Keeping Curious Keeping Curious

This is the first episode in my series of mid-month 'catch ups' with my previous podcast guests... I wanted to check in a year down the line to see how the creative journey is going for some of my past interviewees.

First up is Rebecca, an old friend who has now made the leap into a full time artistic career...

Aimi has been in the jewellery trade for over twenty years. What started out as a hobby, quickly became a passion and she knew that silversmithing was the right career for her early on in her journey. she started her first business with a grant from The Prince's Trust as Silver Shadows Jewellery, making contemporary silver jewellery. Picking up a wealth of knowledge, techniques and valuable experience over the years, she has since moved with the times and mastered the art of silver clay. Her subsequent businesses Silver Handprints and Silver Paws were created.

The 'inSilver' website was created, a jewellery boutique with a modern feel when a friend suggested having Silver Handprints, Silver Paws and Silver Shadows Jewellery all in one website it all made perfect sense.

As well as making high quality handprint, fingerprint and paw print jewellery, she now runs several jewellery making experience days. She welcomes clients into her workshop who want to try their hand at making a piece of silver jewellery and under her tuition, they have left with a piece of jewellery that they are proud to have made.

In this episode we discuss how her passion for jewellery has stayed with her since early childhood and how having her own business allows her to have the freedom to concentrate on the contemporary jewellery which is her true calling. A self confessed Magpie, Aimi loves the combination of shiny silver and semi-precious stones- this fascination drives her to create and see what new combinations she can explore.

www.insilver.co.uk

Jessica Wilkes is a Childrenswear Designer and the face behind My Little Thistle! Having studied a Foundation Diploma in Fashion Design she went on to complete a BA (Honours) Fashion Design Degree at Birmingham City University. She began making childrenswear for family and friends and from there the idea for My Little Thistle was born; inspired by her experiences of tradition, family, memories of her own childhood, the colours, textures and visions she sees and feels when she is reminded of growing up.

We caught up in her studio in Wishaw, a rural area of Birmingham. It is a cocoon of loveliness and where all her ideas come to life! We discuss the inspiration behind her brand, her ambitions for the future and how she juggles running a successful creative business alongside a full time job

My Little Thistle's Design Ethos is to create easy-wearing and timeless clothing for your little ones; creating quality pieces that can be passed down the generations and be treasured for the nostalgic memories they hold. Each garment is exclusively designed and pattern cut before being made by hand.

UK based fine artist Dr Dean Kelland works with performance, photography and film to explore the underbelly of comedic characters through performative portraiture. He completed his PhD at Central St Martins with his doctoral thesis “flawed masculinities, rupturing 1950’s/60’s/70’s British Sitcom via a performance led interdisciplinary art practice’ He has regularly shown work with the IKON in Birmingham as well as recently completing a residency with New Walsall Art Gallery and the Birmingham Midland Institute. Currently he is a Fine Art course leader in Wolverhampton University and developing his own practice everyday.

In this episode, we chat about how a boy from Great Barr Birmingham defied the odds to become a professional artist via a brief time working in insurance following a degree in Photography.  We talk around the influence of his tutors led him on to discover a body of work around a hidden passion for sitcoms and how he boldly took his future into his own hands when taking on the gallery world. Note to self, always carry a sketchbook as you never know what opportunities may arise.

Lauren Gutherie is the creative force behind Gutherie & Ghani, a fabric emporium and sewing school based in Moseley, Birmingham. Lauren set up Gutherie & Ghani in 2013 following a career shift from Physiotherapy to pursue a more creatively fulfilling life. During the renovation of the beautiful mock Tudor building where the shop now stands she was a finalist in the first ever series of BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee, where amateur sewers take on challenges as they compete to be named Britain's best home sewer. As a complete coincidence the shop opened shortly after the show was aired and the rest, as they say, is history.

In this episode, we discuss what lead to the career change, how she created her own luck and her exciting plans for the future. It’s clear that Lauren loves what she does and her passion for sewing is infectious. If you walk into her shop, I dare you not to want to buy everything in it. She runs regular workshops to share her passion with others and has big plans for the future. Watch this space.

A Different Thread brings together three unexpected collaborators; Singer-songwriter Robert Jackson from Lichfield Staffordshire, Isaac Collier, a classically trained cellist from the Yorkshire Moors, and Alicia Best a singer/fiddle player from North Carolina.

The trio have their own contemporary take on what Americana music is: They play what they are calling ‘British-Americana’ pulling from the roots of traditional American and British music alike, weaving together aspects of country, blues and folk with classical undertones and a hint of bluegrass.

In this episode we discussed Rob’s journey away from Illustration where I first met him, to a more collaborative creative practice. We also discussed the limitations of classical training vs. being self taught but mainly we talk about music, inspiration and living a good life.