PERSONAL MEMORY BOX DAY WORKSHOP
I first came across Pippa Ryan a year ago on Instagram. I was fascinated to encounter a 'curator of curious collections'. My curiosity was piqued.
A quick perusal of her website and I discovered that Pippa offers workshops to curate and make your own memory box. Damn, they had all sold out!
You know what they say.... it comes to those who wait, and I patiently waited until very recently when Pippa announced three workshop days. One in April, one in May and one in June. I'm not entirely sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was the first one to book and pay as soon as the workshops were announced in Pippa's newsletter. You can imagine my excitement.
But before I write about the outstanding workshop and show my memory box I made that day, just take a look at some of Pippa's own work in more details. Just stunning.
OKAY, back to the workshop. As soon as I booked and paid I received an email with instructions of how to curate my collection and on what size background it would sit. Pippa is so thorough, that she asks you to send her a photograph of your chosen pieces so she can see if there might be a problem with fixing them to the board.
Then the choosing starts. It took me some time to understand what I wanted my collection to be. I wanted it to be personal, to be full of meaningful pieces I had collected over the years, pieces that meant something to me. Slowly slowly it came together. We were asked to bring more than we could fit, so we could choose once we curated our boards.
The venue was perfect. A bright room with big windows and a lovely view.
Everything was pre-prepared. All tools set out. Then Pippa starts teaching. She is very experienced, passionate about her craft, very generous and extremely helpful. She shares tricks and tips and in the beginning you think you could never do this... but then you learn on the job - so to speak!
We started to curate our own collections and lay them out on the board. It's very important to do this first and get it right.
After a quick lunch, we proceeded with fixing the items on the boards. Some of this can be tricky, but Pippa was there to hold our hands at each stage.
Here's my finished piece. Am extremely happy with it. Tell me, what do you think? It's now with the framers. It will be box framed. Once I get it back I'll add a photo here on the blog.
