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It’s Christmas Eve!

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Christmas is nearly upon us, when anticipation and preparation gives way to celebration!  I love Christmas Eve – there is snow on the ground and magic in the air.  I am spending it at my parents’ house, with young nephew and niece as the perfect little Christmas helpers.  Today will go something like this…

– wrapping up warm to go last minute shopping for new christmas cake decorations (the old santa has last year’s icing stuck on his boot, and the collection of little green fir trees we have used since I was a child has dwindled to just two trees – we need a few more tree friends to make a snowy forest)

– cake decorating with the help of some little people

– watching ‘Miracle on 34th Street’

– taking my parents’ dog for a walk in the frosty park

– posting the neighbours’ christmas cards

– gathering round a huge tree for a candlelit children’s carol service

– cooking up hot mince pies and mulled wine

– putting out some sherry for Father Christmas and a carrot for Rudolph

– reading ‘The Night Before Christmas’ to the little ones before they fall asleep ‘with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads’

– putting out all the presents under our tree

– trying to get to sleep, which is as hard now as it was when I was five…

Merry Christmas to you all!

Do What You Love interview – Rachael Taylor

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Voted ‘Happiest Person in Britain’, this really is a girl doing what she loves. Rachael Taylor’s bright and fun designs caught my eye some time ago, and I bought an original piece of her work for my studio. As a surface pattern designer and illustrator, Rachel has clients all over the world, and next year she will be bringing out her own line of stationery with US-based Teneues publishing.

Rachael Taylor-Portrait

(Image courtesy of Rachael Taylor)

Rachel graduated in 2005 with a BA (Hons) in Textile in Fashion Design. After working in industry for three years, she set up her own design studio in 2008. Now specialising in surface pattern design and illustration, Rachel works as a freelance designer for clients like WH Smith, Target and Graham and Brown, and runs her own design label, Rachael Taylor Designs. Rachel’s international collaborations include a signature collection with Seascape Lamps USA. I talked to Rachel about loosening up, setting up on her own and getting known.

Rachael Taylor Quirky-Icons-web

(Image courtesy of Rachael Taylor)

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Do What You Love interview – Mark McGuinness

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Rain falls with twilight –

the city’s fingers drumming

on our umbrella 

Rain haiku by poet and creative coach Mark McGuinness

markheadshot250

(Image courtesy of Mark McGuinness)

This Do What You Love interview features Mark McGuinness, a poet, creative coach and trainer and creative entrepreneur. He has been coaching artists and creatives since 1996, when he noticed a high proportion of them turning up in his psychotherapy consulting room. He has also consulted for organisations including the BBC, Channel 4, Arts and Business, the Institute for Practitioners in Advertising (UK) and many creative agencies and studios.

Since 2006 he has been blogging about creativity and business at Wishful Thinking. In 2008 he launched Lateral Action  with Brian Clark and Tony Clark, developing the site as a resource for creative entrepreneurs – first a blog and later the Lateral Action Entrepreneur Roadmap. Mark’s latest course is the Creative Pathfinder, a free 25-week guide to success as a creative professional. I caught up with Mark to find out what gems he could share from his many years of working with creatives (and find out a bit about poetry too).

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Do What You Love interview – Abigail Borg

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Multi award winning young surface pattern designer and illustrator Abigail Borg is riding high, having just been awarded ‘Best British Pattern Design 2010’ by Elle Decoration at The British Design Awards.

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(Image courtesy of Abigail Borg)

Just two years since winning New Designer of the Year 2008 award for her collection of hand-drawn and digitally-printed wallpapers, Abigail’s wallpapers, cushions and fabrics are now stocked in Liberty of London and in stores across the world. She also has freelance illustration clients like Laura Ashley Home. I talked to Abigail about her phenomenal success, and how she is managing her rapidly growing creative business.

abigail mosaic

(Images courtesy of Abigail Borg)

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Award-winning mixed media artist Priscilla Jones to teach 3D sculpture at the Do What You Love Retreat

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I am delighted to announce the third of our teachers for the Do What You Love art and creative enterprise retreat, to be held in Yorkshire, England in May. 

Award-winning mixed media artist Priscilla Jones will teach ‘Structure and Surface: Creating 3D sculptures using wax, wire, fabric, paper and found materials’.

