An autumn update

Hello! 

I thought it was time for a new blog post, partly because it's been 5 months, and partly because my dad quoted my own marketing advice back to me, in that 'I shouldn't have a blog unless I can keep it up to date'. Ha. He is right to be fair. My own words are very wise. Here's a photo of me and Doughnut.

For those of you who have subscribed to the newsletter, you will know about my autumn shop update, which was a long time coming (sorry about that). I do pretty much all aspects of running this business myself, and I got into a bit of a creative flow over August/September and I really couldn't bring myself to work on the website. Is that dreadful? I am so aware of the creative ebbs and flows so wanted to make as much as I could, whilst my heart was telling me to. 

Times of Corona have been weird, I'm so grateful for my shops, and the support of this lovely community. As well as this shop, I have an Etsy shop where you can find some more of my items and a Thortful account with some of my card designs (watch out for a naked man range). As some of you may know, I perform in a band 'The Zoots' and most of our work has been postponed for now, which is crushing, but it makes me all the more grateful for my small business. 

As we start to head into Christmas, I can feel myself getting a lot busier, already running to keep up, with more orders coming in, and wanting to produce some new lines in time for the festive season. I am really hoping to open up a couple of commission slots too. There just aren't enough hours in the day! I'm sharing most of my work, behind the scenes and finished pieces, on Instagram and my Ko-fi page. Thank you to everyone who has bought me a Ko-Fi, I have just had a large canvas arrive (my first!) so I hope to be able to make something on there in the New Year. For those of you new to 'Ko-FI' its a platform which allows you to support an artist or creative by buying them a virtual coffee (which I have put towards new art supplies as I was getting through a lot of pencils.)

I'm hoping to have some little polar bears and some ghosts to add to my shop soon. I had so many of you ask about the polar bears after I did a set of 3 in the summer that I thought it was time to do some more. They are some in the kiln this week so I hope it shouldn't be too long until they are ready. The process of working with clay from scratch can be a lengthy one, and you never know if everything will survive, but I'm enjoying it all the same. Thank you for all of the suggestions for little ceramic animals you would like to see.

Here are the 3 finished bears, and here are the ones heading in to the kiln this week! 

      

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I've been doing a lot of life drawing throughout August and September. I was invited to a class by the Henley School of Art, since then I've tried to fit in one or two classes a week. I've really been enjoying Fat Life Drawing and All the Young Nudes have a really excellent catalogue of replays you can work from. It's a great brain work out, drawing a subject I've never done before. I very much feel like I am finding my feet, but I am enjoying myself in the process. 

If you've ever thought about doing life drawing, now is a great time as there are so many online zoom classes or replays of classes for you to dip in and out of when you feel like it. Here's a drawing I did of Bella Franks she is also one of the tutors from Draw Brighton, I've just joined their Patreon! They have an amazing catalogue of photos to draw from as well as live drawing sessions. I really hope I can find the time to get stuck in.

Here's a shot of my desk as I'm working. I periodically have a massive reset and clear out, but as I'm working on so many things at once, it sort of works like this...kind of. 

This week (and for the next few weeks), I've carved out some time to work on these ceramic hanging dog Christmas decorations. I've been taking preorders for these, so I can manage how many I think I can make, with how many I am actually able to produce. aha. Thank you for all of your orders of these. I'm really excited about seeing them finished. 

If you follow me on instagram, you will have spotted a couple of exciting pieces which are heading into the kiln soon. All of these are hand illustrated, some pieces taking over an hour to complete, so there likely wont be lots available at once. I do really appreciate all of the feedback and messages, and comments on new works. It really helps to give me a gauge on what to move forward with. 

This next one is top secret (don't tell the dogs).

I really would like to list some of my original drawings at some point too. I had great fun with this one (below) - which is available as a print in my Etsy shop. I am hoping to integrate both shops at some point. If you do order from both, let me know as I might be able to combine the shipping for you. 

In other news, it was my birthday yesterday. I have a twin sister, Emily, and as a birthday treat we decided to get our noses pierced. 

I had a lovely day with a lunch with Emily. I was so spoiled by my lovely, lovely friends and family. I honestly felt a bit overwhelmed with all the love and generosity (not helped by a terrible hangover following a rather crazy night of board games and fizz). 

Doughnut is his usual lovely self, today he has a bit of an upset tummy so is quite quiet today. He has his own instagram where you can see what he is up to.

You can usually find me hanging out on Insta, Ko-fi, Twitter, Facebook and Thortful. If you've got in touch with me about a project, and not heard back from me, please do give me a prod as often things can slip through the net as I'm juggling so much at once. 

Please do leave me a comment below, let me know what you'd like to see more of, less of. Anything you're loving/hating at the moment. Have you enjoyed this blog post? Would you like more blogs? More behind the scenes? Maybe a sketchbook tour? Lemme know. 

Thanks so much for all of your support and love, 

Harriet & Doughnut xx 

PS
I found a couple of pointy nosed mugs which I forgot to include in the update. these are now available here.