An Artist!

Good morning,

We have an artist who is part of the team, if you have visited the shed in the fens you would of seen some of her amazing artwork. Thats Michelle from Art of Deception. But Michelle is much more than that..

After Karens blog last week we set the same challenge to Michelle, who went through the same emotions as the others and she won’t mind me saying this but a little bit more. Michelle thought the title of todays blog would of been ‘The Mentalist’, ha see Michelle expect the unexpected. I call her the mentalist, because well, she is, but and its a big ‘but’ in a very good way! 

Everyone who works in the shed is a little bit mental, I think you have to be, its certainly not a normal place to work and it helps to deal with the challenges we face on a daily basis. Michelle is high up on that list, not at the top though, thats position is saved for next week. 

Some of you might have met her because she does shows for us, its probably one of the most challenging roles, I’ll let her explain further down what this involves. We often get asked if we need peope to work shows for us and yes we will do in the future but not everyone is cut out for it. Michelle is bloody brilliant at it and I trust her 100%, that trust is a huge thing for me and something not given out lightly but Michelle has it and some. I have also done some shows with her and love nothing more than putting her in uncomfortable situations, watching her squirm and then get herself out of it! She absolutely does the same to me, its great fun!

Fenspirits is like my child, so when someone is out there representing us its the equivalent of someone taking my child out into the world and I have absolutely no worries or concerns whatsoever with our artist, I hope she reads this as I truly mean it.

Michelle juggles many hats and one is her artwork, I have known her for years when she just did it as a hobby and seen her tip toe out into the world with it. Its very easy to see someones work and just assume they are super confident and its easy for them to put it out there but in my experience it quite the opposite, they are super talented and they work very very hard on their art but putting it out there is another thing. Michelle took the massive step and did this and continues to do so and I absolutely love watching her progress with this and will always stand by clapping and cheering her successes and as a friend will try and help when the road gets a little bumpy. I will also be the first to congratulate her when she says she can’t do shows anymore because she’s too busy with her art, until that day comes she is an important part of the team and is a good friend.

If you havnt’t seen her work take a look at Art of Deception of Facebook and Instagram, tell her Ant sent you, this will give me a big head and make her roll her eyes!!!

Here are some words from her on her time with Fenspirits

Would I be interested in helping out at a Christmas Market?

I wasn’t new to event work, I was however, used to music festivals…painting drunk people!

Attending Country Shows, Crafters Markets, Christmas Fairs suddenly I was a purple haired fish out of water. 

How should I act? What do I say to people? Do I need to be a certain way? Follow a script?

The answer of course was No.

Ant was clear from the start and always has been, be yourself. Remain polite, smile and say Hello, the rest will follow….. he wasn’t wrong!

It would be fair to say, shows are graft. Some will knock your confidence and test your patience but others will leave you buzzing and wanting more.

I’ve stood in boiling hot gazebos, freezing cold huts and noisy event halls. I’ve given chase to my flying gazebo, got towed from a boggy field, been personally performed to by Morris Dancers and heard Feliz Navidad more times than you could ever imagine.

I have also met wonderful people, seen some beautiful parts of the country and have many stories and

memories to share, because one thing I can guarantee, every show is different!

I’m just so proud to be out there showcasing products I love, made with real heart and soul by an incredible team of people I am lucky enough to call friends.

Have a great day!