About Florence Forrest

In the beginning...

I am very fortunate to have a very creative mother. Growing up around fabrics, weaving, puppets and all manner of other arts and crafts meant that I could experiment and learn from what I found around me. I often say that my becoming a toy maker stems from growing up in a puppet theatre where it was not unusual for the puppeteers to plonk big, green frogs or woolly, wild wolves over my play pen and chat to me.

It was in my first year of high school at age 12 when I sold my first plush toy, a grey felt cat. I had brought it in to show my Home Economics group. A classmate, to my surprise, asked if they could buy it, then another did as well, and then again...who knew then were it would all lead?!

I have always had an interest in characters and stories. Whether it was due to my obsession with Winnie-the-Pooh or Snoopy, I enjoyed making up characters of my own. The first ever book I wrote when I was in Primary School I imagined as a series called "The Glump Gully Gang" about a park ranger and a group of fun but mischievous animals that lived in the valley below the ranger's station. The first book was about the frog who ate the ranger's birthday cake.

Studies...

While I have always pursued my own studies in an autodidactic fashion there have been occasions when I have studied with others. My mother, observing my interests sent me to the Gold Coast Embroiderers' Guild and later when I was in high school I was to exhibit my work with them. I was also fortunate to have private tuition in drawing from when I was 12 with a local artist.

It was almost by accident that I studied Art History at The Australian National University in Canberra, however, it turned out to be the subject I was most interested in and to this day I thank my lucky stars to have fallen into it.

Since those days I spend an inordinate amount of time studying - back to my former ways of private enquiry. Not only the study of the arts and crafts but also folktales and traditions, mythology, theatre, and psychology absorb me in their intriguing pathways of knowledge.

Toy making today...

The journey towards Flying Star Toys began in earnest in 2004 when I proposed a work of 20 miniature cloth dolls that represented the creative community of Brisbane called "Lilli&Tom Ningyo: Brisbane Dolls, Brisbane people". From there I made two life-size dolls called Lilli and Tom. I take them around Brisbane and photo document their life. You can see both the miniatures and the adventures of Lilli&Tom on their blog - http://lilliandtom.blogspot.com

Since then toy making has afforded me the great pleasure of having worked with schools, government bodies and other creative individuals and groups.

Collaborations and commissions...

In 2006 I was commissioned by the State Library of Queensland and Education Queensland to develop three iconic toys for the Travel Buddies travelling project. My ExplorAnauts as I called them are still travelling around Queensland primary schools assisting teachers and students with integrated new technologies education. Read more about The ExplorAnauts on my blog post ExplorAnauts - Travel Buddies.

I'm a proud member of the Umbrella Collective. The Umbrella Collective was formed in 2006 to organise and showcase the work of six Queensland contemporary craft designers. See examples of our work on our blog http://umbrellacollective.blogspot.com

2006 was also the year I was invited to work along with Frank Theatre making dolls as theatre props. This fruitful collaboration has developed to include theory and dramaturgy. My current position within Frank Theatre is give the title of Design Dramaturge. You may read about this side of my arts practice at my Design Dramaturge blog http://designdramaturge.blogspot.com

The Coastal Birds series of toys is a collaboration between artist/illustrator Rachel Arthur and Flying Star Toys. So far in the series three of the seven Australian birds have been created. They are Silver Gull, Australian Pelican and Black Swan.

When not toy designing...

I occasionally write articles on the craft arts and review exhibitions from time to time.

The role of Design Dramaturge with Frank Theatre will continue to play a large part in my creative life and I look forward to its evolution over the coming years.

I have a particular fondness for Asian folktales and folktales in general. I have a journal where I adapt Japanese and Chinese folktales and illustrate them with examples of Asian art. You can read these charming tales on my folktale blog Crackle Mountain - http://cracklemountain.blogspot.com