STUDIO: Clare Alderson of The Craft Studio

I left a well paid job with long hours and finally plucked up the courage to leave and get a part time job in a non pressured environment. The new job was in building that had floor to ceiling windows, I could see the sunshine, the people were great, and the customers were happy to be there. The wage was next to nothing in comparison to the wage I was earning in my last job. I knew there would be no holidays, shoes, clothes, nights out but I had the the one thing that money couldn’t buy - time. Time to reflect, to ponder, to reason and to decide.

That was the start of my path to a creative career. My creativity had been lying dormant for sooooo long and I was used to having money and financial commitments. With a little more time on my hands I signed up for a creative craft workshop and it was like someone had switched on the light. I chatted to the woman who was running the workshop about how she had got started. To cut a long story short I did some unpaid hours assisting tutors who ran the classes. I enrolled on a teacher training course that fitted around my part time job (I had also had a baby who was about 6 months old at the time) and landed a job as a sessional tutor for my local college teaching creative crafts and earning a full time wage on part time hours!

I was in my element. I even left my other part time job to continue the teaching. Unfortunately the funding for adult education was heavily cut after 18 months and I was left with just a few hours a week. I had built up such good relationships with students and they were making such great things that I decided to have a website created to showcase their work and to try and create some interest for my classes.

My partner had some experience with websites so he set to work on it to save money. Many students contacted me saying that they wanted to learn but couldn’t afford to enrol on a college course. I set about hiring space in someone else’s studio teaching one day taster sessions and workshops. The downside to this was that if no one booked onto the class, I would still have to pay full room hire, so I decided to take a risk and set up my own studio.

There have been lots of ups and downs. I have had some health problems and my partner got made redundant twice in one year. I thought at this point that I would have to give my notice on the studio. Some months I had no idea how I was going to pay the rent but I always found a way, somehow, somewhere, someone would hand me a life line and I would often be found looking up to the ceiling, eyes closed, mouthing the words ' Thank You',. The thought of going back to long hours and feeling miserable was enough to keep me going, even if I was living off beans on toast!!

I begrudgingly applied for a couple of part time jobs during this time. I didn’t get those jobs, I think fate must have intervened. I continued to ' stick it out' and found someone to share the studio with to help pay the rent. I now have a couple of crafty friends on board who are using the space to teach workshops with a view to eventually having the confidence to pursue a creative path and over the last year, things have gone from strength to strength. My daughter has just started school so with more time and energy to put into the business I really do think it’s my time to shine.

I still don’t earn a 'real' wage but I am rich in so many ways and happier than I have ever been. It has been hard juggling work, my own business and having a toddler but in the very little time I had to myself I liked to read self help books and would like to quote a chapter I once read that helped me when the chips were down.

'You must trust yourself enough to know that you will make the right choices. You must trust that the universe will provide you with every single thing you need in order to accomplish what you set out to do. You must accept that what you want to do may not be an easy task. Accept that what is yours will come to you in the right way at just the right moment.' - 'One Day My Soul Just Opened Up' by Ivanla Vanzant.

Writing this email has made me realise just how far I have come.

www.thecraft-studio.com