Welcome to my blog. I am 'The Bunny Maker' - aka Anna, confuzzled mother of three boys, maker of sock bunnies for Widget and Friends, owner of The Warren Bunny Boarding and artist behind Half an Acre. Come on in and join the madness!


Friday 26 September 2008

Jump on the Merry go round .....

Once a month a group of eight fantastic artists and craftsmen (or do I have to say 'crafts women' these days?) are getting together to post at the same time - all answering the same question. We are all linked to each other so you can go from blog to blog (a la carousel) and have some interesting reading.

The first question is "What was your journey to your art/craft?".

This is a hard one for me as I don't think it was a journey at all. Typical! I've always made stuff, I think. I've always drawn little pictures of people hair, eyes and mouths but no head bits. They had knobbly knees and big boots and were generally quite cute. I drew them as cards for friends as at the time the shop bought ones were sorely lacking in something. Everyone loved them. "You should do something with them" was something I've heard over and over again over the last 20 yrs! But I never did! And I haven't! I still draw them every so often. They are simply part of me and I don't think I intend to every 'do anything' with them!
Beyond that .... nothing really! School reports said I 'could do so well' if only I tried - but I didn't. So that was that! I went to art college to study photography because there wasn't much else for me to do. There I met my greatest pal ever, Ruth. We promised we'd 'do something' creative one day and live next door to each other with interconnecting garden gates. During my rambling years straight from college I ended up in North Carolina (Ruth came too, for a bit) where I randomly painted flowers onto plant pots and bicycle frames. I did a fabulous flower mural on someones bed & breakfast room doors too! I always yearned for a studio but what for? I didn't really know. To draw more people with no heads? Years passed. I was a researcher for an author, I worked at the Daily Mail, I became a gardener, I had three children. Then Ruth started to make wooden things and sell them along with a friend of hers. It worked but then they moved counties and Ruth asked me to do it with her. So I did. Now I paint the wooden stuff and Ruth does everything else! Silversmithing, knitting, painting, sewing, felting and all manner of fantastic skills that I can only marvel at. I am half an acre, she is the other half and one day we will be a whole acre, with those interconnecting garden gates. We will have a studio of which the doors will be flung open, the coffee on, the hammocks in the apple tree and we will gossip and paint and laugh like we always have done.
And now I am content! I don't have a studio - I have a gloomy north facing room! But I love it. It is my studio and it is full of paint and mess, wood and bits. I have never been so happy as when I am sitting there, radio on, spotting and painting, sanding and varnishing. Everything I make is in my Etsy shop. I do a lot of fish. I don't have an affinity with fish but I love to paint them. I don't know why! So, that is that. I don't understand how I ended up here but I did and I know that I have found the right thing for me to be doing. I find it easy - so easy - the colours, the patterns, they just come out. I don't even plan then. They just arrive and as time goes on I discover more ideas that are dormant inside somewhere. I'm thrilled to see what is in there! Now - of you go and read everyone elses journeys! They are all listed right here ......


Digg!

8 comments:

  1. I love it! And it makes so much sense of your "half an acre" name now! The idea of you and Ruth sharing your acre!

    And your headless drawings are lovely. I really like them...they leave you wanting to look for more...

    Glad you've joined the merry go round with your happy painted fish etc - and one day, we want to meet Ruth - the other Ruth!!!

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  2. Hey! Great stuff - you've done so much! How lovely to share it all with another 'half' like that! I'm loving the interconnecting garden gate thing too!

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  3. The nice thing besides the great fish you paint and sell, is that along the way there was a friend, always. I think friends are one of the great joys of life. if one can share ons life with a friend or two, it just becomes so much better!

    Good luck ...and I hope you get your big acre one day...soon.

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  4. Your drawings are very special so are your wood fishes. They are so natural, full of innocence like you and your friend Ruth. Life is so interesting with art and friends.

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  5. I love the bit about the half acres joining... wouldn't that be lovely!
    Nice to read your story, can't wait to read our next posts.
    Sxx

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  6. Great story! Love the shared acre part! And I'll ask for tips on PMC when I pluck up the courage to give it a go...

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  7. Again another interesting story,I have so enjoyed reading how we are inspired to create.

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  8. I'm really impressed by how none of us has made a bee line, how chance and encounters (and probably chance encounters) have brought us to this merry-go-round...

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