I’m writing this quite late today, it’s been one of those multi tasking , crazy days.

I’d like to introduce you to my friend Sally Ovenden. The odd thing about our friendship is that we haven’t yet met in person! Sally and I are members of the United Art Space , which is an online artist support network. With in the group the members all work through aspects of their art career with the support of their peers. It’s easier to check out the details on their website. I’ll pop the link at the end.

Sally and I , plus 4 other members, (who I’ll no doubt get to introduce you to in the future) get together weekly for a zoom meeting. We discuss our progress, thoughts and fears about our art practice. Everyone is really supportive and if the day starts out bad, by the end of the meeting the positivity and encouragement is flowing!

Sally is a Ceramicist and works from her garden studio in the New Forest. She’s really talented and not only creates homewares and beautiful usable objects but she also makes the most beautiful birds, which I absolutely adore. When Sally talks about her work, she speaks with such passion. Sally loves to get completely absorbed by whatever she is creating and has been telling the group stories of some of the birds she has been creating. One day I will treat myself to a bird or two. And when life returns to normal I’d love to get a chance to visit the Just So Studio.

You can see more of Sally’s gorgeous work on her website.

Finding friendship and support like this online is really exciting, as we all work differently and come from different backgrounds but really understand what it’s like to navigate through life as a creative, with all of its ups and downs.

To find out more about The United Artspace follow the link below.
www.unitedartspace.org

Introducing my friend Kat Lendacka

I first met Kat when we were new Mums taking our girls to their swimming class. We lived near one another and I’d often see her walking her dog past my house. Firstly we had pets and children in common. When we met we had no idea about our creative sides but after coffee mornings with the kids at the toy library, we began sharing our creative sensibilities and discussing the frustrations of trying to be creative and parent at the same time.

I was in the middle of my art degree and I seem to remember Kat was illustrating a book in those early days of our friendship. It was just so wonderful to be able to talk to another creative that was trying to juggle art life with being a new mum. I was the only student in my class at uni to have a new baby, so my friendship with Kat became very important as we could understand one another.

I took this photo yesterday in Kat’s garden studio, this was after she had treated me to homemade apple and blackberry pie and good black coffee. If you ever visit Kat, home cooked food is usually involved!

Kat is a printmaker and produces gorgeous hand pulled linocuts, they can be found on cards, prints for framing and jewellery. All original and handmade. She’s super talented and I’ve loved seeing her progress through the years, turning her print work into her own business. It’s been really exciting to see her success.

You can see her website here, you won’t leave without buying something I warn you!

Every August I join the online art community for #drawingaugust. All you have to do is draw anything during August and share it on twitter/instagram. You don’t even need to be an artist. I try to post one drawing a day. It’s a really good motivator for me and it can lead to happy accidents, as I often just draw on anything , with anything! For this drawing I used a dip pen, a water brush and a stick of bamboo. My cat ,Ted, was initially sat very still but ,in true cat style, as soon as I started drawing he moved. So this drawing was born from that frustration of having a moving target. I’ll post about drawing August on my blog and post my daily draw on twitter @teckmanart