MELODY VAUGHAN
*please be aware that many of the older posts have formatting issues due to the migration from my old Squarespace website to here. I am slowly updating things but it could take me some time.
This month’s book recommendation comes with a caveat. Not because it isn’t very good (it really is) but because I feel a bit awkward recommending a book which is aimed so squarely at only half the population. My aim with highlighting books on my blog is to share what I’ve been reading and the things I’ve found enjoyable, provoking and
I’m writing this with one eye on the sky, which is a luminous soft blue with such little variation in tone that it just seems to go on and on. I’m desperate to be outside but, in a flash-back to all school exams and university finals, I have to stay in and work. You see, I’ve given myself the task
One of my favourite quotes (that I have stuck on my computer) is by Marcel Proust: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” It’s a sentiment that I wholeheartedly believe and which transforms the quotidian into the extraordinary without much effort at all. This book embodies this quote.
In On Looking:
This week my blog turns 1 year old. For the last 52 weeks I have posted something that I have written and sent it out into the strange, empty-feeling void of the internet where, I hope, some people have found it. I have managed to do this every single week (except for the time I had unbelievably bad food poisoning
When I started the blog I naively thought that I would be able to write 3 blog posts a week on 3 different topics. After all, I had lots to say; lots of ideas to share and lots of experiences with makers that I thought other people might find interesting and/or useful. Well, that thought quickly got scaled back when
I would love to say that this week things have felt less rushed, but if anything I think I may feel a bit more stretched than ever. I am still quite busy with work-related things and I’ve compounded that by not managing to take as much time as I’d like for ‘me’ activities like exercise and creative pursuits.
I am often in a rush. There are lots of things to do (right now!) and I’m always thinking ‘what’s next?’ It feels like I have a tightly wound spring in my chest which keeps me moving in haste. Sometimes I even catch myself not breathing. I am fairly certain that this low-level anxiety is a contributing factor to me
I recently worked with Rob as part of Ambiguous Implements – a cross discipline exhibition that presents a collection of contemporary works that playfully reconsider the familiar objects of our day to day domestic life. I chaired a discussion at the Ambiguous Implements symposium featuring emerging makers, where we discussed strategies for developing and sustaining your career. I
I’m feeling stuck. It’s Tuesday evening and I need to write a blog post for Wednesday, my arbitrary, self-imposed deadline. I really don’t want to miss a week and yet I can’t think what to write. The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a struggle in terms of work/life/creative me balance. Events in my personal life are
Something I’m particularly drawn to, is the possibility for objects to be inspiration for other art work, not just responding to their aesthetic or formal qualities, but the emotional response. I’d love to see more poetry written about pots, paintings inspired by blown glass, photography exploring jewellery. Mostly I’d love to see more people who work with or create objects
A while ago, while I was reading another book (Flourish by Martin Seligman), I took one of those online psychology tests. This one was called the Values in Action Signature Strengths test and its aim is to help you identify the things that motivate you, your passions and core values. The theory, in Positive Psychology, is that by finding ways
I started this blog in March last year because I wanted to write. You see, I have a bit of a procrastination problem and I thought that having a regular deadline would help with this. I’m not sure if you also have a procrastination problem but even if you don’t I’m sure you can see the irony in that sentiment.
This time of year isn’t just good for making resolutions and setting goals; it’s a really good opportunity to reflect on what’s been happening and what lies ahead. At the start of the year I encourage everyone I know to do a bit of a Creative Practice MOT and see where they’re at with the creative side of their work.
I first met Rachel at the 3rd year work in progress show and was immediately taken by her project on failure and risk taking. I invited her to be part of the Makers & Tools project last year, and was thrilled by her engagement with the concept despite the demands of finishing her final year collection. Since then we’ve shared
I am not sure that the work I do with makers and other creatives, in supporting their creative practices, counts as my own ‘creative practice’. There are many things I do which stretch me creatively, and there are certainly things which I consider I have created, which would not exist otherwise. But is it the same as a creative practice
With January being such a good time to take stock and reflect I thought my book recommendation this month should be a book that allows you to consider your creative practice through the eyes of another.
Peter Korn’s Why we make things & why it matters is a beautiful book. Part autobiography, part philosophy for living (and making) it
A couple of weeks ago I took part in a project where I was asked to document all the food I ate, including the waste from the meals, and to reflect on my food/cooking/eating habits. The images and words were to form research for an artist’s new collection of work. I had the option to write a short piece and
I have a feeling that this week is a bit frantic for everyone no matter what your creative practice. Whether you have orders to fill or deadlines to meet, this last working week before Christmas, with all the associated activity of the holidays, can be exhausting.
Mindful of how little time you all have to read blog posts right now,
This illustration by Gemma Correll could be a portrait of me in winter. By the end of Feburary it is most definitely me. Every year I struggle with this season. Sometimes I’m lucky and I only get the winter blues, but sometimes, like this year, things turn out differently and life gets really tricky. I am a greyscale version of
I love this book. It is one of the few books I know I would be very upset if I lost. It regularly makes the journey down from my bookshelf onto my desk or bedside table and I never tire of rereading passages. In some ways I feel the book houses the kind of optimism that I wish I had
This month there is a bonus Wednesday so I thought it might be nice to invite a maker to write a guest post and hear a different voice for a bit. I met Katy Gillam-Hull fairly recently, at New Designers One Year On, and due to the nature of her work (with found, historical objects) I felt like I was
I met Charlie at New Designers One Year On this year, although I have been a secret admirer of her work for a while now. Something in her work, with its focus on ordinary objects and a meticulous approach to making, made me feel that she might be a kindred spirit, and I was eager to ask her more about
It’s been a little while since we talked about writing-specific issues here on the blog, so I thought I’d return to something I’ve mentioned before and which I get asked about again and again – whether to write your artist’s statement in the 1st person or 3rd person. In my opinion it doesn’t matter which you choose so long as
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a planner. I have always got a million lists on the go, I am always thinking ‘what’s next?’ and daydreaming about things that are yet to happen. On a micro scale I have a tendency to fret over tiny details and have even been known to plan out my day to the
This book is explicitly aimed at ‘the world of work’ and has positive recommendations from the movers and shakers of business, economics and leadership areas. Do no let that put you off! Although many of the case studies are taken from people working at often quite high-level positions in management, the main concepts in the book translate into all areas.
Conversations with Makers is a new series on the blog. As part of my work I regularly meet makers to discuss their creative practices and I always find the conversations insightful and inspiring. I thought maybe you would too. The act of articulating your work, to another person, regularly, is something we often overlook but which is vital if we
Not so long ago I made a couple of objects one after another. Of the two things, one gave me more satisfaction during the making, and the other brings me more joy as a finished object. The piece of twisted metal, that I spied on the pavement and pocketed, was quickly filed and made into a wearable object. The other
So, it’s October already. Not sure how that happened, or if I’m ready for it, but I am trying to be more accepting of time passing so let’s say it’s fine. Something I have noticed about the way I work is that I often don’t get the hang of a season until it’s completely over. Which is, of course, too
I suspect I have an inflexible mindset. It troubles me, especially since I have learnt, via TED, that flexible and adaptive mindsets are the key to success for our youth and for people in general. How worrisome that my brain interprets things the same way and really doesn’t like to budge when it thinks it knows best. A growth mindset,
I started this month with a reflection on the French tradition of la rentrée – the return to normal after the summer holidays. It seemed to me that we could all do with a chance to celebrate this return, and why not apply it to our creative lives as well as our return to school or work? So,
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