Featured Artist: Florence Forrest from Flying Star Toys

I had the privilege of meeting designer toy maker Florence Forrest from Flying Star Toys at her gorgeous studio in one of Brisbane's bayside suburbs. Surrounded by her divine toys, sewing equipment and materials, the studio has such a lovely feel to it. Drawers full of gorgeous fabrics would make any crafter envious and the stacks of patterns and colours were evidence of Florence's dedication to finding the perfect materials for her toys.



As Florence was chatting about her design processes and the making of the toys, I was blown away by her passion and immaculate attention to detail. She explained how she can spend many hours finding the perfect fabric and materials for one of her designs, and how frustrating it can be to find out the manufacturer has seized production of that particular material and not being able to find a suitable replacement. Second-best simply won't do so often it means Florence will decide to stop making that particular toy altogether.

Florence draws her inspiration for the design of her toys from anything she sees in daily life, from the shadows cast in the afternoon sun through to a scrap piece of paper left after cutting one of her patterns. It gives her toys a real point of difference with their unique, simple and imaginative shapes. Flying Star Toys are sculpted stuffed, which not only gives them a beautiful, full-bodied contour, but also a real presence. They are designed as beautiful objects of art for the home, with each toy having a background of poetic creation, and I am so happy to be able to offer a selection of Florence's work in the Udessi online gallery!

I really enjoyed finding out more about Florence and the story behind the creation of her toys – I hope you will too!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself:
My head always reels at this question! I'm an artist toy maker, a writer, a dramaturge, a carer, part time hermit, a bookworm, a mythological dreamer and a dark-eyed woman of mystery... depending on which way the wind is blowing.

What is your creative background and how long have you been creating your art?
A teddy bear I named Patches was one of the first sewing projects I ever attempted when I was a child. Sewing is in the family – on my father's side we had tailors, men of the cloth and musicians and with my mother having been a puppeteer, an actress and an embroidery designer herself, I guess it was just in the blood. But for me it was toy making, and in grade 8 I took my first toy orders! I was surprised to find people wanted my work then and I guess the thrill of it has yet to wear off. Over the years I've trained privately with artists and I majored in art history at university. I've been working on Flying Star Toys since 2004.

Where, what or who do you draw your inspiration from?
Thinking of this question I imagine a straw that stretches off into some far off creamy soda where one is never quite sure what the flavor will be. One must have plenty of tasty ingredients in the cupboard to supply the bar-tender who mixes a continuing variety of curious tastes. I find poetry, mythology, art and literature such exotic food stuffs but as to how the elixir is prepared, that I still can't tell you.

FlockA2's

'FlockA2's

What can you tell us about your work?
The essence of Flying Star Toys is the search for simplicity without compromising the detail of the story or character. It's a delightful exploration of texture and colour but there can be frustrating moments because the laws of fabric cannot be bent but only discovered and obeyed. Most of my designs are based on a silhouette, sometimes drawn by hand, often found through a chance discovery in an off-cut or a shape that catches my eye.

Where do you create your art and what is your workspace like?
I have a dedicated room in my house to use as my studio. I'm very lucky to have the space to do this at present. I try to make it pleasant and as useful space-wise as I can and like the rest of my home most of the furniture is found or sourced from the Salvos down the street.

What materials and/or tools do you prefer to work with and why?
Fabric, stuffing, sewing machine, needles, threads, bells and beads... little faces forming in my hands.

Best Bunny 'Jill'

Best Bunnies

Can you share one thing with us that most people wouldn’t know about you?
Well, my blog readers might know but I've recently taken up kite flying as my official sport. I've always love kite flying and wanting to fly again I bought a huge stunt kite – a real professional looking thing. And now feel incredibly Sporty Spice whenever I take it down to the water front for a fly – that is, when I manage to get it up in the air!

What is your day job or are you a fulltime artist?
I'm a carer for my partner who suffers from post traumatic stress among other things, so I need to spend a lot of time at home. Toy making, writing, reading and the wonders of modern technology like using the internet are all things I can do at home so they generally work well together.

Blue Meringue Biscuit Bunny

Biscuit Bunnies

What are your goals/aspirations for the future?
I see the writing side of my creative work rising in prominence, especially the story content within Flying Star Toys will become more significant. I'm wanting to do more one-of-a-kind pieces too. I've spent a lot of time over the past few years working on the business end of Flying Star Toys and I'm looking forward to returning to my native soil – the imagination. As to where "it" will all lead? I've had to move that question to the side, at least for now.

If you were to collaborate with other artists on an artwork, what would your dream project be?
My work with Ozfrank theatre company is a dream collaboration for me, so it's hard to image something better when the reality is so kinetic. I've followed their work since 2004 and have now been collaborating with them as their dramaturge for just over two years. The satisfaction of challenging my imaginative and intellectual capacities within such a fascinating collective of artists continues to energise and excite me. And it all began when they asked me to make a large doll as an important prop for the production "Hamlet Stooged".

Thank you Florence!

Click here to view all Flying Star Toys on the Udessi online gallery.

Images:
Studio shots and portrait – Flying Star Toys
Artwork photography – Udessi