The Time Is Now
Hello, I’m Emma Haywood Curzon and I'm not a huge fan of talking about myself but here goes, I'll try not to ramble! I’ve been a designer for 27 years, self employed for 20 of those and have always been creatively inclined. Most of my family were hands on, crafty folk who passed on their skills, knowledge and enthusiasm and for that I'm hugely grateful. So art college followed by a degree in visual communication leading to a career in design was no great surprise.
I have really enjoyed my time as a designer and have worked with some of the loveliest people who are now fabulous friends - but it’s time for a change. I’ve decided to venture out of my design cave and step bleary eyed into the light, move away from the familiarity of corporate colours, deadlines and endless revisions. Emma v2025.pdf has been backed up!
It’s time to work on my own creative ideas which have always been bubbling away in the background. I intend to swap my neat and tidy designer habits for the playful, messy and experimental approaches that were encouraged and developed at college and uni - my Sunday, Monday, Happy Days!
BTW I don't have many photos of me 'in action' but this one features my beloved Betsy. In reality she doesn't like it in the shed, she doesn't get stroked often enough when my hands are mucky - she was only there because Leonie and Beril were too! #fakenews
Roll With It
Printing has always tickled my pickle, proper fingerprints on the corners of the paper printing. A while ago I did an awesome letterpress printing workshop and just those few hours surrounded by lovely inky sights, sounds and smells took me right back to college. (Not that I was at college in the days of letterpress printing, I'm not that old!) It was a much needed change of pace and it gave me a kick up the bum to roll out some changes. I had been experimenting with screen printing on some pottery pieces, a process I hadn't done since school but I loved the results and this also fed into my renewed printing penchant.
As much as I would love to have all the gear and space to mess around on a grand scale, I work from home and am therefore very limited on space! I've adapted my techniques accordingly and am trying to work in the most wasteless way I can, so I'm utilising the tools and equipment I have at my disposal and reusing and recycling where possible. Very much adopting the 'waste not want not' values of my Mum and Dad.
Rinse & Repeat
Over the past 10 years I've been dipping in and out of pottery, what started as an evening class to 'get me out the house' quickly turned into a whole new hands on creative obsession. After my evening classes I would find it hard to sleep because my mind was buzzing with ideas of things I wanted to try the following week. It really did ignite a spark in me.
I like to think of pottery as being in the 'extreme sports' category of hobbies because there's always a possibility of falling at the final hurdle - ooh the jeopardy! There is so much to learn and practice, so many pit falls and failures to tumble into and try get out of and then just when you think you've got the hang of it some technical issue will rear it's head - just to keep you humble. It's a bit like when you usually bake lovely cakes and then one comes out flat as a pancake. Except the cake took you 5 weeks to make and cost a load of money and you can't eat it because it's dust.
It's nerve wrackingly wonderful to open the kiln and see a piece of work that looks how you hoped, the fact it took hard work, time and patience is what makes it sweeter. Here's to dirty, dry, cracked hands!