Cottage Industry
April 2022
If I just let myself go and think about an ultimate coziest ‘room of one’s own’ (Virgina Wolfe) where I could be a focused creator with sacred solitude, I would choose a shepherd’s hut. The makers of this yellow hut (Gute made in Ontario) are making people’s whimsical and pastoral dreams come true.
What I do have (and am certainly grateful for) is a very small, multi-purpose west facing space with a window. As I lay claim to more of it and make a bit of headway in creating order and better ergonomics, I am feeling this flexible home-based creative way will suit me just fine. Tenderwoods seems very familial and tiny scale—it seems cottage industry-esque.
What is a Cottage Industry?
1 : an industry whose labour force consists of family units or individuals working at home with their own equipment
2 : a small and often informally organized industry
3 : a limited but enthusiastically pursued activity or subject
All apply here to my little enterprise.
My daughter is playing with PicCollage trying to help with logo ideas and is getting bored of stickering gift bags; my son sharing his Schleich toy figure of a seal pup to help me get the details just right. I needle-felt little mushrooms into being while listening to a pod cast.
In pre pandemic counselling, my office work norms involved serious containment of space, client time and calls and all processes that supported the work. Home-based, online counselling work has been a bit fraught for me. Professional formality still required yet I am at home, semi contained with all its potential intrusions and looser boundaries. Now I am dabbling being at home while trying to be very productive—in an informal manner—and with tactile sensory material. While decidedly lighter and flexible on many levels, the new work is wholly mine, surprisingly important to me and is also in need of containment and disciplined focus.
Then comes the incredibly timed newsletter from friend Denise Gasser, visual artist and mother of 4: ‘Studio Hours Give You Superpowers: 5 Easy Ways to Schedule Time for Art. Denise inspires me to keep working at this dance of managing creative time.
For now, this unscheduled moment on a sunny warm Friday evening, where all family members are occupied, is highly welcomed. The sun is just right for the fine detail of a felt fox, a drink is near at hand, and I can settle into my grandma Jean’s well-worn comfy chair and get at what I really want to do.