore our creativity without judgement and find the joy in the making process.
I believe that improvisation and play is so essential within the creative process, and this month I found the ‘pla pla with beados’ prompt to be extremely inspiring and impactful on my daily practice. Each day i would make a couple of beado tiles or shapes, and with each creation I felt myself opening up to new possibilities and relaxing into the process without any noisy internatl judgement or fear. By the end of this month I had progressed from daily tiles to a massive beado tulip, beado sunglasses, a beado quilt, and finally a beado dress (to be revealed oh so soon).
Throughout this month, I also found that other aspects of my practice benefitted from the exploratory processes I was using to create my beados. I found that new frocks sprung to mind, strange drawings poured out, and even painting (which I always find a bit difficult to crack into) flowed easier! As such I ended up creating a whole new series of abstract works with the same approach and ethos…I just went with the flow, and enjoyed the process of exploration and…PLAY!
Even though pla pla’s Beado month is over, my love for these tiny materials aren’t, and I can see that this is going to be something I continue to experiment with ongoing. Stay tuned for April’s pla pla prompt (out oh so soon) and in more exciting news, Pla Pla is going on the road! In May I’ll be popping up in Murwillumbah at Small Works Gallery where I’ll be exhibiting a show of my Pla Pla creations and also holding a series of workshops too! Hope to see you there!
