21: Creating in all its forms, from chocolate to canvas with Aisleigh Anne
Release Date: 02/14/2025
30: Brand New Friend with Elaine Dye
An Art To It
In this solo episode of An Art to It, I share my experiences of creating a brand identity for myself. Why am I doing that you might ask. Last year I realised that I really needed to set up a separate website as a home for the online courses I run, and for this podcast too. I wanted the Byre Gallery to concentrate on doing what it’s supposed to do, showcase our exhibitions and the beautiful work we feature in the gallery, and can be the home for everything else. As I talk a lot about the importance of branding in my course: An Insider’s Guide to Gallery Success I do quite a lot of reading...
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29: Glass Ceilings (and how to fire through them) with Caroline Reed
An Art To It
In Episode 29, I’m delighted to be chatting to Caroline Reed, a London-based glass artist working in the exquisite and lesser-known technique of pâte de verre. Caroline shares the extraordinary story of her transition from a career in science and leadership development to a deeply creative life as a glassmaker, her third career, and one she treats with both passion and professionalism. Caroline reflects on her journey into glass, from her early love of art and materials to the moment she found her medium in pâte de verre, drawn to its delicacy, tactility, and potential for layering and...
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28: A Cut Above with Claire Brewster
An Art To It
For many artists, despite having an idea of what you want to create, sometimes the work finds you. For Claire Brewster it was a love of paper, a passion for the freedom of birds… and some handy foam board and pins that sparked her creative practice. Twenty years on from her ‘eureka’ moment, her exquisitely detailed paper birds, hand-cut from vintage maps are in art private and public art collections, hotels and cruise ships all over the world. Our lively conversation spans Claire’s creative journey—from her early fascination with paper, through art college, experimentation and...
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27: Curating and Creating with Judi Green
An Art To It
We have a double delight in this week’s episode of An Art to It: a painter who is also a gallery owners, as I’m joined by Judi Green—painter, curator, and co-director of Cornwall’s Tregony Contemporary, a gallery she runs with her husband Brian Green. Judi is a rare and inspiring creative—an accomplished artist in her own right, and someone who brings the same care, clarity, and commitment to nurturing the careers of other artists through her gallery. In our very entertaining chat Judi share’s her early career in advertising where she she was one of very few female art...
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26: The joy of clay: exploring light and form, and building a business with Amy Frankie Smith
An Art To It
In this episode of An Art to It, I’m joined by Amy Frankie Smith, a ceramic artist and designer whose stunning porcelain lighting and fluid watercolour paintings bring together texture, translucency, and an undeniable sense of place. Amy’s journey into ceramics began with a degree in 3D Craft at the University of Brighton, followed by hands-on experience in architectural ceramics for conservation. But despite an academic and industry-focused path—including a Winston Churchill Fellowship that took her to New York and Chicago—Amy found herself longing for a more personal creative...
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25: From Fashion Dreams to Crafting an Arts Legacy with Laura Wasley
An Art To It
Shaping a fresh brand identity is something a younger Laura Wasley might have envisioned—but back then, it would have been for a major fashion house rather than an arts venue and educational charity. Now CEO of the prestigious Make South West, Laura originally set her sights on becoming a buyer for the iconic London store Harvey Nichols, leading her to study fashion. After a brief stint in visual merchandising at GAP and running her own clothing store, her career took a different turn—one that merged creativity with education. Laura joined Arts University Plymouth, https://www.aup.ac.uk/...
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24: Defining success with Nikki Mosley
An Art To It
Nikki Mosley’s stunning paintings - whether her cool, pale and elegant beach scenes or her passionate pink skies - do feel quintessentially Cornish. And that’s no surprise as Nikki lives and works on the Cornwall coast. But it was the other side of the Atlantic where Nikki’s first seriously began her creative journey. After following her husband and his career across the globe, a posting to Houston in Texas allowed Nikki to finesse family commitments with art college. In this episode of An Art to It Nikki and I chat about her journey to becoming a full time artist. From unfinished art...
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23: Many creative threads with Claire Stockings-Baker
An Art To It
When you have an artistic eye and a talent for creativity you are often blessed with being able to use this skills in different ways, and Claire Stockings-Baker is a perfect example of a multi-disciplinary artist. Sculptural silver jewellery is what Claire is best known for as an artist, but her creative career started in costume design, and print making and painting are still a big part of her life. In our lovely chat - which as fellow dog lovers didn’t actually focus too much on our four-legged friends - Claire shares the creative path that fate as well as passion has taken her...
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22: Finding the right catalyst with Kerry Louise Bennett
An Art To It
Sometimes a guiding hand is all that is needed to kick start you on a particular path or career, and sometimes fate delivers that in an unexpected way. Visual artist Kerry Louise Bennett knew that she wanted to pursue a career as a painter but it didn’t seem quite achievable; then prompted by misremembering a comment from a friend, she picked up a book in a second hand shop by hypnotist and self-improvement guru Paul McKenna https://www.paulmckenna.com/ called ‘Change your Life in Seven Days’ and focused on achieving the life she wanted to live. Five years on, she is living that...
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21: Creating in all its forms, from chocolate to canvas with Aisleigh Anne
An Art To It
If you could pick the ideal medium to create your art work what would it be? Oil paint, charcoal, … or chocolate? Although painting had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember, it was as a chocolatier that Ashleigh Anne first found creative professional success. In our lovely chat, Aisleigh shares her love of creating in all its guises and how following in her family's footsteps into the restaurant and catering world didn’t mean she turned her back on her artistic skills. Encouraged by her grandmother, she excelled at cakes and confectionery and before long was...
info_outlineIf you could pick the ideal medium to create your art work what would it be? Oil paint, charcoal, … or chocolate? Although painting had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember, it was as a chocolatier that Ashleigh Anne first found creative professional success.
In our lovely chat, Aisleigh shares her love of creating in all its guises and how following in her family's footsteps into the restaurant and catering world didn’t mean she turned her back on her artistic skills. Encouraged by her grandmother, she excelled at cakes and confectionery and before long was opening a chocolate shop and cafe where her elaborate wedding cakes were much in demand.
Aisleigh reveals that working in the somewhat relentless pressure of the hospitality industry took its toll on her mental health. A decision to reprise her love of painting and to go to art college to pursue that sadly added to the stress rather than relieving it. But moving away from the chocolate business and finding solace in new jobs in gardening and fitness helped; and then finally a move from Devon over the border to Cornwall made Aisleigh determined to follow her artistic dreams.
We chat about Aisleigh’s work, her inspirations and desires for her practice and how having run her cafe has given her insights into the skills she needed to bring to her creative business.
Aisleigh also shares that having had her own issues with anxiety has inspired to create art especially for those in need of a tranquil and calming focus.
You can see Aisleigh’s art on her website https://www.aisleighanneart.com/ and on instagram she is @aisleighannecornwallart
Aisleigh also talked about taking part in the course I offer to artists and makers - An Insider’s Guide to Gallery Success. It’s back this April with a bit of a makeover and some exciting new content, to join the waitlist so you’ll be the first to hear, and get a 10% discount on any course purchased, please visit https://thebyregallery.co.uk/pages/courses-and-coaching