So it’s nearly March and already I see crocus and daffodils starting to sporadically appear everywhere. The weather is a lot milder and spring is making it’s slow appearance. It also feels as if there is a little more time in the day with an hour or two of extra daylight. There seems to be no better time than the turning of the season to explore creative opportunities and to make some kind of peace with the changes that we have been forced to take during the lockdown period.
Last month, I had set some realistic deadlines for launching an online shop with items that started off as mere designs on paper with watercolours and then transformed into everyday products. My main goal was to work with manufacturers within the UK and to promote unique, handcrafted goods. I was extremely lucky to find both a ceramic company and a textile printing company literally on my doorstep to help me transform some of these designs onto a homeware range consisting of everyday products from tea towels to chinaware. Living in Staffordshire, which is the home of Wedgwood and its porcelain, it made total sense to find a local company to assimilate my designs onto ceramics and bone chinaware. I was extremely lucky whilst web browsing that I stumbled across a fabulous UK based textile printing company, who also happened to be based in Staffordshire. I am now working closely with both of these companies to get my range out in time for Mid March. I also want to document the design process to show how it goes from paper and paint and ends up as a physical product. As a buyer, I never really considered the creation process of any of the beautiful items that I was ever drawn to but feel that this neglected and under appreciated aspect is what I would like to focus on my social media platforms as a creative.
I have a new appreciation and a set of eyes when I do look for beautiful items for the home or hunting for unique gifts for people, looking closely at the spirit of the maker in the creation of the product. I am hoping that my homeware launch in mid March will have a similar impact on (you) the buyers; and will be able to connect with the processes of the product all the way from the spirit of the design to the product as it lands in the home.
It is for this reason that it is apt to launch the range in Spring, which is a season known for its hopeful transformation and draw parallels with the process of transformation of illustration on paper to the final homeware collection.
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