Say hello to...
This series of mini interviews introducing our Christmas traders has proved very popular - we're so glad you care about the story behind each maker as much as we do!
Here's the next 3... enjoy!
Sophie Wiggins - Colombe Silver
Tell us a little about how you first started making/designing/crafting - and how long have you been doing it?
I've been working with metal since I was at school. As a kid, I wanted, in an occasionally painful way, to be good at drawing. I was, at best, average, and perpetually frustrated by the fact that I couldn't get the stuff I wanted to onto paper as well as I wanted to. I think perhaps I should have been a bit more dedicated - but I also didn't have the opportunity to do art after the age of about twelve. Unless you were obviously brilliant at it, if you were considered to be academic, you didn't get to do anything even vaguely vocational. However, in the sixth form, we got to choose an option subject - something outside the A levels. I did metalwork. Our teacher was a wonderful bloke, who loved his subject, loved people being interested in it and who was a pretty skilled jeweller. He taught me how to use a torch, a hammer, a jewellers' saw, tinsnips - how to solder, form; how to enamel and how to set a stone. It was hands down the best thing I ever did in school and I've been grateful to him for close to thirty years.
What are some of the things that inspire you and your work?
Everything. I'm not joking. Colour. Line. The shape a dead branch makes against the sky. Fiction. Sci-if and fantasy - I spend far too much time designing for distant races of primitive aliens, or making things that look like archaelogical relics from unknown societies. Stones. A lot of the time the thing I make is dictated by the components.
What is the most challenging part of what you do?
Keeping track of everything I want to make! More seriously - marketing. It's hard to juggle enough time for it.
What is your favourite part about the work you do?
The way metal behaves in the flame, especially that point where it goes from solid to liquid. And a lot of the rest of the process, to be honest. I'm far more interested in the actual process of fabrication that finished pieces. That's probably a flaw.
Any advice for other designer/makers just starting out?
Ha! Be prepared to work long hours. If you want to be a goldsmith, be prepared to have grubby hands and shocking nails. More seriously - know what you want to do. Know how to do it well. Be the kind of person who is good at being on your own and motivating yourself, without becoming odder than necessary. Don't expect it to be easy!
I've reached a point where I think most of my stuff is recognisably mine, which is what you want. It's about a way of seeing. And not everything is going to appeal to everybody, but I'm good with that.
Judith McCormack - Pollen Floral Joy
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do...
I've always loved flowers, my first Saturday job when I was 14 was in a local florists. I did get sidetracked by a career in the law, so floral missions were then confined to weekends and days off but the dream of working with flowers was always there. I took every opportunity to gain experience and also did several years of evening classes to obtain floristry qualifications. Not glamorous at all, but it did help keep me connected with that flowery world .
So years later when the time was right I took a plunge into the world of flowers and set up as a wedding and events florist. That was 3 years ago and I wouldn't change it for the world.
What is the most challenging part of what you do?
It's nothing to do with the flowers or the long hours of physical work in cold conditions, it's the dreaded admin. Accounts, invoicing, quotations, website, SEO, social media, marketing, the list goes on ...
What is your favourite part?
I love the variety of my work, each week will be different whether I'm meeting a bride to discuss her ideas for her weddings flowers, designing for a wedding or event, setting up at a venue and seeing all of the ideas and designs come together. I also enjoy choosing the flowers and foliage for the latest wedding or event, it's always exciting to see the new seasons flowers. Being surrounded by colour and scent and texture is so wonderful and I think I appreciate more because of all those years spent in an office .
Tell us a little about how you first started making/designing/crafting - and how long have you been doing it?
I have always been crafty and loved making things for as long as I can remember. My Mum is a skilled beader and I picked that up from her. We always made things together growing up so I get my creativity from her. In terms of running this business however I am officially in my third year. I left my full time teaching job to pursue this path because I found I was doing a lot of it in my spare time and loved doing it more so I made the leap to try and make a living at what I love doing.
What are some of the things that inspire you and your work?
Colour and textures tend to be a starting point for my beadwork. I like my pieces to be tactile and mixing colours together through a tonal variation or contrasting them is one of my favourite things to do. I love base metals probably more than silver and find myself working with copper and brass more but I still like to go back to silver for it's coolness and that is wonderful to work with. I love geometric shapes especially the circle and that dominates pretty much all of my metalwork. I love mythology, Celtic and pagan symbology and find those shapes and patterns come into the surface texturing and marking of my work. Within all this I like to incorporate wood into my pieces also so my jewellery is a real mixed media overall.
What is the most challenging part of what you do?
I work from home so staying motivated and keeping to a productive routine can be very challenging.
What is your favourite part about the work you do?
The creative freedom to pursue what interests me most.