Hatome Studio and Gallery

The moment has come for me to bite the bullet, to pick up my courage and follow my dream. If you have been reading my blog you probably know that I have been thinking about building my art studio in the garden. There were many stages in my thinking about it. I allowed the idea to mature and to fully form in my head. And here it is: I am committed to setting up Hatome Studio and Gallery.

Hatome Studio and Gallery will be an Art Studio and a Gallery Shop selling Art and locally created hand made products.

The name Hatome came from the name of this blog: Happy To Make.

I created a new page on Facebook and placed this post on a local forum' Facebook page:

"I am building a business in Penge. It is called Hatome Studio and Gallery, to be open in Spring 2016. I am at the stage of planning the garden studio (2 studios) and garage extension (gallery), getting building permission etc. It will be located in Maple Road, London SE20. I hope that the building work starts in 1 year time. Next year I will be doing a Crowd Funding Campaign, so I am doing lot's of networking now.
If you would like to see the progress of this project, or would like to be part of it when it opens, please like this page: Hatome Studio and Gallery in Penge "

I had 62 new likes in the first 2 days and lots of encouraging comments! I take it as a sign that Penge, the area of London I live in, is ready for the kind of business that I want to set up. I will be writing about this project here on the blog. Wish me luck! And please like my Facebook page !

Hatome Studio and Gallery

The Colour Factory Studios in Winchester

Last week I went to Winchester for a few days with my husband, and I came back inspired. It is interesting how we are drawn to places that will give us the answers to our inner questions and point us in the direction we should take. I experienced this when I visited The Colour Factory in Winchester.

For a long time I have been dreaming about collectively setting up (or joining) a cooperative of artists and makers,
a place where we could work together, inspire each other and sell the products of our creativity. The Colour Factory Studios and Gallery is such a place.

The Colour Factory is an artist's studio group of six professional artists: Rachael Alexander (visual artist),
Linda Miller (machine embroidery), Jill Maguire (glass and ceramics), Jenny Muncaster (visual artist), Clara Sanjar (graphic, watercolour, book and textile artist) and Rama Gurung (jewellery artist and repairer). Under The Colour Factory they work together producing imaginative community and educational projects. You can find more information about them here.

Here are some images from their downstairs shop:

I found my visit to The Colour Factory very inspiring. It gave me the impetus to take my dream seriously. I will write about this in my next blog post.

The Colour Factory Studios in Winchester

Ceramic floor and wall ideas

I recently visited Poland again and my friends took me to a wonderful place in the countryside close to Lodz, in a village called Bukowiec. This is where, in a large country house, the ONJATY Association is located. ONJATY is a non-governmental and non-profit organization created in 1995 in order to help children and their families. They give a lot of artistic workshops there. They include pottery, hand-made paper making, felting wool, painting, botanical illustration, upcycled clothing and ecological education.

The founder, Jolanta Rozycka, showed me the house and I could not resist taking a few photos of the ceramic floors and walls. They were all created by a ceramic artist and painter Piotr Klemens Borzecki.

Looking at this beautiful floor I got really inspired and decided to attempt doing something similar in my bathroom. Watch this space.

For more information about the ONJATY association click here.

Ceramic floor and wall ideas

The Montage - Art Gallery, Coffee Shop and Vintage Store

About 9 years ago I used to live in Forest Hill, a South East district of London, with the postcode SE23. While I was living in a small apartment in a Victorian house, Forest Hill, although an affluent area in the nineteenth century, was then still quite neglected "up and coming" area, with just a few independent shops, a couple of not so interesting coffee shops and a new branch of Sainsbury supermarket (not counting the magnificent Horniman Museum and Gardens of course).

But the area was full of artists. And it didn't take long for the creative and enterprising spirit to assert itself, in the form of new art galleries, art cafes, and designer and vintage shops. Well established Havelock Walk Studios have been already there for many years, but now the whole area is buzzing with creative activity.

The Montage arrived on the scene last year, after a group of Polish artists got a lease on the dilapidated house and spent several months renovating it. And they did it in a true spirit of environmental friendliness. The place is the upcycling galore!

The Montage is an Art Gallery upstairs, and a Coffee Shop / Gallery / Vintage Store downstairs. It is a very nice combination. The owners' passion for art and all things old shows in every corner.  

The coffee shop was recently extended into the back garden. The old doors are not for sale, but almost everything else is.

The Montage is a very children friendly place. There is a room downstairs, full of toys, where kids can play, while parents catch up with friends over coffee and cake.

And the cakes are delicious! As a person with a wheat intolerance, I could even find several yummy options for myself.

The paintings seen on the walls here are by Agnieszka Handzel and Pawel Wasek.
For more information on The Montage click here.

The Montage - Art Gallery, Coffee Shop and Vintage Store

Indygo Ceramic Studio in Lodz

Another trip to Lodz (Poland) and another visit to the Off Piotrkowska center, the cluster of creative businesses located in a converted textile factory right in the centre of the city. One of the beautiful bright spaces there is occupied by Indygo Ceramic Studio, set up a few years ago by an artist and teacher Dominika Karczewska.

It is quite an achievement to successfully launch and sustain a creative business like this in our difficult times. I am full of admiration for small art and craft studios that manage to stay in business and flourish.

Indygo does this by coming up with new ideas of how to be useful and relevant in the local community. Apart from her own creative work, Dominika runs regular ceramic workshops for children and adults, linking in with local schools and charities.

The classes are fun and they are well attended. Children love working with clay! Some of the young students' work on the shelves is waiting to be glazed and placed in the beautiful new kiln.

This bowl is a nice example of Indygo's own production. I just love this color combination:

Dominika incorporates some of the ceramic elements into her jewellery pieces.

Next time you are in Lodz, visit Indygo in the Off Piotrkowska center. You can join Indygo's Facebook page for more information here.

For the Off Piotrkowska Facebook page click here.

Indygo Ceramic Studio in Lodz

My linocuts are ready

My little series of linocuts dedicated to my mother Zofia is now ready. It looks different to what I initially imagined it to be, but it is often the case with my work. It's like the images have a life of their own and I follow where they want me to go.

This image is based on my memory of a photograph taken when my mother was a girl scout.

This one is inspired by another photograph, taken when my sister and I were playing in the park, with our mother watching us. I am the one busy drawing in the sand. An early indication of what my work would be.

The next image is about the moon, but also about the transition from this life to the one beyond, to our true home. We are on a journey...

I wish you all a Wonderful Christmas. See you next year.

My linocuts are ready

Studio work: Making linocuts

The time I spent with my mum in Poland somehow filtered through into my work. Staying in the apartment where I lived as a child also affected me. Looking at the old photographs fixed the images in my head.

I wanted to dedicate some of my work to my mother. I have been working on a series of small linocuts called Zofia. That is my mother's name. Here is the working progress of 'Zofia 1' and 'Zofia 3'.

There will be 4 limited edition lino prints, each made of 3 colors: black, red and grey. Altogether I will have to cut 12 plates.

It's been a long time since I have done any printmaking. It feels good to do it again. I think printmaking suits my temperament. I like doing the work in stages. It takes the restlessness away, I just carry on.

I will post the finished images here shortly.

Studio work: Making linocuts