Going with the flow and overcoming setbacks

My trip to Suffolk and I talk about the imminent first recording of my membership.

Hello my dear friends, a little pic of Snape in Suffolk that I took the other day when I had planned on recording my first membership video… Today I wanted to chat about when things don’t go to plan, going with the flow and creating with what you have.

Last Thursday I decided it would be an excellent idea to go to Suffolk where I could paint under wide open skies and record the process for you and launch the first video for my new membership, I thought it would be nice to open the membership whilst I was in Suffolk, however- the weather and lack of 4G had other plans for me. It was so windy that I couldn’t set up my paints and where I was staying (which was new to me) didn’t have any 4G ooops. I had no choice but to set my plans aside. After a brief moment of feeling like I’d let everyone down, I took off my rose tinted specks and swapped them for a real life pair and got on with enjoying my break. I could of really let this failure to launch get to me but the truth was- it was completely out of my control and once I’d given myself a good talking to, I thought about how I could serve you best- and that was enjoying this moment in Suffolk and getting fuelled with new inspiration that I can pass on to you. The membership will get its first video this week, it just won’t be from Suffolk. But what I wanted to share with you is how I navigate when my plans go amiss.

You see the meltdown happened for all of 10 mins each day, after which, I opened my eyes and thought about what I needed to feed my creativity other than pastries and coffee. At home it would be my garden but out here it was the beautiful wild landscape, walking and my iPhone camera. Oh I nearly forgot- and time, time to let my mind go free and new thoughts/ideas in. I find the art of photography immersive and I’m completely in the moment when I come across something I find beautiful and how best to capture that so I can keep that inspiration going when I’m back in the studio. If we just pause for a moment when things aren’t going our way and really look at what’s around us- there will be other doors to go through.

Photography is a huge part of my process- be it for paintings or ceramics, I’m always snapping things. For landscape paintings I’ll often shoot using my instagram stories so I can choose a filter that catches my mood/emotions of the scene in front of me. You see I find this helpful as often when I’m looking at a particularly lovely landscape, I’m not looking at how I can replicate it like for like, I’m thinking more of the way it makes me feel. Take the pic above for instance, it made me feel calm and a little nostalgic, this is the vibe I will later capture in my artwork and not necessarily the exact image. Instead of stressing about how windy it is and how I can’t set up my paints, I focused on capturing the beauty the best way I could in that moment and that was with my phone. The best tools for capturing art are the ones you have that work! Having a flexible mindset and being able to shift direction at a moments notice will serve you well in a creative career or any creative endeavour. There will always be things happening out of our control, there will always be restrictions but, there is usually always a way around them.

When I started my pottery business I didn’t have a studio, I made pots at my kitchen table, it was dusty but my table got stained a beautiful colour- like it had been lime washed. I bought a second hand kiln that had seen better days and put it in my shed. As my skills grew people asked to buy my things and I started selling online, during lockdown the pottery side of my business really took off and I was able to convert my garage into a studio, it wasn’t long before I’d saved money for a new kiln (I also sold my beloved caravan to help fund my business). The point I’m trying to make is there were many obstacles that I could have let get in my way but, I broke them down bit by bit. I didn’t try to do it all at once, I didn’t have the money, I didn’t have the space, I didn’t have the fancy equipment- but I did have a table and I could afford a bag of clay, so that’s where I started. I enrolled on a ceramics course for my 40th birthday and the rest is history.

My membership will be full of how I navigate my creative businesses with weekly posts a lot like this one but more in depth with chat too. There will be videos direct from my studio of my processes- painting, ceramics and studio set-ups and I’ll be doing livestreams too. This is a membership that will grow with what my audience wants to see. I’m not claiming it a painting by numbers course as I’m looking forward to helping you where you need it and listening to your input. It is a membership for fellow creatives that want to keep in touch and are interested in ways of bringing creativity into their lives. My aim is to help and inspire others to get started and feel uplifted. The first video will drop later this week and will be free, you’ll have a chance to sign up then. The videos will be unfiltered and unedited meaning they won’t be at all polished, you will find me honest and with occasional bad language- like how I show up in my stories, I will naturally go off topic but it’s full of my personality so if you like my instagram stories then it’s worth being part of. If however you can’t stand my voice, the faces I pull or how I slip into accents when I’m talking - then this probably isn’t for you. That’s ok, I hope you will still enjoy seeing my ceramic and painting previews when they launch. I really appreciate you being here and supporting me!

Right, I best get to it. I’ve a studio to tidy up and orders to pack. See you soon!

Emma x