Studio Snoop: Emily Hankins

A few weeks ago we got the opportunity to snoop around Emily Hankins studio and have a chat with the lady herself.  We've become pretty hungry writing this up so you may want to grab yourself a cup of tea and settle down for an interesting read...

Emily working on a cake

The Dream Kitchen

So, what do you do, and how did you come to do it?

I am a wedding cake designer and I specialise in bespoke, hand painted cakes. Weddings are the main foundation of my business but I am very lucky to also have the chance to create show cakes for photo shoots and magazines.

I have always painted and art is definitely my first love. After studying at Falmouth College of Arts and struggling to find a job in the saturated design world I fell into catering and discovered a huge passion for baking.

After many years pursuing this as a hobby my 'eureka' moment happened whilst creating an epic cake centre piece for my best friends wedding – 120 individual hand painted and completely edible teacups and saucers. I knew that what I was creating was individual and unique, using my strengths as an artist and my cakes as a canvas seemed to catch peoples imagination!

Hand-made edible cupcakes

What are the main inspirations in your work?

I am hugely inspired by colour and pattern and also nature and horticulture particularly. I grew up around flowers and from a very early age could be found sitting in the garden drawing the detailed faces of pansies and petunias. I even considered a career as a florist at one point during childhood but was brought back own to earth with a bump after realising that severe hayfever and flowers just did not mix!

Inspiration and planning

Flowers are often such a huge part of a wedding celebration and it seems only fitting to include them in the cake design. My floral designs are by far my most popular!

I also take inspiration directly from my clients. I find that the brides and grooms who come to me tend to have a specific creative vision and are looking fro someone to work with them to create this. I really enjoy bringing together all of their ideas into one cohesive design in my signature style.

Happy couples enjoying Emily's creations

How do you use  your studio?

My studio is not only a beautiful and inspiring place where I meet with my clients but it is also a fully functioning kitchen were I bake and create my wedding cakes.

After my initial contact with potential clients we meet together in person to discuss their ideas and requirements face to face. We sit around my lovely dining table and chat over tea and cake served on my vintage china tea sets. My clients enjoy this experience and it gives them a chance to see more of my work and to understand a little bit more about me as well as me understanding their ideas!

'Love'

My studio kitchen is a wonderful place to work. I designed and fitted it myself (with a lot of help from my husband) so it is tailor made to suit my needs perfectly. I have cupboards full of cake tins and ingredients and super organised drawers full of brushes and paints so everything has its proper place and can be kept squeaky clean!

Everything has a place

When I am not with clients or busy baking I can be found sitting at my little desk listening to Spotify, drinking tea and sketching out my new cake designs or answering emails!

Working on a cake

What have you got coming up?

This year is shaping up to be my busiest to date and I have lots of exciting wedding cakes to look forward too! I am also really excited to be demoing my skills in front of an audience and writing all about cake for a new national online magazine!

Often the show cakes I create for photo shoots tend to become my favourites to work on as I can push the boundaries of bridal design a little further to create something inspirational! 

If you are a fan of Emily's work, check out her website here.  

Or to make your newsfeed that bit more beautiful follow her Facebook and Twitter.

Studio Snoop: Merryn Tresidder

We are back snopping around and in this installment we are introducing you to Cornish artist Merryn Tresidder. Here are some images from when we went exploring around his lovely studio.

How did you get involved in art?

My involvement in art stems from my mothers bohemian background. Listening to her stories about her aunt, Pip Benveniste, and her mums 'Pink House' in Newlyn, kept an early interest in art alive for me, dad wanted me to study history.

 
Where did you study art?
 
Locally to begin with, my B-Tech teacher Liz Dickenson put me on some programs at the Tate St Ives. This was my informal introduction to the modernists that flourished in Kernow. After that I studied for a BA in Mixed Media Fine Art at The University of Westminster. I loved being in the big city, as a kid I visited regularly, but living there was a very different experience.

What are your main inspirations in your work? 

The overall inspiration behind my paintings is just to explore the medium of paint, using tools and devices that, say, a poet, might use with words, metaphor for example, or maybe even irony. However, since moving back to Kernow, it'd be rude to ignore the countryside and its unique colours. I've defiantly moved away from the inorganic palette I used in the city. Beyond that my inspiration can stem from almost anything. Recently a friend and I have been turning animals into contemporary caricatures, things like chavs and the internet seem to be a common theme at the moment, just because I think the arts (generally) are are good at ignoring them. Maybe deliberately, but I suspect its more to do with the controversy that surrounds them and their lack of aesthetic. I think its fair to say my paintings aren't safe in that respect. 

Are there any new areas of art you wish to explore?
 
Yeah, plenty, I'm just not sure what they are yet. It seems I've always got more ideas to pursue than time or money to pursue them.

How do you find having your own studio?
 
