Recent Interviews

Picture: Juliet making a Panda sculpture.

Juliet, you were a chairman of SEOS, how long were you in post?

Two years, from 2006 to 2007, but I had been helping out the previous chairman Mary Edwards for the year before that.
I had been on the committee on and off before that too. Meetings in those days were very busy. We had to meet fortnightly as there was no e-mail. There was no East Kent membership then either, it was based around Sevenoaks and we all lived reasonably close.

So when did SEOS start?
1996

Were you a founder member?
I wasn’t on the committee at the beginning. SEOS was begun by the Sevenoaks and Tonbridge Wells Arts Officers. They produced and funded our very first brochure. We were one of the earliest Open Studios.
They called it ‘seeding a project’ to encourage its success. It wouldn’t happen the same way today. They had a pretty big input in the second year too. I wasn’t on the committee then but all 46 of us artists were invited by the Arts Officers to meetings where they supplied the wine. They were properly conducted meetings. Everything was new. It was a new idea. We hadn’t heard of Open Studios then. I am astounded that they have spread with such astonishing speed.

So there were two centres?
Yes, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.
It was basically the same idea; exhibiting at your studio or at home. We also held a couple of exhibitions which was reckoned to be a lot of work for the perceived benefit.

What have you got out of doing SEOS over the years?
Well the first time I did it I was flabbergasted at the amount of sales I made. All my neighbours bought things. Actually my neighbours have proved to be loyal buyers. I only got 4 people from the brochure the first time; the others were all my contacts. Gradually that balance has changed. SEOS has always been profitable for me. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t.

Do you find it stressful organising SEOS?
No, I am not a very stressed person and as you get older life seems too short to be stressed- it’s a waste of time.

Do you change your practice for SEOS?
No. In recent times I’ve begun to make things because I want to make them with no thought to saleability. I have found in the past that work done for purely cynical reasons doesn’t pay off. There is something intrinsically lacking. It is lacking in integrity and others recognise it.
I trained as a primary school teacher and I have always been able to teach if I needed money. There was a point where I discovered I was very good at doing portraits, horses and dogs. It became a chore and eventually I went back to teaching. Its very very hard work but I enjoyed it. It was worthwhile. Second rate sculptures are not worthwhile.

I want to SAY something with my sculpture. To me it’s a visual form of writing.
Sometimes as I make something it will become alive. I know people will like it.
It happened with the life-sized tiger I made. I could never sell him and he’s become a local landmark- visible from a path. People complain if I move it.
Around the same time I made giant hares but they never came alive for me in the same way but they sold just like that.

Do you think SEOS has changed a lot?
It still offers the same opportunities it always did. It has become a familiar thing that comes around.
I find it very, very rewarding. People say they like things. Even if they don’t buy one is encouraged. Even when I don’t have many visitors I still enjoy their enjoyment. It’s quite boosting.

I am now 73 but I still want to learn new things. I became an artist by accident. I drifted into it. I never went to art school but loved making things.
I am learning things all the time. I think I must have made every single mistake possible in mould making but I can still make them. I can also still think of new ways of doing them. I really like that.

So what now?
I’ve always made sculpture which is a reflection of my own life; when I had young children sculpting children became a passion.
Now I am interested in doing things that reflect age. I recently did a sculpture of a woman with a wave carrying faces and people away from her; as though her life was receding.
I feel accepting of age but I have noticed I am less interested in selling, it’s boring, a totally different job. I prefer to create but on my own terms.

Are you participating this year?
Not this year but if I have enough new work in the future I probably will.



Many thanks to Juliet for her time.

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