A Postcard From - The Shed

Is that a badger? And are they knitting?

Soon to be available as a print

The Shed is a magical place, strictly invitation only, and it’s taken me 8 years to get here.

Meeting

Eight is an arbitrary number, I first met Karin, they of Celestine and the Hare fame, several years ago (possibly 8…) via The Design Trust, as members of their business club. (Which going off on a tangent is another magical place created to nuture and push us creatives out of our comfort zones and into growing and making our creative businesses profitable)

I’d only ever glimpsed the enticing interior of The Shed, in the background of a zoom call, with it’s promise of a wood-burning stove, cosy atmosphere and the sort of creative paraphernalia that makes me want to invite myself in for coffee and have a good poke look around.

Being Nosy

I prefer to call it inquisitiveness, but Mr. Dean points out, I’m just plain nosy. I love walking around towns at night, getting glimpses into other people's houses, and I find it fabulously inspiring—so much so that after I visited the Shed, I felt compelled to get it down on paper.

Since completing The Artists Way (although I’m not sure that you’re ever supposed to finish it…) I’ve become a big fan of the Artist Date, in the book you’re supposed to do these alone, they’re a time for play and exploration and whilst I do these activities (museum visits, a day at the Library, lino print courses) I’ve been adding in some far more literal ‘dates’, there’s the regular coffee date I have with a local artist (when I’m here), the, twice so far this year, meet up with my childhood friend who is also a practising artist, I have accountability zoom calls with yet another artist friend that came via the Design Trust, you get the picture, there’s something special about meeting and sharing with fellow artists or anyone who’s in a similar boat to you.

Sharing

Karin is a felt artist, world maker, storyteller, photographer and author (I’m not sure if I haven’t still missed something vital!)

On their website they have this wonderful tagline

MAGICAL TALES IN WOOL, COPPER AND WORDS

For me it’s the storytelling and the different worlds they’ve created, I can believe the weasels dance, that mice run a shop and hedgehogs raku fire pottery! I’d bought one of their books earlier this year The Joybringers and the clue is in the title, seriously these books are perfect for adults looking for life affirming, joyful simple acts of kindness, never mind children.

This was the first time we’d met in real life and we talked about everything from the origins of our businesses to packing orders, to numbers of hours worked, or not worked and how we deal with boundaries and the odd difficult customer.

I came away buzzing with ideas, a list of other artists to check out and itching to get this visit down in my sketchbook and onto paper.

Back to the Shed

I am sat here in awe, there’s almost too much to take in.

It’s cozy but not too tiny (you could swing a cat, obviously I wouldn’t!), the fire is on and there’s Autumn/Winter vibes, there’s a day bed (for the dog)/reading nook with a view outside, it’s a refuge from the outside world, I can see how you could disappear into the Shed for days, weeks or months/years? at a time.

In fact there’s a shiver of excitement that runs through me (or is it fear?) that you can create an environment so creatively perfect that you’d want to spend all your free time there.

I have a friend in America (Hi Jess) who would quite happily come and check in here for the next four years, indeed perhaps longer, it’s a workspace that I’m quite envious of (my studio is a messy cupboard, which I’m very grateful for, but this is something else). My workspace feels temporary, we travel so much that it’s fluid and it’s more about what bags can contain the art supplies I want to travel with. What’s the point of making a cosy workspace when you only use it a few weeks out of the year? This visit has me rethinking my own space.

I’m surrounded by glorious felt animals and storybooks, it’s magical and I absolutely believe these animals come to life when there aren’t any visitors and oh my goodness did I say cute loudly enough?

Many of these animals have been made in preparation for Karins Winter Sale which I believe goes live at the beginning of December, if you want previews I think the best place to see them is on her email list - see their website here

I‘ve selected a few photo’s from my visit and borrowed from their website so you can perhaps see for yourself how and why the visit was just so joyful.

Photo's from the Shed with Karin and King Norty

I’ve been invited back in the Spring when we’re back from our travels so expect another update in 2025! In the meantime, I hope you find your own Shed of happiness in whatever form it might take!

PS If you’d like to join me for an online private chat with a small group of other creative business owners and starters, then do think about upgrading to paid.