March - April Art Journal

Ok, who sucked March out of the space-time continuum and dropped us into the middle of April?!

Hmm?

I’m not angry, just discombobulated!

In all seriousness, March flew by in a flurry of boxes, endless hours driving up and down the A1, and falling into bed exhausted at the end of the day.

To update you, The Big Move was the worst moving experience I’ve had in over twenty years of renting. I’ve never moved into a house so dirty - and I’ve lived in student accommodation. The boiler needs replacing and there’s a damp problem in the largest downstairs room, meaning we can’t use it until remedial building work is carried out. That’s just the tip of the iceberg*. I cried every night of the first week we were here.

Six weeks on, after much time cleaning and redecorating (don’t ask), things are beginning to look and feel a little more like home. Most of our possessions are still in boxes but we’re slowly getting the usable rooms set up how we want them.

Thank you to everyone who reached out to check in on us during the disruption, it means the world to have your support.

*For those smart alecs wondering why we didn’t spot these myriad (but subtle) issues when we viewed the property… Things have changed a great deal in the eight years since I last had to deal with letting agents and searching for a new home. Every rental property now has. on average, twelve potential sets of tenants applying to live there. You get a grand total of fifteen minutes to view a property, often alongside all those other prospective tenants before you race to apply to live there. While we were fortunate with this place that we could view it alone with the landlords, a fifteen-minute whip round a large house only allows you enough time to check out room sizes, water pressure, socket availability, scope out any obvious black mould plus chat with said landlords. At the end of our slot, we were promptly switched out for the next couple who’d come to view the space.

Anyhoo, on with the art chat!

My new office-studio space is a breath of fresh air! One side is set up for all the necessary admin that goes with running a business, while the other is home to my drawing desk, easels and art supplies. If I draw late into the evening, I have a marvellous view from the window of the sun setting behind Lincoln Cathedral. I’m very lucky.

My first two in-person events of the year have already taken place. I was overjoyed that my first outing at the end of March was a return to The WhimsyGoth Market for their Spring-O-Ween event in Camden, which coincided with the re-opening weekend of Hannah Kate Makes. It was lovely to be back in such a friendly space with many traders that I know and to see so many familiar faces in the crowd. We were set-up in the downstairs hall this time around, just next to the café, and saw just as many people as we usually would upstairs. It was a very chilled way to get back out on tour and I came home with some new art for my collection (Iveileth Illustration), plus some hot chocolate (Undeath By Chocolate) and some wax melt treats from The Creepy Cat.

This past weekend we traded for the first time with Out of the Ordinary at their Spring Edition market at Yardbirds Rock Club in Grimsby. It was a new event in a new town for us and I was feeling quite nervous. My trepidation was unnecessary though as the organisers were lovely, fellow traders were fab and all the visitors we chatted with were friendly. I had a great day and snagged myself a gorgeous new fascinator (Peacock Pretties), an exciting new book to read from an indie author (Gemma Owen-Kendall) and dessert from the fabulous Deadly Bakes!

My next event is the Enchanted Curiosities Market in Manchester at the end of April. Another new event and city for our roadshow, but I know more of the other traders at this one and the organiser is a darling. I’m very excited to be a part of this one!  

If you’re on The Spooky List or have been keeping up with my socials, you’ll have seen my most recent Portal Frame: #14, Tia. It was lovely to get back to painting at last! I’m already halfway through creating Portal #15 and hopefully I’ll be able to share that with you soon.

More Tiny Art is also on the way, I hope to take a few more new frames with me to Manchester.

That’s pretty much it for this week’s catch up. Things are finally beginning to fall back into a gentle routine now that I have a studio again.

The Hannah Kate Makes Etsy shop has reopened, as has my wholesale catalogue on Faire. My first commission slots will be made available later this month, once I’ve written the copy for the web page!

As always, the best way to keep updated with all things Hannah Kate Makes is to sign up to The Spooky List and receive emails straight into your inbox. You’ll find the form below.

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Take care and stay spooky. HK x