Creativity, rediscovered

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I wasn’t the child anyone expected to become an artist, go to university or build a successful career.

At school, I struggled with dyslexia, dyscalculia and what I now know was undiagnosed ADHD. I wasn’t considered particularly academic, and I left having failed some of my GCSEs with very little idea of what I might do with my life.​ My mum persuaded me to go to college and try again.

 

Because I needed another subject, I chose GCSE Art, something I hadn’t been allowed to take at school. That decision changed everything.

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For the first time, a teacher saw something in me and made me believe in myself. Simon encouraged me to experiment, take risks and trust my own ideas. While other students were drawing and painting for their final projects, I was making Cubist sculptures. With the support of Simon and another brilliant tutor, Jude, I continued studying art, moving into multimedia installations, and eventually became the first person in my family to go to university.

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I studied Installation Art and Events, which gave me the freedom to work across sculpture, digital media, music, photography and site-specific installations. I fell in love with artists who were bold, honest and sometimes uncomfortable. People like Tracey Emin, Jenny Saville, Chris Cunningham and the Chapman brothers showed me that art didn’t have to be polite or made to please other people. It could be personal, instinctive, messy and completely unapologetic.

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Then real life arrived.

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After uni, I needed security. I'd been working since I was 13, and the starving-artist life wasn't an option. So I moved into sales and eventually built a career in technology. Over the next 20 years, I worked my way up to become a director in a tech consultancy. I achieved far more than that teenager who failed her GCSEs ever imagined, but somewhere among the numerous professional qualifications, responsibilities and relentless drive to succeed, work became everything.

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Eventually, I burnt out and realised I had lost an important part of myself.

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After taking some time out and receiving my ADHD diagnosis, I started thinking about the last time I had done something purely because I loved it. The answer took me back to art college and university. So I began painting again, took some evening classes and slowly gave myself permission to create without needing it to be useful or productive.

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A chance encounter with a resin kit in Hobbycraft led to jewellery making. I loved how playful and immediate resin could be, and before long the house was filling up with colourful earrings, pendants and experiments.

Then, during one of the many craft workshops I attended with friends, I tried silversmithing with the wonderful Tory Foster. Something clicked. Working with metal felt completely natural: tactile, absorbing and just challenging enough to quiet my usually very busy brain. I took an evening course to learn the foundations and have spent the years since teaching myself, reading, watching, practising and experimenting. 

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I later found out through genealogy (my other obsession) that I have blacksmiths and tin/whitesmiths going back on both sides of my family for generations, so maybe metal is in my blood/DNA! (check out my blog post on it!)

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Haus of Beka grew from there, almost by accident.

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A friend commissioned a silver chain, when collecting it she spotted the growing collection in my “craftservatory”. A fellow neurosparkly magpie she heavily encouraged me to run my first resin workshop (mostly so she could play with glitter!). I started taking samples to the workshops to show how it was done and selling a few pieces to the attendees, I also started selling online.

 

A conversation in the fantastic shop Easy Street led to my first craft market on York’s Bishy Road, and suddenly people weren’t only buying my work; they were coming back wearing it.

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Seeing somebody arrive at a market wearing a necklace, bracelet or a pair of earrings I made never gets old. There is something incredibly special about an object that began as an idea at my workbench becoming part of somebody else’s life.

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Today...

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Haus of Beka is still my creative playground and my antidote to corporate life. It is a space for curiosity, experimentation and making things that bring a little joy. My work is eclectic because I am too, I love beautiful stones, unusual textures, bold colour, dark humour, loud music and objects that feel good in your hands. I’m endlessly fascinated by crystals and gemstones, not because I can tell you what every one of them is supposed to heal, but because geology has somehow produced something extraordinary and beautiful.

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I'm still in tech, doing the day job, but I’m also still learning, and I hope I always will be. Every Haus of Beka purchase or workshop helps me experiment, develop my silversmithing and continue doing something that makes my brain quiet and my world feel bigger.

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I also have an unpaid assistant now, so if you come along to a stall or workshop, please do say hello to my husband Gordon. He's very friendly and largely tolerant! Ha! Still encouraging him to rediscover his creativity!

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Whether you are here to find something you won’t see everywhere else, commission a piece with a story behind it, or spend a few hours making something of your own at a workshop, you are very welcome.

Have a look around. I hope you find something that feels a little bit like you.