Over the last fortnight I've been selling my wares at the St Georges Market in belfast Northern Ireland. I've had the pleasure of selling alongside an amazing collection of artists including the talented glass artist Alice McGuinness.
Alice makes kiln formed (fused) glass items. Her Studio is a treasure trove of coloured glass and glass working tools/equipment.
Here's a small taster of Alices work...
These pendants are for sale in the Shankil Tourism shop (Shankil Road, Belfast)
The windows can be seen in the Survivors of Trauma centre in North belfast
Alice is such an inspiring artist and business woman, I just HAD to interview her to find out how she has managed to raise beautiful children while at the same time also successfully grow her artistic passion into a full time career.
1 ABOUT
*What city/town do you live in?
Belfast
*What do you make?
Kiln formed [Fused} glass jewellery, vessels and art.
*Where do you work from (home, studio/workshop etc...)?
Conway Mill, Belfast
*Where do you sell and for how long have you been selling?
For the past ten years I have had my work in a number of shops. I also have a stand [4 years] in St George’s market in Belfast on a Saturday and Sunday which is a great way of developing a customer base as well as networking with other craftspeople/artists.
*Is this your full time job?
Yes, I became self- employed 15 years ago.
*Do you have an educational background that helped you develop and get started?
I am entirely self-taught. I initially learned the basic methods for leaded windows and tiffany [copper foil] glasssome twenty years ago and, with the purchase of a kiln in 2004, became totally immersed in learning all I can about fused glass. Lead and copper foil techniques are pretty straight forward, you learn the basics and perfect them. Kiln formed glass however is a whole different ball game with many different techniques that can be used and combined to make up the final piece.
2 PASSION/INSPIRATION
*Who and what inspires your work/product?
Glass and the versatility of it, actually inspires me. I have seen some truly beautiful work out there and it always spurs me on to develop my own style/technique. At this point I would have to say that I am the owner of quite a large glass recycling bin but the lessons learned have been invaluable.
*Has your style or craft/product changed over time?
Obviously the techniques have changed over the years and, as I learn more about the material and what I can do with it, my work evolves.
*Can you name a few of your favourite inspiring websites (blogs, artists, businesses, suppliers etc...) that you visit most often for inspiration?
The first book on fused glass I ever bought was Brad Walker’s ‘Contemporary Warm Glass’ and through that I became a member of his forum www.warmglass.comI have learned more from this forum than any of the books, other than Brad’s, that I have bought since.
Scottish artist, Amanda Simmons .www.corsockglass.co.uk/www.corsockglass.blogspot.com/
is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to deep vessels. Her cameo engraved work is beautiful and very inspirational
The glass I predominantly use for kiln work is Bullseyeglass .www.bullseyeglass.com . This company is somewhat responsible for the resurgence in fused glass through Boyce Lundstrom and Dan Schwoerer who worked together in the early eighties to develop a range of fusible, compatible glass. The bullseye website has a wealth of information and the gallery space features some amazing artists.
I must mention our own fused glass artist Karl Harronwww.theglasstudioireland.com/Karl’s work is quite distinctive and I would consider him the fore runner in kiln formed glass in Ireland.
*What is your grand vision of where you’d like your business to be in say 5 years and 10 years time?
I would honestly just like to be still in self-employment and, financially comfortable.
3 GETTING STARTED
*How long did you play with the idea before officially starting to trade as the business/entity you are today?
When my second child was born I knew I wouldn’t be able to work full time and there wasn’t any help out there with childcare costs, so I thought seriously about working from home and, after getting into the stained glass sold my work on a party plan basis to friends, neighbours etc.
When I moved back to Belfast as a single parent with two young children in 95, I decided to take it more seriously and started a ‘Women into Business’ course in January 96 and started up in business in Dec 96.
*Did you need a lot of money to get started (you don’t have to say how much just indicate if money was an issue in how long it took to get started)?
Part of the business course I did was to submit an application for a start-up grant to Ledu. I didn’t need an awful lot to get started as I had all the basic equipment, but I was able to buy better tools and machinery which obviously helped a lot. Also having the money there to be able to guarantee my rent payments etc for a period of 6+ months was, for me, vitally important whilst I settled in to the realities of self-employment.
*Did you seek funding from a bank or charity?
No.
*Did you study aspects of business not specifically related to your craft (accounting, marketing, start-up courses etc...)?
I did that through the business course.
*Did you need specific tools or anything else in order to get started?
I had all the basics, but was able to upgrade.
*Were there any particular hurdles you had to get over in order to get started?
Finding reasonably priced premises was the most difficult hurdle.
*Did you stop other employment completely in order to start up or did you taper it off while starting your business or are you still holding another job (being a Mum counts as another job!!!)?
In the first three years of my self-employment I had to work part-time to help pay bills and at one point had four different jobs [including my business and caring for my children]
*What are the aspects you love about running your own creative business?
Having the space and time to focus on doing something I love. Working to my own timetable.Making things that I like and having other people like them too [and buythem !!!!]
*What are the aspects you don’t love so much!?
When I have to do production line work to get out to shops. There isn’t any creativity after you’ve come up with the initial idea.
4 ADVICE
*What advice would you give to others thinking of starting a creative business?
Get as much ‘honest’ feedback as you can about your work before you take the plunge. You have to be willing and able to give 110% to your business. Don’t presume [as I did when I first started out] that the public will be beating a path to your door, they won’t!. You have to continually push your work and promote yourself.
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