• General

    The Joys of Sharing Studio Space

    There are lots of benefits to being in shared studio. A lot of makers, especially those who work from how, will sometimes talk of feelings of isolation and sometimes getting stuck in a rut.

    Personally I’ve benefited enormously from being in the shared and open environment of Shed 2 Studios for the last three or so years. I haven’t had those feelings of being all on my own (very often). There’s nearly always someone to bounce ideas off, share cuppa with, allay your worries, help you lift that heavy item. Sometimes simply discussing an idea with someone helps get the mojo flowing again. And of course, there’s a wide skill set to draw upon when you need advice or assistance, technical support, etc as we’ve always tried to find a balance at the studio of different types of makers, artists.

    It was all change at Christmas at Shed 2, as Rachel, Nic and Adam all left for pastures new. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to pan out, and well, I don’t always like change.

    But what has happened especially with new members Holly Booth & Ewan Mathers is a whole new hive of activity. As photographers, the main use of their space is for photo shoots – sometimes that might be products, and sometimes it involves people. There’s now a new hustle and bustle often at the studio, like yesterday, when I popped in to check on the kiln and discovered a clothes rail full of some gorgeous fun printed fabrics, the communal area had been turned in to a hair and makeup studio with a model, a makeup artist and a designer here for a shoot. Debbie has already blogged about the fun she had.

    Photo shoot fun | Duck and Duffel.

  • General,  Glass,  jewellery,  pendants

    Something old, something blue

    Well, it’s not old, old… but when I first started fusing glass, I made what a lot of people start out with – pendants.

    I’ll be honest, a lot of people started to do the same, and all of a sudden, Ebay and the like were flooded with ‘handmade’ fused glass pendants selling for less than the cost of the components I was using, as I like to use sterling silver, and hand-dyed silk ribbon and so on – I kind of withdrew from making that kind of thing.

    Recently had to sort out at home when the house was re-wired, so bags and boxes came out of cupboards I hadn’t seen the back of since my degree… and I came across some of the pendants I’d made a while back and realised – that I actually really rather like them, so they’re coming out to play again, I will start listing some on line, although we’ve got open studios coming up soon, so I will have them all polished and ready for then (I hope!)

    Blue floral pendant
    red vanilla frit pendant
    black yellow dichro pendant