It is my birthday dear friends and I am going to share 3 things you
may not know about me and my reason for doing what I do : )
no.1. I am 39 years old
Today I am 39 and proud! Cannot wait for the big one next year : )
I am planning to go to India and show my boyfriend why I love that crazy
country so much!
But for this year there is much to focus on right here in sunny Rotherhithe!
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| My 1st birthday. This little girl never liked being told what to do and still doesn't - I was born to run my own business : ) |
People rarely get my age right and I did get ID 'd in Tescos last month! This may sound fantastic to you but I get a bit frustrated by comments like 'so are you a student?'
I feel like I ve already lived two lives in one and I am hopefully only half way through!
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| The secret to looking younger than your true years... regular shoulder or head stands and a veggie diet. |
no.2. I used to have a skin-head
I knew I would be an artist from as early as I can remember, as soon as I could escape from school I went to art college. The path was not smooth and I deviated several times.
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| Me,18 years old and carving breeze blocks. no.3. I used to sell pasties for a living My 9 year gap and business training. While at Uni in Falmouth I accidentally got in to PASTIES! First as the person who shoveled them in to a bag and took your holiday cash. Then helping to set up and run franchises and eventually owned my own Pasty takeaway and coffee-shop. |
I really loved setting up these shops. Starting with viewing the premises, planning the layout, shop fitting, finding a team and training them. All these things having come flooding back to me over the last two weeks with the new new studio.
But after a few years of running my own shop boredom set in. My artistic side became restless and I started looking around for ceramics classes. For several years I attended various local classes and built up a body of work. One brave day, I set in motion the application process for Universities. I was under-qualified but as determined as hell.
My life changed beyond recognition. I swapped my juicy income and mortgage
for student digs and a matching loan!
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| Me and my peers at our Degree show 2003 - 9 years ago! |
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| My Anagama fired degree show pieces. And now I enjoy sharing with other people the skills I learned. It only recently dawned on me that that is why I feel so passionate about accessible adult classes because I could 'nt have changed my life without them. |
If you feel stuck and want to change your life click here for inspiration!
Hank said you were awesome the first time he met you. Kept saying I had to go and talk to you-or at the very least watch you from a distance. To put this in context, we were at Stonor. 2006? I'm guessing. Definitely BR(Before Russell.. Maybe even before boat.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Hank said that you had such a peaceful confidant presence about you with a hundred kids (and parents) running around. But you were just in the middle of it all concentrating on the one kid you were with and giving them the time and space that they needed to learn from what you were showing them.
And you are. An wee inspiration. Happy birthday, Leyla. You are NOW in your 40th year.
Happy Birthday! I'm inspired by all you have done: setting up a shop and then casting it all aside for something less certain - that takes a lot of courage! I also didn't think you were anything like 39, or 40.... I think I'm going to do some shoulder stands now!
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