I BROUGHT MYSELF PRESENTS!

Not actually today, I brought them a while ago when the new Spurious Crafts Folksy site went live.

The maker, Peter Jeffs, is my last boss, a bit strange I know, but he left our local council around the same time as I left my Arts Officer job.   He was one of the Directors and one of the 'Good  Guys'.  Interestingly, while Peter was always very supportive of the work I did as a passionate Arts Officer and Play person, I knew he really "got it" (and most don't in my experience), I had no idea he was also a very competent and interesting artist in his own right.  Funny the things you find out outside the workplace.

As most of you know, I am now a full time soap maker and very happy to be so, however, it is still scary as my two-day-a-week job was my bill payer and I am now struggling a bit to find the housekeeping each month.  Hey ho, thats the way it goes and I know things will improve.

Anyway, Peter has been making his quirky ceramic tribal (kind of) masks for a while and decided to put them on a dedicated site, I got the heads up email and went to look right away.  I fell in love!  I think they are lovely.

I love this Shaman, I know I should not say it but he is tiny and sweet, and I am in love!

I'm not totally sure of the backing boards he uses, sometimes I think they are not quite right, the Shaman is great but the next one, which I love, does not work on the board.

I think she (and it is a she) is beautiful, she has a really serene look

Apparently the hair is made from plants from the garden (I thought it was from a broom!).  I think I will take her off the backing board and see what she looks like then.  She is quite a bit larger than the Shaman, but has a lovely texture to her skin.  I am also not sure about the crystal on her forehead, its plastic and not right, also the pearl?  I would love to know what you all think.  Should I remove them or would that be wrong, or somehow in defiance of the artist and his creation?

Basically, I love them, do go and have a look at the Spurious Crafts Folksy site, it is great.  Also Spurious Crafts has a new facebook page so please check it out and 'like' if you do!

I think these pieces of art are very individual, you either like them or they leave you a bit non plussed.  I think they are great and am very happy with my present to myself!

Do let me know what you think, do you like them?

My day job

So what do I do when I'm not making soap, designing soap, selling soap, all the other things that go with running your own business, keeping chickens, walking dogs, looking after my lovely granddaughter Lola, running a house, re building a ruined farmhouse in Portugal and generally running about like a headless chicken?   You might well ask...

I'm an Arts Development Officer for our local government authority East Devon District Council.  For how much longer?  That's another story.  With all the government cuts we are a dying breed unfortunately. I used to work full time but had my hours cut to 3 days a week, then 2 and it's just not possible to do the same job in only two days, nor is it possible to live on the salary.  That's one of the reasons I decided to create Naturally Made Soaps last year so perhaps it's not such a bad thing after all.

Elmfield House Honiton - Thelma Hulbert Gallery, my office is ground floor on the right, desk in the window

I am based in the most beautiful Grade ll listed Georgian building Elmfield House in Honiton, East Devon.  The house was the last home of the artist Thelma Hulbert, hence the gallery name.  We have just undergone a major transformation thanks to the support of Arts Council England and the District  Council. Our gallery now occupies the whole of the building with a stunning new ground floor gallery space that was formerly Thelma's studio so it's very apt. We also proudly boast a dedicated learning room, a project room and a shop with refreshment area.  We have also been able to retain a room dedicated to showing the work of Thelma Hulbert.  Thelma's work has largely been overlooked by the British Arts establishment. She was a teacher at the Camden School for Girls but, following a successful exhibition of her work at Whitechapel in 1962, she was persuaded to give up her teaching job.  Thelma was a contemporary of Victor Passmore and Barbara Hepworth to name a few and although these artists became far more famous Thelma produced some striking and well loved painting.  She moved to Honiton late in her life and continued painting until her death in 1995.

Our lovely new gallery space

I am based at the gallery and do feel very fortunate to work in such a lovely environment.  I work with a great team of people and, though it can be very stressful managing artistic staff and having overall responsibility for the gallery and arts provision in the area, it is a great job.

I now face the difficult decision of deciding when it will be right to give up the day job and concentrate fully on soap. It's a tough one and I know I'm not the only person with this difficult dilemma.  Do I give up my income that pays my housekeeping bills allowing Naturally Made Soaps to grow and expand or do I give it up, thereby freeing up much needed time?  I really do need the time too, an extra two days would be bliss.   Anyone out there had to make this move?  I'd love to hear how you fared and what you learnt.