After graduating from Crawfrod College of Art & Design, I have finally put on my steel-toe caps boots, fire retardant overall and back into welding... 23 years to be exact. Better late than never....
It was an emotional journey, both on the day and the past decision to not continue career in fine art. I was young and not ready to be poor. I wanted a house, a family and life of 'normal'. Funnily if it was't for my children, I would have never be stepping back in here again, so I am so grateful for everything that has happened and I am at exactly where I should be, at the right time.
The smell of burning metal takes me back. Welding has gone so fancy, sensor glass shield?! Loving it!! Best part of the MIG welding is I could actually hold the metal with my other hand with leather gloves on! (you cannot with jewellery soldering therefore setting up takes longer). Ronan at The National Sculpture Factory was amazing and given me so much tools to work with and alot of ideas and connections to work with. I need to do some more planning and maths before returning. Thinking all sorts of material and playing with scales... coming from jewellery making, everything can going go bigger!
I have slow down from craft markets and wholesale while I explore and grow my creativity. But I have serious FOMO and missing my buddies at those fairs, especially at Christmas time. But I have learned to slow down this year and stop chasing things that I cannot sustain as a sole trader, a mother and a full time carer.
I have two solo exhibiton venues booked for 2027 and while those venues may not suit sculpture work, metal are never far from what I do, they are the plates of my prints, they are the structure of my creative thinking. Metal work are so different from quiet paper work, it's hard to explain, it's my form of meditation... by beating, heating and forming metal, not as zen but does the job. Think its the problem solving part that gets my brain going. Jewellery is not gone forever but I am pausing wholesale for now and will focus more on limited edition and collectable art work in future, and towards exhibition.
Winning the Future Maker Award from DCCI - exhibition support has given me the opportunity to explore this further. Challange myself turning these metal work into more art form and I would love to be seeing in gallery settig some day, I am working on it and finding myself a mentor to support the vision.
I am already so excited for 2027 and NSF, I will be back!! Hopefully not as long I left it be the last time.