During a year defined for many by its chaos, textile artist Karen Richards has spent countless hours in her studio quietly sorting, cutting and weaving old denim clothing and transforming it into beautiful floor rugs to raise money for suicide-prevention services.
The Warrnambool artist, who won the city's portrait prize this year with an embroidered artwork, says she thought carefully about how to use her skills to turn fabric that would otherwise be headed to landfill into practical and aesthetic items.
When Richards ended up with several heavy bags full of of denim clothing that had been donated to Lifeline, but was unsuitable to be sold in the op shop, her creativity went into overdrive.
"At one point I said I wasn't sure if I could work from home because my studio was just full of denim," she said.
"There was no room for me."
Over the next few months, she carefully arranged and stitched together strips of various shades of blue on her loom, and created the pieces to be sold by Lifeline.
Making new from old
The rugs range in size and include a 4-metre-long hall runner.
Richards contacted Lifeline after finding out that some clothes that were donated were not in good enough condition to be resold and were being disposed of.
"I was also thinking about the environmental impact of my own desire to make things," she said.
"I was thinking, 'Well, am I just making more stuff the world doesn't really need?'
"If I'm buying new materials to do that, is that ultimately having an effect on cotton growing and water usage?
"It did start me thinking about whether there was a way I could indulge my desire to make things but use the design skills I have to maybe repurpose stuff that was essentially waste."
Community spirit triumphs
Lifeline's general manager for Geelong and south-west Victoria, Jason Doherty, said demand for support from the service had risen by about 30 per cent across the region during the pandemic, which reflected the national trend.
He said more volunteers had put their hands up to be involved in the phone crisis-support service to help with the increased demand.
Mr Doherty described Karen Richards' efforts as "amazing".
"It reflects that community spirit of our region that we love to see, especially during these troubled times," he said.
"We're always grateful for donations, but in this case for Karen to take something we weren't able to use and to make something out of it, well that's just great."
The charity's op shops in Warrnambool, Portland, Port Fairy and Camperdown have been closed during the pandemic's second wave but are due to reopen next week.
A 'great way' to bring people together
Richards hoped that once coronavirus-related restrictions were wound back she could set up a craft group to get other people involved in the project.
"After the six months we've been through, it might be a great way for people to start coming together again and for people who don't necessarily know each other to be able to come together," she said.
"It wouldn't necessarily have to be mats woven on the loom — they could be braided or crocheted and it wouldn't have to be denim, it could involve all sorts of textiles."
Richards said she was surprised by the level of interest when photos of the rugs were shared online.
"I thought they would just go into the shop and people would either buy them or not buy them," she said.
"If there is interest and people are keen on them then I am certainly eager to make some more."
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