Friday, March 25, 2011

Crafty designer for all your accessories

Where do you live? I live in Upper Coxley with my partner Ben and daughter Milly in a 17th-century cottage that we have totally renovated. We've been working on it for eight years and it isn't finished yet. When we began, Ben and I lived in one caravan and the children lived in another for two months.

What do you like most about living in Upper Coxley? We are very close to open countryside, yet Wells is only a five-minute drive or 20-minute walk away.

Is there anything you dislike? I know starlings are amazing birds, but the noise they make can be deafening. As well as their squawking and squabbling, they also make quite a mess.

Do you have family nearby? My parents live in Shepton and I have cousins there and in Stoney Stratton. My brother lives in Wells. My daughter Milly lives and works with me, but my son Dominic is up in Sheffield.

Which three Somerset places or events would you recommend to visitors? The event would be Glastonbury Festival. I have been nearly every year for the last 20 years and think it is something special. The places would be Wells, especially the Bishop's Palace, and the Somerset Levels – despite the starlings!

What do you do for a living? I run the Air Gallery in Wells alongside Chi-Chi Moi, a knit and crochet business that I set up in 2005. Before this I was designing and selling printed textiles, but when we were living in a caravan I had nowhere to work so started to create small accessories instead.

What does a typical day involve? I start by checking emails for orders. The day in the gallery consists of meeting customers and artists, making products, talking to our outworkers and doing lots of paperwork. We also run craft workshops. Last year most evenings involved preparations for exhibitions, decorating the gallery or working at home on the computer.

Where do your customers come from? Air Gallery customers are mainly local, although we do have a few tourists when they can find us. We are above the toy shop in the high street. Chi-Chi Moi items are sold in the gallery, to other shops and online. I have just shipped a knitted headband all the way to Brazil.

If you were not running the gallery, what would you do? I love renovating houses and doing DIY, so I would either be a property developer or an interior designer.

What do you enjoy most about your work? When something I have designed and created is loved by other people.

What are your plans for the future? I have many exciting plans for this year. Something I am particularly looking forward to is organising an exhibition in the Bishop's Palace in June with Edwina Bridgeman.

What do you do in your free time? Painting is my true love. I am thinking of joining Wells WI after going to the last meeting, which was fun.

What are your three favourite places in the world? St Ives, the French ski resort of Courcheval and home. I would love to visit India, especially the pink palace in the city of Jaipur.

How would you spend a perfect day? With my family poking around the shops in St Ives. After lunch at the Portminster Beach cafe I'd spend the afternoon reading on the beach. The day would end with a DVD and a glass of wine.

What is your most treasured possession? A Victorian mahogany sewing table that my parents gave me when I was 16.

What would you say were your greatest strengths and weaknesses? I am quite tenacious so will persevere to get something done. My weakness is that I talk too much!

What would make you happier than you are already? That a pill could be created to combat macular degeneration, which my mother has. Secondly, to have alpacas and somewhere to put them.

True or False? Jan Ollis once shared a beer with Morrissey of the Smiths. See next week's paper to find out whether this is fact or fiction.

In last week's True or False? Dave Beal claimed to have been on TV with Sharron Davies. This was true. Dave was in the Crispin School side that competed in the children's television programme We Are the Champions co-hosted by the former swimming champion.

Source: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/glastonburyfestival/Crafty-designer-accessories/article-3333420-detail/article.html

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