The residency began on the 2nd of June and the new education centre was still under construction when I arrived so, for the first 6 weeks, I did not have a studio. All my tools, catalogues, reference information and materials were locked in the ancient trunk I sent down and it was kept safely in the post room so I was unable to access all my carefully prepared material.
I used the six weeks without a studio to wander through the eight miles of galleries in the V&A with camera and sketchbook. At the request of the Crafts Council and with lots of help from the computer expert Jonathan, I prepared a lecture that I presented at the New Designers exhibition to new graduates and I contributed to an Emerging Maker Creative Mentoring session in Plymouth with the Crafts Council maker development team.
I also worked in my accommodation preparing models for the various teaching projects using borrowed hand tools, legs of chairs and broom handles and other domestic utensils to wind wire round.
