[Don’t fancy reading all this? Fear not! I’ve recorded it so you can listen to me tell you directly]
In the Q&A yesterday I tried to define what this work is and I found it really tricky. I think that’s because every client is different, everyone’s needs are different, so I can’t possibly hope to describe what that might look like for you, I can only tell you what my experience within that is.
So perhaps I can share what I think is going on when we work together, specifically what my role is, what I offer and how I approach the work.
What is my role in this work? What do I offer?
I offer SPACE (the space to connect with your creative self)
When I think about the before times, I don’t miss travelling for work, visiting quite a few places each week, getting up early to catch a train, getting home late and missing dinner. I hadn’t realised how much energy it took from me. But I do miss all the additional time in a different space that it gave me – on the tube, grabbing a coffee at the station, on the train, cups of tea and slices of cake in cafes between meetings. Time and space that had no designation either for ‘work’ or ‘home’ and offered a freedom away from constraints, that I could choose to use however I wished.
And I would find myself thinking and writing, being inspired by podcasts and books, scribbling away constructing the foundations of later work, doing some of my best dreaming, reflecting and exploring. Those times and spaces no longer exist for me in the same way, now that I work exclusively from home. And yet, it is precisely these times and spaces that I know I need to connect with my creative self. To allow things to come into being, slowly and without any demands.
This is what I understand is happening in the work I do. We are creating the time and space for you to connect with your creative self in a way that is free from demands. It is not a ‘work’ space, nor a ‘home’ time, although it is connected to those things. This time and space is entirely for you. We start with what you need in that moment and go from there. I have no expectations of where we’ll go, I will not be disappointed if we don’t end up at a particular place. I won’t hold you to a plan, unless you want that. Mostly I’m here to enable you to take the time and space you need to reflect, explore and dream for your practice.
I offer A SHARED UNDERSTANDING (the perspective of another, who gets it and sees you)
For a lot of us who have been through some kind of creative education or training, or who work in communal workshops or studios, we experience a camaraderie of creative energies; there’s always people to turn to for support, to talk through ideas, to reflect on what’s going on. It’s more than just cheerleading, these relationships are based on respect for each other’s work, each other’s passion, each other’s motivations. And, over time a deeper mutual understanding about your work, about you, so that things need less explaining and there is an inherent awareness of what is true about the work.
And when that ends, after graduation, or due to a pandemic, we can be cast adrift. My experience in moving away from the place I studied, with less contact with my creative peers, was one of self-doubt. Uncertainty about the work, about my thinking, about the contexts I wanted to be in. Those nourishing conversations which had happened so naturally, so spontaneously, became things that needed to be planned, that happened apart from the moments of greatest need. And I suffered. The work suffered. To the point where I lost confidence in myself and my creative voice, and I stopped making altogether. I didn’t understand enough about the work I wanted to make, and I lost my safe space for articulating my doubts and feeling ok with failure. I struggled to do the work alone, knowing that I thrive best in collaborative spaces, but uncertain how to recreate that for myself within my making career.
Being a maker is hard work. This modern craftsperson role incorporates marketing, business and finance expertise alongside the artistic, material and process skills we might well prefer. But, where there are so many excellent sources of support for all your audience building, tax-return navigating, price-setting, product photographing needs, what happens when the issues are more existential? When the why behind the work becomes fuzzy, when the interplay of life and work becomes harder to maintain, when the question of your creativity itself is asked?
That is the support I offer. From a place of shared understanding about the objects you make, the sector you work in, the audiences you engage with, the contexts you wish to occupy. From a deep care about your own unique creative practice and giving it the attention it deserves, alongside all the practical, business-based challenges you face. With me you’ll get the perspective of another person who gets it, who understands what you’re experiencing and who wants to see you make the work you most want to create. In this work we are together in service only to the creativity within you.
I offer QUESTIONS (new ways of enquiring about your practice)
Before I was a maker I had a completely different career. I studied ancient history and archaeology at university and then went on to work in museum education. The common threads throughout all this were curiosity, exploration, discovery, noticing, reflecting, connecting and sharing, always through asking questions. Not searching for definitive answers necessarily, but an expansion of awareness or understanding of ourselves and the world around us. For so long that lens has been objects and making. How do we understand and connect to the world through the objects we make and use. As a maker I have been fascinated by materials, processes and skills. Learning them, understanding them, witnessing them. Asking how, what, where and most importantly why. Always coming back to why. What is lovely about the work I do now is that I am not having to piece together fragments of evidence from the past about people’s motivations, I can ask makers, hear their stories about why they make and ask them questions directly.