Priscilla Teapot

(Image courtesy of Priscilla Jones)

This is a rare opportunity to take a three day 3D sculpture workshop with Priscilla. Her work is exquisite, and has been exhibited and exported all over the world.

Priscilla Cup,Saucer & Spoon

(Image courtesy of Priscilla Jones)

Dive in to a world of experimentation as you learn how to construct a gorgeous sculpture using wax, wire, fabric, paper and found materials.

The first day will be spent drawing and experimenting with mark making to create stunning images that can be applied to your sculpture. The next day, using lightweight wire you will create a structure in a style and scale of your own choice, learning how to form and shape contours that can easily be manipulated with your fingers. There is no need for soldering or fusing in this process so you can relax and enjoy creating at you own pace.

Priscilla Milk Jugs

(image courtesy of Priscilla Jones)

On the last day, you will be able to refine and re-manipulate elements of your sculpture before exploring its surfaces. You will experiment with the images you created on day one and apply them to your fabulous shapes. You can also add found materials and experiment with waxing fabrics and paper to complete your final piece.

Priscilla Sugar Bowl & Spoon 2006

(Image courtesy of Priscilla Jones)

 This will be a hands-on experimental workshop. No experience is necessary. Come prepared to have fun, and take home something very special!

Priscilla profile

(Image courtesy of Priscilla Jones)

During the retreat, Priscilla will also share her experience of working as a professional artist, and discuss how she has grown her creative business – including establishing and running a successful art gallery and selling her work internationally.

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More information will be available on the Do What You Love retreat website to be launched in December. This retreat will be cosy and intimate – small enough for everyone to get to know everyone – so places are strictly limited. Registration will formally launch with the new website in December, but if you want to be the first to know about it (and get in on the early bird discount), sign up for the new Do What You Love newsletter at the top of this page.

American painter Flora Bowley and British book artist Rachel Hazell will also be teaching at the retreat! 

Do What You Love interview – Russell Crook

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One of my favourite parts of Christmas shopping in London is staring at the mesmorising window displays in places like Liberty’s of London, Selfridges, Harrods and Harvey Nichols. I have often thought it would be a wonderful job to create those window displays, digging deep into the imagination to come up with something more magical, more sparkly and more inspiring than the Christmas before.  So I thought I would ask a professional window dresser (or ‘visual merchandiser’ as they are called in the trade), to share some insight into this life. 

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(Image courtesy of Russell Crook, window of Liberty’s of London)

This Do What You Love interview is with Russell Crook, a freelance visual merchandiser whose client list includes Liberty’s, Nicole Farhi, L’Oreal, Disney and British retail giants BHS and George at Asda.  Russell is from my home town of Southampton, but now lives in the arty town of Brighton on the south coast of England.

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Internationally-renowned book artist Rachel Hazell to teach at Do What You Love retreat in England (May 2011)

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RachelCharlotteBayKellyWhybrow(Image credit: Kelly Whybrow)

I am hugely excited to announce the second of the three fantastic art teachers who will be joining us for the Do What You Love art and creative enterprise retreat in Yorkshire, England next May. Rachel Hazell, known as ‘the Travelling Bookbinder’, has made a career of creating extraordinarily beautiful books in extraordinary places – from lighthouses in the Shetland Islands to on board a ship in Antarctica.

Amystudy_photo credit Rachel Hazell

(Image credit: Rachel Hazell)

 Joining us from Scotland, Rachel will share her love of all things booky in her workshop ‘Maps, Charts and Other Discoveries: An Extraordinary Expandable Sketchbook Journal’. Rachel invites you on a literary quest of folding, following lines, cutting, composing, gluing and constructing.

One step at a time, with plenty of demonstrations and fool-proof exercises, there will be opportunity for wordplay and expressive adventure. Spread over three days, there will be time to make a literal and metaphorical journey. Building pages of content and layers of meaning into an utterly unique work or art that is private, personal, portable, precious and presentable – a papery expedition of exploration and discovery!

NB: It is likely that much chocolate will be consumed during this workshop…

RHazell1_credit Shannon Tofts
(Image credit: Shannon Tofts)

Rachel Hazell’s motto is Read Make Love Books. She believes that everyone has a book inside them.  Rachel has voyaged far in pursuit of good book art, and with three book-related Masters degrees and a plethora of teaching experience, Rachel is looking forward to another adventure with you.

