Merry-Go-Round!

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists and crafts-women from around the world, as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Something a bit different for you today...on the last Thursday/Friday of each month, a little group of us will be coming together to give our responses to the same question, to provide an insight into the people behind the products. Our question for this month is: What was the journey to your craft? So, here goes....!

As a child, right through to my teens, I yearned to be a fashion designer...but then, doesn't every little girl? Every spare hour was spent fine tuning my model drawing 'skills', with the utmost attention to the drape of the fabric, and peculiar colour combinations.

Cut to college....and a graphic design degree (fashion's too cut-throat, isn't it?!). Hmmn. Graphics weren't really my 'thing'. I felt a yen to restore paintings in darkened rooms in huge art galleries...so, I specialised in illustration. Most of my illustrations were collages and three dimensional works that needed to be photographed in order to be printed in magazines - I had a whale of a time, but something was missing.

It's taken many years to discover that missing element. I took a wrong turn somewhere, back in those teenage years when your head's not screwed on properly. I plodded on, as you do, and then marriage and my little girls arrived, so naturally things changed - and here I am now. My husband turned forty recently, his career as a product designer was shifting down a different path so we took the chance to make a change. We upped sticks and moved here, an old lodge deep in an ancient forest, armed with a big plan. We're in the process of setting up a luxury tipi holiday site. But with this huge lifestyle change comes huge pressures...we all know what those are!

I took to textiles as a means of therapy, I think. I picked up some cloth in a quiet moment, and cut and stitched my way to an epiphany! I'm relaxed when I'm sewing; ideas are always bumbling about in my head and I feel good about it! My children are lucky. If they wish to take a similar route, doors are open for them - textiles are an option whilst they're at school and there are many excellent further education courses they can undertake. Our life is good here - we have the wonder of the great outdoors, we have our tipi poles and logs, and I have my textiles. Only one thing missing...that's a healthy bank balance!!

Please click on the links in the sidebar where you see the Merry-Go-Round, and discover the journeys of wonderful artisans around the globe. Please remember that we are all in different time zones...if you don't see their post when you arrive on their blogs, check back later. You'll be glad you did!