ceramic art – Page 2 – Bridget Macklin

Packing Day

It is always an exciting day when I pack for an exhibition. It is also pretty daunting! There is so much to fit in and all of it is incredibly fragile so I need to think very carefully about what combination goes in which box and how the boxes themselves will be packed together to reduce the risk of movement during the journey. Add into the mix the fact that I refuse to buy new packaging materials and the difficulties multiply.

This time I have to get from Cornwall to Hampshire. I have to remember the clothes for the PV and for doing a couple of workshops whilst I am there plus the materials for the aforementioned workshops and many other bits and pieces. All I can say is thank Heavens for recycled packaging! I have not bought bubble wrap for years. Instead, I exist on reusing the wrap and paper packaging from deliveries to my house but the prize goes to some amazing sheep’s wool insulated packaging which my son saves for me from around his dog’s food deliveries. It comes sealed in compostable ‘plastic’, is thick and soft so cushions the ceramics really well and, if I ever think it has had its day, I can just chuck it into the compost bin.

And the winner is the sheep’s wool packaging!

Re:Connecting is an exhibition which has been a long time in the making and I can hardly believe that we are at this point at last. On Friday I will be spending the day with one of the two primary schools in the parish in which Blacknest Fields sits. We will be exploring the fields and, hopefully, discovering some amazing wildlife. Then we will go back to the school to create artwork based on our experiences in the morning. I can’t wait.

Calm Down Dear!

One of the very good thing about being a part of the Design Factory is the provision of a mentor to support you in your creative business. I have to confess that I have been actively avoiding my mentoring session because I have had so much on that I couldn’t bare the thought of my mentor piling anything else on top. list[1]

What a fool I am! During a lengthy and well structured session today we went through the success of my past year and considered where things needed to be done better – not more, just more planned. It was incredibly useful to actually break down all the events and to work through what might have made it even more successful. I now have a list, it isn’t a very long list but I have considerably more confidence as a result of it that I can go some way to avoiding the turmoil of the past couple of months if I follow it.

Just three things on my list

Address my marketing – do what makes a difference and don’t bother with what doesn’t.
Get a planner – and use it!
Research the galleries that I want to stock my work.
Tregony Gallery will remain firmly on my list!

Having got that all out of the way I decided that the day was too good to be in the studio and I set off to play in the water.

With the Falmouth Classics in full swing it was wall to wall boats in the bay.

When I got back to my phone it was to a message form the wonderful Tregony Gallery to say that whilst I had been messing about in boats they had sold five of my pieces!! Do I panic that I need to make more work I hadn’t planned for? No! I will refer to my planner and decide what to do calmly and sensibly.

And so, with no apologies, I’ve got a little list!