In this work the process of questioning is slow and reflective. I’m not asking questions to lead you to concrete answers, to solve problems. I ask questions to slow things down, so that you can notice them. I ask questions to explore things that might be sticky or challenging, or to identify things that might be easy or safe. I ask questions that allow some distance or get up close. To highlight when things are familiar, when things might be repeated, when things are new. I ask questions that allow a pause, to disrupt trains of thought that might carry you away, or that might circle around and around. I ask questions on your behalf, to understand what you are feeling about a thing, to notice what your response is, or your anticipation of it might be. Questions to shine a light on language or metaphors that you might use regularly, to understand what things mean to you, what things you might take as given, what things might benefit from a different look or approach. But most importantly, I ask you ‘what do you need?’ ‘what would you like to explore?’ ‘what would support you best right now?’ and ‘how can we get you there?’
I offer A COMPANION (on your journey as you search within to find your own path)
If I was asked to describe my life I’d say that my story was one of never-ending searching and curiosity, looking outwards to places like philosophy and religion, psychology and science for understanding and guidance. Holding a belief that the answers or the secret (to being an adult, of how to find meaning and purpose, of how to live a good life) is out there, I just needed to look hard enough. But even after decades of searching, I still hadn’t found them. I’ve seen and heard things that come close, but nothing that felt like a perfect fit for for me.
And then I read a passage in a book that made everything so clear:
“Every life is an unprecedented experiment. This life is mine alone. So I have stopped asking people for directions to places they’ve never been.”
In these few sentences Glennon Doyle gave me permission to call off the search, to stop asking other people for the directions I needed to figure out for myself. It is so tempting to keep looking outside of ourselves for reassurance, to follow all the well-meaning advice about what our lives or our creative practices should be. But this gets exhausting and it feels so inhumane.
Despite the challenge of finding your own path, in my work I advocate stepping into a place where you get to choose what you do, how and why you do it. This can be an uncomfortable place to be, because it requires trust. Trust that you might know best when you’ve probably spent a long time doubting yourself or believing that other people have the answers.
Going from looking outwards for the answers to inwards is not a sudden switch, you might be stranded for a while not knowing where to go, looking for roadsigns and feeling lost. But you are not alone. The signs will be there, the knowledge and innate understanding you already have about your life, about your creative practice is ready, waiting. It just might feel like they’re in a foreign language.
In this place, in this work, I don’t give you directions, I help you translate the signs. I am with you on the journey but I am not your guide. There is no map, but we find a way through together.
How do I approach this work?
This work is CLIENT-CENTRED
It’s all about you, not me. I am here for you, to facilitate and support whatever you want to explore. I won’t tell you what to do and I am not invested in any particular outcomes. You are not accountable to me, I will not make demands or have expectations of the work we do together. You are autonomous and in control. Together we create the space for you to understand your own practice.
I take a HOLISTIC APPROACH
We cannot separate our creative practices from our lives and from the rest of the world, and I believe it’s harmful to keep it in isolation. In this work I come from the point of view that your creative practice needs to be in service to you and the life you wish to lead, being responsive to your needs and adaptable to your evolving priorities. As such it might ebb and flow, it may take focus or recede depending on what is happening in your life. And that is ok.
I have a commitment to supporting makers as they create SUSTAINABLE AND ETHICAL practices for themselves, other people and the planet.
This work specifically supports you with your inner sustainability, ensuring your practice thrives and your career is manageable and has longevity. However, all my work is conducted with an awareness of how everything we do within our creative practices is situated within the wider context of our lives and the world. And as such we have responsibilities to be ethical and sustainable in our work and address how what we do impacts other people and the planet.
I promise my clients that I will be ethical in my professional relationships with them, transparent about my working practices and that this extends into all aspects of my work. The work I do is inextricable from who I am, my commitment to challenging social injustices and tackling the climate emergency, and I want to help build a better future for everyone.
If any of this sounds like your cup of tea, do get in touch. You don’t need to have a specific issue or problem you want to work on, you don’t need to have a goal or outcome in mind.