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Simon Sonsino
TEXTUAL: Adjective - Of, or pertaining to text and letterform ART: Noun - The product of imagination and creativity |
A lot has happened since I wrote my first book...the latest being the completion of Textual Art II: Impact & Intrigue
Textual Art came out in 2015 and at that point I had the honour to have been asked to demonstrate at Art in Action (notably the largest arts festival of its kind in Europe). I was then lucky enough to have been asked again in 2016 which sadly turned out to be the last year this ground-breaking festival was to run. Around this time, I had been running workshops and hosting open-studios and selling my work on my website or at small exhibitions and the festival was a great shop window that helped to get my work 'out there'. But once it closed I was left feeling a little flat. My thinking was that I'd need to get on the workshop circuit and travel around the country teaching, but I wasn't really enamoured by the prospect. I love running workshops - it's my favourite thing in the world being in a room of like-minded people sharing ideas and just creating for creating's sake - but the travelling was the less appealing side to the deal.
Then on October 11th 2016 we found out that an Arts & Crafts school was up for sale. Yvonne and I duly went along for the viewing, fell in love with the place and bought the business that is Ardington School of Crafts, based in South Oxfordshire, UK. We run over 300 arts & crafts days a year - including courses by yours truly. I suppose I was now on the workshop circuit, but without the travel - win win, as they say.
I've been a few things in my working life: chef, restaurateur and driving instructor, but running Ardington is the best job I've ever had - it's the hardest for many reasons but easily the most rewarding and the intention to keep growing the business is a long-term one.
Textual Art came out in 2015 and at that point I had the honour to have been asked to demonstrate at Art in Action (notably the largest arts festival of its kind in Europe). I was then lucky enough to have been asked again in 2016 which sadly turned out to be the last year this ground-breaking festival was to run. Around this time, I had been running workshops and hosting open-studios and selling my work on my website or at small exhibitions and the festival was a great shop window that helped to get my work 'out there'. But once it closed I was left feeling a little flat. My thinking was that I'd need to get on the workshop circuit and travel around the country teaching, but I wasn't really enamoured by the prospect. I love running workshops - it's my favourite thing in the world being in a room of like-minded people sharing ideas and just creating for creating's sake - but the travelling was the less appealing side to the deal.
Then on October 11th 2016 we found out that an Arts & Crafts school was up for sale. Yvonne and I duly went along for the viewing, fell in love with the place and bought the business that is Ardington School of Crafts, based in South Oxfordshire, UK. We run over 300 arts & crafts days a year - including courses by yours truly. I suppose I was now on the workshop circuit, but without the travel - win win, as they say.
I've been a few things in my working life: chef, restaurateur and driving instructor, but running Ardington is the best job I've ever had - it's the hardest for many reasons but easily the most rewarding and the intention to keep growing the business is a long-term one.