-Prior to setting up my business >
Prior to setting up my business, I had worked on the ‘Fashion at Belsay’ commission by English Heritage and the Arts Council to produce ‘Tallulah Running Water Dress’. The fellowship was an opportunity to exhibit my work alongside high profile designers such as Zandra Rhodes, Alexander McQueen and Paul Smith.
Following such an amazing opportunity, I stayed in the North East but struggled to commercialise my art work and find creative jobs. Altogether I was out of work for a year which really knocked my confidence.
My defining moment was when I was so frustrated at being unemployed that I realised if I was going to stay true to what I believed in, I would have to set up my own creative business.
I did a six week diploma in traditional upholstery as I saw interiors as the direction I would like to take my artwork commercially and the wallpaper could be the blank canvas for my art.
I decided to apply for the Arts Council Cultural Business Venture to set up my own hand printed wallpaper and textile business, ‘vien ici’.
Vien le Woodvien ici
