Hothouse 2011; Smocked Chair, Rose Sharp Jones, Hothouse 2010 participant
The Craft Council’s Hothouse scheme is open to emerging makers of any craft specialism, who are just about to, or within two years of, setting up their own business, Hothouse provides a six month programme of business and creative development support. ARTS THREAD looks at how the scheme has helped two makers who took part in Hothouse 2010.
Hothouse is open to makers resident in England and is a national scheme that will support 40 makers this year. The scheme is made up of group sessions on developing business skills, market knowledge and creativity, one-to-one meetings with a mentor from the sector, as well as peer buddy support from past recipients of the scheme.
Emma Yeo; Scorched Oak Kinetic Vessel with Steel & Brass Strap, Leon Lewis, Hothouse 2010 participants
Jo Lovelock is one of the makers who took part in the Hothouse 2010 scheme. Based in Surrey, Jo has her own business creating art textiles and fabrics for interior design, after studying Textiles (BA) at Surrey Institute of Art and Design, Farnham, now part of UCA. Jo’s work is inspired by the often unappreciated beauty of the urban and industrial environment. Recent work includes a series of conceptual pieces examining and exploring the definition of a quilt and its construction, as well as the Urban Collection, a range of interior products such as cushions, quilts and scarves.
Jo Lovelock textiles; Jo Lovelock in her studio
ARTS THREAD: How did you hear about the Hothouse scheme?
Jo Lovelock: I saw an advertisement in Crafts Magazine.
AT: What were the key benefits you felt you gained by participating in the scheme?
JL: The key benefit that I have gained is confidence in myself and my work. We spent a lot of time writing and talking about our practice and as a result I am able to articulate myself better and have a greater understanding of the opportunities available to me.
AT: What differences to you feel it has made to your development as a maker with your own business?
JL: I am able to see and value my own creativity and how I am central to the business. I also understand that I can shape my practice in a number of ways and that I need to take the time to explore this and develop ideas in order to make my practice into a successful business.
AT: Can you name two things that you do differently or you have decided to do as a result of participating in the scheme?
JL: I am now keeping proper business records and planning and managing my time better. I have also become an artist in residence in the textile department at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham as the scheme made me realise the importance of working with other people and being in a creative environment.
Rosanna Martin in her studio; Rosanna Martin ceramics
Ceramic maker Rosanna Martin based in Truro, Cornwall was another of the makers who took part in Hothouse 2010. Rosanna creates individually hand thrown porcelain cylinders that can be used as vases. Rosanna’s most recent work explores the use of the process of turning as decorative elements within the work. Rosanna graduated from University of Wales Institute Cardiff, School of Art and Design with a BA(Hons) in Ceramics in 2008.
ARTS THREAD: How did you hear about the Hothouse scheme?
ROSANNA MARTIN: I heard about the Hothouse scheme from the Craft Council website. As soon as it was advertised I knew it sounded like it would be the ideal program of support to help me get my practice up and running.
AT: What were the key benefits you felt you gained by participating in the scheme?
RM: The benefits have been invaluable. The program has enabled me to assess what I had done so far and to start looking towards the future. At lot of time spent thinking about your ambitions and goals, and then how you actually think you may achieve them. It gave me the confidence to think that I will achieve them, and the belief in my abilities to steer my practice in the direction I want it to go.
By voicing these things and putting them down on paper has enabled greater feeling of being in control, which has made me feel much more creative. One of the main reasons I applied to be part of the program was because I had recognised that since leaving university and being in a studio on my own I had lost a lot of confidence and didn’t seem to be progressing my work forward. I was exhibiting but it was always with the same or very similar pieces. The program has given me a massive confidence boost and the encouragement to keep pushing the creative side forward, without feeling guilty about it.
Being part of a new network of makers who are all as passionate about craft as I am was hugely inspiring. I had two years since graduating and was working in isolation for a lot of that time. It is now fantastic to know that if I have a problem or question there are people who I can contact if I need to who are probably going through, or have been through similar problems.
Rosanna Martin ceramics; Rosanna Martin ceramics
AT: What differences to you feel it has made to your development as a maker with your own business?
RM: I now feel like I am in control of my practice and am looking to the future and making conscious decisions about what I want to take part in, what I can do now, and what I will wait to do, instead of wanting to do everything at once. I now see my practice as my business and my business as my practice, it is important to recognise that you need to make money in order to continue to be creative, and although at first that can be easily brushed aside and not thought about, it is actually liberating to feel in control of your financial situation as well as your creative one. Whilst doing this also remembering that creativity is at the core of what I do, it is what makes what I do exciting and interesting, and therefore needs to be nurtured.
AT: Can you name two things that you do differently or you have decided to do as a result of participating in the scheme?
RM: Having got a bit more order into my finances I am now embracing the creative side of my business. I am using each exhibiting opportunity that I have to develop new work for. These may not be huge jumps, a new surface, glaze or form, but it means that I am continually moving forward and developing. As a step further with this I have applied to do the MA in Ceramics and Glass at the RCA, the Hothouse program made me realise that now would be a good time for me, and gave me the confidence to think I might have a chance. I am also doing a lot of practical things that I wasn’t before, such as keeping accounts, formulating business plans and working on my online profile.
To read more about the Hothouse scheme.
