Mike completed his new studio conversion, well enough to use it just after lockdown, and has been working on new ideas since. The garden and car port are rather full of building waste but he has recycled as much as possible.
Initial work has used clay, already in stock, some of which has needed recycling to make it usable again, as it had hardened during the period the studio had to be closed. Not necessarily the ideal clay for all the proposed work, but great to explore the possibilities and limitations. Mike has been using parian and porcelain until he can get his hands on some Earthstone when the Anglian Potter’s clay store reopens. Either that or it will have to be a direct order to Valentines Clays and hefty delivery charges. COVID-19 policies are sure making it difficult to plan ahead.
Running an art partnership has its challenges under lockdown when one person is in Bedfordshire and one in Wales. Normally we are working together a couple of times a month so the length of lockdown is really starting to bite. Digital does allow some collaborative work, but it really misses the subtleties and is quite difficult to get a real flow of creativity when the other person is pixelated or cuts off at the wrong point in the conversation. Mike’s ceramics have to be touched and looked at and in some cases played to work out how to develop them, especially for sound work.
Dominic Cumming’s promising breach of lockdown, which made us all think anything would be possible soon, delivered only false hope. It turned out to be lies, lies and more lies; he’s quite creative in his communication – ideal for children, if less convincing for adults. Unfortunately, it certainly didn’t inspire any rational creative thinking in the Welsh Parliament, who seem to prefer to keep their heads firmly in the sand, rather than take a lead in making the new reality work effectively for us. It is not making business development easy.
But Christmas is on its way, COVID-19 or no. The online shop is being set up and Mike needs to ramp up the development of prototypes and produce stock if business is to resume in time. Photos have to be taken to apply for and sell at shows, and it looks like open air markets might be the order of the day. Sort of Art in Clay in Hatfield in winter! So meeting up is planned to go through the work end of May and decide on how to take things forward. It will of course mean a day trip and an outdoor meeting, but work is work and thankfully manufacturing business a reason to travel.