A daily blog read for me at the moment is the recently launched Hello Polly. Hello Polly is the brand new venture by Sarah Kelk who was at the helm of the fantastic Red Door Gallery in Edinburgh for 7 years and who supported me and my work from the very beginning. We became friends over the years and I'm extremely happy to see her lovely new website (and extremely well-designed it is too - loving the geometric patterns and the colour palette). Sarah left the Red Door and the UK in January to return closer to her home of New Zealand. She's settled in Melbourne with her husband and son and wasted no time in getting the creative juices flowing and channeling her passion into a new creative business. As well as a great blog Sarah is about to launch the Hello Polly online shop selling unique inspirational artwork and design from independent artists. She's been busying away sourcing lovely new things and contacting some of her Red Door suppliers and she's soon going to be opening shop. I'm very pleased to announce that a selection of my cards and prints will very soon be winging their way to Melbourne and available to buy in the online shop. I'm very excited to be working with Sarah again and also to have an Australian supplier - something I don't currently have. I'll keep you posted about the shop launch but in the meantime head over to the blog and get a daily slice of inspiration.
I'm very jealous of Sarah living in Melbourne. It seems there's so much exciting work going on there right now. For many years I've followed the blog Kirin Notebook and the associated
Ink & Spindle blog by Lara Cameron. I've recently also come across Emily Green and seriously love the use colours of her necklaces and brooches. A lot of blog posts have covered the Design.Made.Trade trade fair held in Melbourne recently and there looks to be some very talented people there.
On another quick(ish) note - and going off on a slight tangent - Hello Polly and Sarah's brilliant ability to combine being a mum and setting up a brand new business got me thinking about women in design and creative businesses and how many women I stumble across (be it writing blogs, running or setting up shops..) who juggle motherhood and running a creative business. Speaking from experience it's not easy and results in some very unsociable hours and serious dedication - and a lot of juggling of childcare etc.. We do it because we love it and I personally couldn't imagine not doing what I do so there was never a choice of whether to go back to work or not - I just can't put it down. I am tired and I should try to work less but that's the nature of what I do and I wouldn't change it.
Reading blogs such as Hello Polly, The Seventy Tree and Mrs Eliot Books inspire me and reassure me that I'm not the only one dashing to the Post Office with a 2 year old in tow and that the juggling is entirely worth it.
3 comments:
Ah, no you’re not alone. Tis hard work, but worth it...for our sanity as much as anything else, I believe. As long as I’m armed with rice cakes in the post office queue, things aren’t too bad :)
If you lived closer, I’d have you round for a cup of tea :)
p.s. Love the Hello Polly site too :)
I think you're doing a particularly brilliant job of it all!
Post a Comment