After the small space allotted to me at university, having a space the same size as one I used to share with another 6 people, all to myself is just great. I had a studio in Brent in London for a similar price in my first year after my degree, but it was tiny by comparison. So yeah, to have a view like the one I've got here and to be so close to home is perfect really.
 

How do you tend to use the space?
 
I get up to all sorts of nonsense in my studio. I've had to do small bits of woodwork and painting for my dads windows, build plinths and shelves, I pretend to be a framer sometimes, drawing/doodling happens a lot there, I dance there, cry there and eventually, after walking the dog, get round to some painting there.

You are getting involved with an upcoming exhibition, Can you tell us more about that?
 
Yeah, so my two up coming shows are sort of linked together with the same ridiculous theme of '...throwing traditional ideas of modernity in the rear view mirror of a metaphorical transit van.' that phrase popped up in a brain storming session at the studio with some fellow artists. We liked the idea of 'Transit' as it relates to how we all felt about moving from '...the daunting void of a blank canvas...' to our own unique final products. The shows, named Transit Pt.1 and Pt.2, are both in Kernow, and are my debut shows in the Duchy. Pt.1 will be at the Porthleven Life Boat Gallery on March the 21/22nd, and Pt2 will be at CMR Gallery on Back Lane West in Redruth July 11th to the 14th.

To check out more of Merryn's work visit http://merryntresidder.weebly.com

Studio Snoop: Suzy Sharpe

This is fast becoming one of our favourite bits about blogging!  We get to talk to artists who inspire us and get a unique glimpse into their studios and methods of working.  This month we visited Suzy Sharpe.  You may remember we did a Snoop on Bethany Robinson, well let us introduce you to her Mum...

Suzy and her sweet dog Sausage

After a much needed mug of tea we stepped out into the drizzly November day to Suzys studio, a converted barn in the Cornish countryside. 

The Barn Studio

Her art spills outside into the environment

Can you tell us your story through art so far?

I was born in Manchester and grew up in Stockport,  after school I started a foundation course at Stockport College, but for a variety of reasons didnt complete it.  I then went on to a career in Financial Services until I had children.  We moved to Cornwall in 1995 and since then I have been intermittently studying, Access and Foundation Degree at Cornwall College, BA Fine Art at Plymouth, PGCE and most recently MA Illustration:Authorial Practice at Falmouth. I have exhibited quite widely with the largest show being at the Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre.   I also get involved in projects whenever I can, most recently the Ghosts of Gone Birds 'Live Art Studio' in which we were asked to resurrect extinct species of birds for a day whilst being viewed from a birdwatching hide by members of the public. 

Inside the studio

What are the main inspirations in your work?

Birds, animals and the complex and symbiotic relationship between humans and animals.

A piece in response to the BP oil spill

And nature comes back into the studio

We loved you MA Authorial practice pieces, can you tell us more about this project?

This was the culmination of 2 years of intense study into our relationship with animals.  It seemed the more I looked the more difficult it became to see anything positive in this relationship from the perspective of the animal.  The paintings explored this in often contradictory and damaging relationship as I tried to consider it from the perspective of the animal.  I wanted my humans to walk in the shoes of the animal and I wanted the audience to question what this maybe like, just for a second!  

Read more about Suzy's MA practice here.

We got to see Suzy working her magic on the press

How do you use your studio?

I use my studio as a place to make a mess and not have to tidy up,a place to think, storage space and a place of focus...although it is usually too cold in the winter and I have to retreat to a spare room in the house.

Ready for printing!

Paints and bones 

We loved all the magazines

Throughout the month of November Suzy is taking part in a 30 art challenge where she paints, draws, collages or prints three images a day every day in November. Most of the paintings will be for sale at £30 plus P & P with 1/3 (£10) split between her 3 favourite charities which are Mousehole Bird Hospital, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Compassion in Wild Farming. 

Find out more about Suzy and her artistic practice in Cornwall visit her:

Website

Twitter 

Facebook

Thank you for reading, and remember if you have an artist (or are an artist) whose studio you'd like to snoop on send us a message (midsummernights21@gmail.com) or comment below.

Midsummer Nights on the Air.

Check us out on the Radio!

 
We were privileged enough to be invited on to the 'Cosmic Art Show' at the Source FM in Falmouth to be interviewed about our upcoming event 'An Evening of Art Outdoors'.

This interview took place on Friday the 21st of June at the studios, at which point we were still looking for artists to contribute to our exhibition.

If you would like to listen to the podcast of the show it is available online here:

Cosmic Art Show Guest Interview

 
We were also interviewed live at our event by the 'News Source Show'. Our interview was then played out on their show on Wednesday the 28th of August.

In this interview we discussed how the event itself went as well as our inspirations and the process of putting the show together!

If you would like to hear our interview live from our event the podcast of the radio show is avaliable here:

News Source Show Interview