Internationally-renowned book artist Rachel Hazell to teach at Do What You Love retreat in England (May 2011) static+badge retreat

More information will be available on the Do What You Love retreat website to be launched in December. This retreat will be cosy and intimate – small enough for everyone to get to know everyone – so places are strictly limited. Registration will formally launch with the new website in December, but if you want to be the first to know about it (and get in on the early bird discount), sign up for the new Do What You Love newsletter at the top of this page. 

American painter Flora Bowley and British mixed media artist Priscilla Jones will also be teaching at the retreat!

Flora Bowley to teach at Do What You Love retreat in England!

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I am absoutely thrilled to share the news that American painter Flora Bowley will be teaching a three-day workshop at the Do What You Love art and creative enterprise retreat in Yorkshire, England next May!

Flora Bowley credit Tyson Robichaud

(Image: Tyson Robichaud)

Flora’s painting style is gorgeously unique, bursting with colour and beauty, and she is an incredibly gifted teacher.  The one day class I took with Flora a while back was one of the most freeing days of painting I have ever experienced.  So you can imagine how exciting it is that Flora will be travelling to Europe specially for this workshop, where participants can sink into three days of indulgent creating with this wonderful free spirit. 

In “Bloom True – wild and delicious painting with Flora Bowley“, the class will explore a whole new way of painting from a space of freedom, non-judgment and experimentation. This process is about loosening up, letting go of expectations, having fun and allowing paintings to unfold naturally. The class will paint on giant canvasses, with access to acres of stunning countryside for inspiration and outdoor classroom space.

If you are able to join us, I can promise you will never look at painting the same way again.

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‘Freed’ by Flora Bowley, acrylic on canvas 36″ x 36″

 As part of the retreat’s creative enterprise sessions, Flora will also share some of her experience in making it as an internationally-acclaimed professional painter, who has licenced some of her work with Anahata Katkin’s ‘Papaya!’.

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‘Thirty-six’ by Flora Bowley, acrylic on canvas, 36″ x 36″

Flora lives and works full-time as a painter in Portland, OR, where she is inspired by magical forests, abundant gardens and a thriving community of fellow artists. Flora’s love for life and spontaneous nature are clearly visible in her vibrant, easily recognizable paintings. Throughout the year, Flora enjoys travelling, teaching workshops and painting in colourful locations around the world.

Flora Bowley to teach at Do What You Love retreat in England! static+badge retreat

More information will be available on the Do What You Love retreat website to be launched in December.  This retreat will be cosy and intimate – small enough for everyone to get to know everyone – so places are strictly limited. Registration will formally launch with the new website in December, but if you want to be the first to know about it (and get in on the early bird discount), sign up for the new Do What You Love newsletter at the top of this page.

Internationally-renowned book artist Rachel Hazell and award-winning mixed-media artist Priscilla Jones will also be teaching at the retreat.  

What’s in a blog name?

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Tell me, why did you give your blog the name that you did? I am often fascinated by blog names, and wonder whether there is a story behind them, or whether they just popped into the writer’s head when they were creating their new space. Here are a few names I love:

Pilgrim of the Moon
There is a sweet love story behind this name but you’ll have to ask Judit if you want to know about it. I find this name is really dreamy.

Shin Shin
The name means ‘honest heart’ in Japanese, and Maki describes her blog as ‘little notes to my honest heart’.

Nectar and Light
Home of polaroid photographer Jen Altman, to me this name evokes a summer day – sugary sweetness and sunshine

Tangled Sky Studio
I used to love playing that game where you try to find pictures in the clouds, and this makes me think of a sky tumbling with clouds

Doorways Traveler
The title of Lisa Field-Elliot’s gorgeous photography blog suggests possibility, adventure, the unknown…

My own blog title ‘Do What You Love’ came from a deep belief that the world would be a better place if more people were doing what they love. More time spent on things that make you feel alive, connected, expressive and happy can only enhance the experience others have when they interact with you out in the world. Through this blog I wanted to give myself a space, and a kind of accountability, to do what I love (creating, having adventures, sharing stories) and put it out in the world.

How about you? What is your blog name and where did it come from? What other blog names do you love?