A New Year or a New Autumn .....

I'm a true believer in new starts, fresh beginnings or this time of year turning over an autumnal leaf! So at the start of 2014 after one of my happiest Christmas and New Years in quite some time I felt I'd gained the personal strength and had an internal voice pushing me to finally start developing what I've been procrastinating about for over ten years ..

Armed with a fresh notebook, (a Christmas present from my younger sister) I began the baby steps to a more creative, more playful lifestyle hoping to build on the happiness I'd found. Since I'd finished studying Ceramics and Textiles in 2003 and moving to London I've dipped in and out of making mainly as a hobby. One thing that very suddenly hit me during a period of none creative outlet is I began feeling extremely down and missing some part of my character. It wasn't until a friend I'd studied with mentioned this near depression feeling while not making any personal work after the birth of her son; this was a little light-bulb moment to me as I'd never connected my day to day happiness with the time I was giving to making, being creative, even just visiting an Art Gallery. The fact that I was working in one of the country’s most stunning Galleries at the time makes this pretty shocking! 

In light of this it fuelled my need to start increasing the creative/productive side of my life. The result of this revelation was the launch of Irene and Edith, granted very small to begin with but it felt like a huge step to me. Even the fact of stating my work under a brand and a name, one that I feel very comfortable and protected by helped me to begin envisioning where & how I could move my work, thoughts and ideas on to. So this first post is thanks to Claire (the sister with the Notebook gift) Naomi & Dex, my wonderfully unique friend and her beautiful son and family & friends that made the turn to 2014 so perfect .. xx