Creative Metal Juggler Shares News!

Hi Folks, firstly apologies for not blogging sooner - if you follow me on social media, you'll have seen that this past few months have been busy, busy and plate-spinning/juggling have been added to my skill set!

Never too busy to chat though and that's what made the weekend so special for me on 12th/13th June at Kev's Spring Fest ... seeing so many of you coming to meet our amazing makers and traders and spending the most glorious couple of days in the middle of a field with us!

We had a ball - we had around 45 traders each day; we had ice cream; we had coffee; we had Huffers and their delicious food and we had Onion Vinyl spinning some tunes for us for such a relaxed fun vibe!

We also had the Pot Punk himself - him off the telly, Henry Moore (finalist in The Great Pottery Throwdown earlier this year) - he brought his potters' wheel and visitors were able to throw a pot and learn from a truly amazing potter... he proved to be massively popular and should really have charged for selfies (joking!) Henry was so thrilled with the weekend that he's asked if he can join us for the next one (of course!)

I want to say a massive thank you to all of our traders - some of them had never sold at a market before; some were seasoned traders - all of them did us proud and offered some incredibly clever, creative wares - we think you'll agree. I wanted to also thank all of you for making the event such a success... we'd have been stuck if you hadn't attended in your masses! If you missed it, these are some of the incredible things you'd have seen...

Which brings me onto my first piece of news:

We enjoyed the Spring Fest so much that we've decided to do it all over again on 11th/12th September and we'd love it if you could join us.

We promise to bring some of the same makers and traders as well as some new ones - we receive lots of enquiries from some amazing artists and craftspeople - watch the website page to see who will be joining us. We also promise to bring Huffers, Alexanders Ices, music and coffee and, this time, we'll also be introducing a new vegan food van too ... we truly can't wait - do you think there's a danger that this may become a regular (3-monthly) thing? (we do!)

Since I last posted, I also had a great two days at Helmingham Hall Gardens' Plant Fair and Artisan Market in May. Usually a single day event in May and September, this year because of social distancing and COVID regulations, we

were able to stall out on the Sunday and Bank Holiday - what a great thing that was! Both days brought so many people - the weather helped too, it was an amazing weekend. Great to see so many of you. I'll be back in September, no fear!

Next up for me are two RHS Flower Shows: Hampton Court Palace and Tatton Park - I'm very excited at attending these.

Here's a little sketch of the layout that I submitted to the organisers - one or two things have changed a little but, all in all, that's what I'm bringing to the RHS. If you've got tickets, it'll be great to see you; if you haven't - don't worry, I'll be taking lots of pics and you probably won't be able to stop me talking about both shows for a while!

As the Chelsea Flower Show isn't going ahead, Hampton Court Palace is really the RHS flagship show this year ... delighted to be able to bring my products to such a prestigious event.

In other news, I've been working on some cracking projects lately - I've had a corporate sculptural commission that I still can't completely divulge yet as it has to go through the correct channels. Here, though, are a couple of projects that I've enjoyed immensely and am massively proud of - take a look at the case study section of my website to watch each project from start to finish.

A Home for Ancient Olives

Just look at the end result of this hugely enjoyable project. This customer is one that I've created pieces for before and he has such great vision, but also faith in my work for which I'm super grateful. Don't you think that the lead-effect of the olive tree planters and the leaf canopy work really well with the brick of the building? I love the end result of this project and I know that the customer's happy too!

Lydia the Lark's new Roost

This has been another great project - a lark canopy for a brand new, self-build property in North Suffolk. Starting with a sketch and a maquette, the canopy was built, supported by two huge obelisks decorated with seed-head finials adorned with huge blue marbles. A trial installation took six of us to position Lydia perfectly - final installation was performed without a hitch! Doesn't she look comfortable - I enjoyed this project immensely and am really pleased with the end result.

And finally...

I've had a bit of a website makeover - I've updated my 'festival' section, added some case studies and some new work. I've also updated the shop and added a new garden archway with marbles to my list of products. I have also had to update the prices of my products - I've absorbed the rising cost of steel for a while now but, as with all things, I do now have to pass some of this one... no huge hikes, just enough to cover the new cost of materials.

I'm juggling lots of things at the moment, preparing for shows whilst recovering from Kev's Spring Fest and planning for the Summer version, alongside keeping stock levels high enough for orders that come in - however, as always, I'm always up for that new challenge! Do get in touch with any ideas that you have and, if you're able to come to any of the events I'm at over the Summer/Autumn, you know I'd be delighted to see you!

Here's to a safe, sunny, superb Summer, all the best

Kev