Your guide to a great day out with the Somerset stars!

Steeped in history and mysticism, with a unique and magical landscape, it is little wonder that Somerset has served to grow, inspire and attract some of history’s best and minds. 

Explore the rugged rural setting for Lorna Doone, climb Jack and Jill’s fabled hill and run like the Beatles across the station platform in A Hard Days Night. Discover your Famous Somerset... (visitsomerset.co.uk)

 

(Courtesy of - visitsomerset.co.uk/site/inspire-me/heritage-touring-map)

The Famous Somerset Guide (see visitsomerset.co.uk/site/inspire-me/famous-somerset) will help you unravel what stirred the emotions of romantic poets and novelists, as well as film directors, business men and women and more, including:

·         S T Coleridge and William Wordsworth

·         J R R Tolkien and John Stienbeck 

·         Hot Fuzz and Elizabeth The Golden Age

·         Deborah Meaden & PJ Harvey

·         Folksy crafters – Artyadz (featured in previous blog entry), booboocraft (featured today) and rosielee and MrsJonesHandMadeJewellery (both coming soon).

Today we’re interviewing Lesley, aka booboocraft, a local Somerset crafter with a shop on Folksy.

 

Please introduce yourself and tell us what brought you to Somerset?
My name is Lesley also known as Booboo hence the name of my shop and business. We moved to Somerset 6 years ago, we had both had high profile jobs and were fed up with the rat race of city living. We sold a large house and down sized to be mortgage free.


Tell us about your chosen craft.
I worked for 7 years as a factory manager in a commercial embroidery factory and then for 12 years in higher education part time teaching and part time technical advice this time with hand, machine and computer embroidery also surface textile and fabric manipulation.
 

 As well as selling through your Folksy shop, can your work be found in any other outlets in Somerset?
I only started Booboocraft last May and have sold through an Artist Studio as a guest Artist and once at a craft fair was also asked to show my embroidered pictures at a gallery not with much success.


Where does your inspiration come from?
As we live on the coast I walk every day along the sea front and find the coastline very inspiring Brean down is also an amazing place to visit.

 

 And finally, what's your favourite place in Somerset and why?
There are so many favorite places in Somerset Burnham on Sea where we live is great as it is like stepping back in time and there are a lot of crafters and artist living locally, I am also very fond of Somerton it's a great little town full of character with a fantastic gallery/shop with brilliant works of art across many different media.

 To visit the booboocraft shop, please visit www.folksy.com/shops/booboocraft.

Going Local in Somerset

This is the first of a mini series looking at what Somerset, described as ‘the jewel of the South West’ (visitsomerset.co.uk), has to offer both visitors and locals alike.  What is evident is that the local craft scene is thriving and that Somerset is the perfect place to be!

Destination Somerset

What do people know about Somerset?  Most will have heard of the Glastonbury Festival (which takes place at Worthy Farm, near Pilton Village just up the road from Glastonbury).  Or they may know it as a place on the map which they pass through on their way to Devon and Cornwall.

Exmoor National Park (visitsomerset.co.uk)

 

Somerset is a destination of epic scenery, dramatic coastline, stunning English countryside seaside resorts and historic places set deep in the heart of the South West of England.  (visitsomerset.co.uk).

Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (visitsomerset.co.uk)

 

Going Local

Mosaic Tree is based in Somerset.  Following some research on Folksy (www.folksy.com), the UK based crafters website, it appears that there is as a thriving community of Somerset-based crafters.  All offer something very different and, over the next few weeks, you can get to meet some of them through the Mosaic Tree blog.

Artyadz

First up is an interview with Adam from Artyadz.

Please introduce yourself and tell us what brought you to Somerset?

Hello, my name is Adam Regester. I have been an artist and a crafts person all my life. I studied in London and have a Masters in Design and Design Management from Central St. Martins College. I recently spent 8 years living and working in Spain but have now returned to be near my family who live in Wells and Somerton.

"Love in a Box" - Funky abstract mixed media, original heart painting.  Tell us about your chosen craft.
My work has many contrasts because I enjoy a variety of crafts. I taught interior design, display, prop making and textiles in London colleges so I have a variety of skills and find it hard to stick to one thing. I have just started knitting and I love it! I studied recycling at university and I think that some of these elements are still visible in my work in the way that my pieces are built up in layers. This is most obvious in my papier mache items. My art work also illustrates this and I love to use mixed media and collage.
As well as selling through your Folksy shop, can your work be found in any other outlets in Somerset? My work is currently only for sale on line or by visiting me in person although I am intending to do some craft fairs this summer. I have two on line shops and my own web page plus a site which sells my paintings as prints. [see end of interview for where you can buy Adam’s work]

 Where does your inspiration come from?

"Mosaic Reflections" - An original abstract painting created using texture medium, paint, metal foils and varnish to create a mosaic effect.

My inspiration comes from great artists such as Gustav Klimt and Picasso and also from Mother Nature. I love painting landscapes and flowers and am greatly influenced by the beautiful landscapes of Somerset. I live near Glastonbury and recently created a mixed media landscape which included the Tor. I am going to paint a series of wild flowers and hedgerows this spring.
And finally, what's your favourite place in Somerset and why? I love the small traditional villages around Somerset such as Somerton. They are small, friendly and welcoming and Somerton has some lovely examples of local crafts in its galleries.
Adam’s work can be found at the following locations on line:

Folksy - http://www.folksy.com/shops/artyadz
Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/artyadz?ref=hdr
www.adamregester.com
Prints - http://www.redbubble.com/people/adamregester
Blog - http://artyadz.blogspot.com/
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/ARTIST-Adam-Regester-MA-CSM-PGCert-Ed/90443956273

"Fine Art Paper Bowl in Lilac and Silver"