proud moment at work!

Just a real quickie... just been looking at the paintings (on our website) that I've been hanging this evening for our next exhibition at work - and I'm just so proud to be showing his paintings, I love it and just have to share it!

I know it probably won't be everyone's cup of tea (what art is?!) but I love it and am SO excited to be showing his work, and I'm really proud of what the team and I have achieved tonight, the gallery looks lush!

If you fancy it, take a look - its Benjamin Warner - click the link on our homepage....

http://www.beside-the-wave.co.uk/index.htm

C x

Rant Rant Blush Smile!

I think i'm just in an angry mood today.  Anybody else get days like that?  Its just been a non-stop "one of those days".  Still angry at someone who tried to scam me the other night.  I got all excited when I discovered an email from someone saying they'd seen my Chunky Rustic Gemstone Necklace on Etsy (£150) and would like to buy it.  They asked a couple of questions like what condition it was in, did I accept payment through Paypal etc and what the final asking price was.  It all seemed pretty normal, I'm used to being asked to negotiate the price of paintings at work, so didn't think too much of that.  I wrote a long reply and was surprised to get an email replying almost immediately....and then my heart sank.

"Thanks for the respond,i am an oceanographer and am currently on the sea at the moment, i am buying the item as a gift for my Mum,i want to make it a surprise gift for her,she won't know anything about the gift until they get delivered to her so i want you to reassure me that the item is in good condition as you have described. I can only pay through PayPal. So please kindly get back to me immediately so i can proceed with the payment and after the payment has been done,i have a pick up agent that will come around to pick the Item up immediately after payment as i have told you i have an agent that will come over for the shipment so you don't have to bother your self about shipping,all i will need from you now is your PayPal email,phone number and the address where pick up is going to take place with the final asking price, so i can book shipping with my agent before making the payment for you

FULL NAME: 

PAYPAL EMAIL:

FINAL PRICE: 

PICKUP  ADDRESS: 

PHONE NUMBER

 I look forward to hear from you soon 

Regard."

I immediately suspected something fishy, but just couldn't bring myself to not reply on the small off-chance it was genuine... I simply replied with my shop rules, saying that I could not arrange pick-up and would only send items recorded through Royal Mail and only after payment had cleared in my account etc, but that I was happy to gift wrap the item for her supposed mother and send it to an alternative address.

Funnily enough I haven't heard anything from them since.  Up until that point I was having a good day for my jewellery - got my statement from work saying how much I'll be paid this month for my jewellery sales, sold two pendants and received payment for a customer order - I really thought I was on a roll when that email initially came through!  Talk about anticlimax!!!  Ah well...I'm not knocking my sales though, it was a good day!

Karma came back round in my favour tonight though when I came home to an email from Violet at the "Etsy Stalker" website saying she had featured the very same necklace on her most recent post. Its a really lovely little review, short but sweet, and just what I needed to see tonight :)
To see her post - inspired by the colours in her bruise(!) - click this link:  http://etsystalker.com/2012/02/15/shades-of-purple/#comment-61051

So thanks to Violet and all at Etsy Stalker, you have restored my faith in internet shopping and socialising and put a nice big smile back on my face!  :)

Cx

...a little bit about me...

Ok, here we go, I promised you a little peek into my world, so hope you're sitting comfortably & have a nice cuppa or some chocolate handy!

Well, the beginning seems a sensible place to start...

I grew up in the Cotswolds (in the UK) and lived in a rural little village and had a wonderful childhood, learning about plants, animals, the environment and anything & everything else I could cram into my little head!  This fantastic upbringing really set me up for my life with a love and respect for the environment, which has fed into practically every aspect of my life.

When I was 16 and went to college I discovered Photography in my second year and fell in love... this became my passion, which led me to an Art Foundation Year after completing college, specialising in Photography.  A trip to Krakow (Poland) in the middle of winter and experimenting and working for hours on end in the darkroom with toners & all sorts of chemicals, and trying out anything and everything with the support and encouragement of superb tutors resulted in one of the most exciting and creative years of my life so far.
This in turn inspired me to move to Cornwall to study a BA degree in Photography at UCF (University College Falmouth) - then the MA postgraduate degree, which really helped cement my practice and theory [and get me in a bit more debt! ;)].

As a practical soul, I knew I needed a regular job, and largely by chance ended up getting a job in a local picture framers, which I loved.  After a while I became a specialist framer, doing all the fiddly or delicate jobs... some of my favourite jobs were heirlooms from a favourite aunt/granny, a collection of old army medals that belonged to someone's Granddad, and very old & valuable artworks (my most memorable ones were by Dame Laura Knight and Charles Napier Hemy).  Amazing things to be involved in!

My next venture took me to where I am today... I saw an opportunity to work full-time in a local and well respected art gallery and jumped at the chance - I have become their Gallery Supervisor, and am constantly surrounded by incredible artworks and locally made jewellery & ceramics.  We are constantly putting up new exhibitions so it's a very dynamic place to work.

It is over these last few years that I have started to take my jewellery-making more seriously - I have always been making craft work - cards, jewellery, textiles etc since I was little, and mainly made jewellery as I got older, but it was when I discovered Gemstone beads that I got really passionate about it - and I haven't looked back since.

I now sell my jewellery at the gallery where I work (Beside The Wave Gallery http://www.beside-the-wave.co.uk/) in Falmouth, The Picture House Gallery (http://www.picturehousegalleries.co.uk/) in Padstow, and also through online stores Folksy (http://folksy.com/shops/catwhitworth), Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/CatkinsDesigns) and Two Red Trees (http://tworedtrees.co.uk/) - a new website to promote hand-crafted items in Cornwall.

So that's me really... I love living in Cornwall, working with artists and artworks, taking photographs & making jewellery from beautiful natural gemstones... its all very rewarding and keeps me busy - I can't stand having nothing to do!  (Can you tell?!)

...and now I've decided to write a blog... I must be mad!

x

Post #1!!

Well well well... here I am... finally doing something I've been thinking about for ages but simultaneously justifying putting it off for one reason or another....  I've finally plucked up the courage to just get on with it and start my blog!  The first is always the hardest, right?  ;)

I want this page to be mostly about the creative things I make - primarily my jewellery and also my photography (more on that later) :  ~  a place where I can show new things I've made, share new ideas and inspirations, & inevitably very occasionally ramble on about totally unrelated things that are buzzing around my head!!


You may already know a bit about what I do, but I figured its always nice to find out a bit more about 'the person behind the page'.... So, if you're interested, my next post will hopefully be a little window into my world & introduce myself really!
I remember my parents evenings when I was at school, there was a reoccurring comment from teachers - and fundamentally I clearly haven't changed..."Catherine works very hard but does chat quite a lot"!

So hopefully you will enjoy my blog, I can't promise to post every day or even every week, but I will try and keep it interesting and hope we can enjoy having a natter along the way!


Thank you for popping by, and hello!

C x