The Beauty of Bluesky - Misheleneous
Hello again all, it feel's like we could all do with a pick me up at the moment so I thought I'd highlight another wonderful creative in a new edition of my 'Beauty of BlueSky' posts. This time I'm saying hello to an old online pal Misheleneous aka Helen Rogers who, like me, has made the move from the once glorious blue bird platform to bluer skies. Also like me, she runs a small biz and making that switch from one platform to another as a small biz can be quite frankly terrifying when you've spent years building your customer base - to start from scratch is more than a little intimidating. So, I just want to take a moment here, before the interview gets underway, to ask you lovely folk for a helping hand on behalf of all small biz folk out there. When you see a promo post from an artist, maker or biz, please oh please can you re-share it. On BlueSky the re-post is where it's at, it's the main thing that will help our work get seen by potential new customers. We all understand that you might not be able to afford to buy and our work might not be your kind of thing, but if that one re-share helps put it in the path of someone who'd love it then it can help us all to keep providing pockets of artistic relief amongst the shitshow we're all currently surviving in!
Anyhoo let's get back to finding out about the lovely Helen....fair warning to you wonderful dog lovers out there, she may just become one of your new favourite makers!!
Helen Rogers, is a self employed Designer Maker, since 2013, making 'miscellaneous' gifts for home and hound. She lives and works in Manchester and have a BA Hons Degree in Painting & Photography. She alse won a Theo Paphitis Small Business award in 2018
If you could pick one piece of music to listen to as you make what would it be?
Any track off the first two The Sisters of Mercy albums.
What is your earliest creative memory?
My dad's mum. She was a creative machine and introduced me and my sister to a life of hand crafts. Our dad was artistic too and we were always keen to draw and colour whatever we could. Mistakenly including the bedroom wall on one memorable occasion.
What fires your imagination?
Nature, my surroundings, art, fashion, music, culture, pattern, colours, and animals - in particular dogs.
What's the best 'mistake' you've ever made? Creative or otherwise..
Becoming self employed could have been a mistake, and I know there was concern from some others that it would be!
If money were no object what's the first bit of creative kit you'd treat yourself to?
A new back up sewing machine, as my ancient Janome, that I was using because my trusty Brother was in for a service, burst into smoke and flames last year - while I was using it. The motor was damaged beyond repair unfortunately.
As it only seems fair, this is where I give every interviewee a chance to turn the tables and ask me a question...
What led you to becoming an illustrator?
Since my first joyous foray into finger-paints when I was small, (who remembers the fab Early Learning Centre!), it was clear that my career would be in the arts. I come from a very artistic family too so that certainly helped foster my love for all things arty and I used to draw fun cartoons in family birthday cards. But initially my career was more textiles based, I did my degree in textile art. It was only after I did some illustrations for my sister's wedding that I started adding it to my shop line-up. My style has definitely evolved since then and illustration has taken me in lots of unexpected and delightful directions.
I hope you've all enjoyed this brief foray in to the world of Misheleneous and come away from this with a love of her fab felty versions of our furry friends! You can follow her creative adventures on BlueSky, Instagram and visit her shop. If you're a creative with a BlueSky account who'd like to be featured by me here, you can do so by clicking here - it'll take you to a handy interview form I've set up where you can fill in your details.
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