In a Reflective Mood On The 6th Anniversary of Moving To My Own Studio

My printmaking studio on the edge of Hexham, Northumberland shortly after I moved in.

I’m in a reflective mood this week. Yesterday I realised it was the 6th anniversary of signing the lease on 4 The Courtyard, Ochrelands Workshops - a studio all of my very own. I moved in on May 23rd 2015. A year later Chris, my husband, gave up his full time job to join me. A significant leap of faith.

The worksforce

Go back to 2011, our circumstances dictated that I had to relinquish my place in a studio I spent happily sharing with another printmaker for the previous seven years. I was offered a part time job in an art centre that offered a regular income and free studio space, a perk of the job. Eleven months later this turned out (at the time) to be a major backward step. A step that brought me very close indeed to packing it all in.

I can now look back at that very painful time with the benefit of hindsight. In fact that period gave me the necessary push, indeed the good hard shove, I needed to go it alone and have faith in myself. At the time my self confidence was shot to pieces.

The path of serendipity that led me into printmaking appeared to simply dry up. I began to wonder if I had gone as far as I was going to go. Perhaps it was time to thrown in the towel . Perhaps it was time to accept that there was no future for myself as a professional printmaker.

I can now see that serendipity comes in all shapes and forms. I see it now as a test, a test which I believe I passed. I’ve come out the other side with a lot more self belief. It prepared me for the last fifteen months which have been has been an extremely challenging period. A period that many other businesses, both large and small have faced. We are coming out if it stronger, more determined and more resilient than ever.

What about you?