Small Business Spotlight
This month, we spoke to Custard4gravy, an illustrator and printmaker from Bradford, West Yorkshire.
How did you start Custard4Gravy? And how did you come up with the name? I wanted a funny name, one that hopefully people would remember. I’ve used Custard4gravy on and off for at least 15 years, if not longer. I use it mainly for my handcrafted items, but in the past I’ve also done paintings, model making and custom toy designs under the name. I came up with the name whilst working in a greeting card studio in Skipton, many moons ago… I was working on a range of cute children characters, they had blobby hair, it looked like they had, had custard dropped on them, I called them Custard-heads (probably with a ‘z’, I know, but I was young). It was about this time, I was starting to do craft stalls, and exhibitions and didn’t think my own name was going to get me noticed. It must have been a meal time, but I seem to recall, thinking to myself what if swapped the gravy for the custard? That’s daft, but it would sweeten everything up (and also taste disgusting, but hey!) and in a roundabout kind of way that’s where the name Custard4gravy came from. It’s daft. No, I never have eaten custard on my mains, but, the name doesn’t get forgotten often. In the last year, online store. So Custard4gravy was dragged out again Can you take us through the process of creating a print, as it’s quite a labour-intensive process? The thing I love about printmaking is it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Everyone can do it. In fact, most of us have, even if it’s only a potato print at school. I mostly enjoy etchings in my tiny home studio too. It usually starts with an idea, maybe something I’ve seen on a walk, read about or seen on TV. This gets turned into a sketch, sometimes with a pencil and paper, other times straight onto my iPad. It will probably change a few times till I’m happy with it. Then I print it out to the right size, transfer it onto it gets carved out, this is the time consuming bit. Once that is done, it can be inked up and printed.
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What’s your favourite part about doing prints? I think what I love most about linocuts is the mindfulness it gives me when I’m carving the design out. I’m not really thinking about anything else at that point. Of course I love sharing my designs with people, and getting lovely feedback is amazing. I realised quite recently that if I love what I do, and don’t worry too much about trying to please other people, that enjoyment seems to carry through into the artwork, and I hope that people can see that, and take their own enjoyment from it. Is there anything you want to continue the voice on right now? people. I’d like to think that it has made people think about others a bit more, and appreciate what we have, no matter how small. Everything can change in an instant, but sometimes change is necessary. And as our issue’s theme is health, what little things do you do to stay healthy? I’m not the healthiest of people; I’ve had medical issues in the past, and this last year I’ve had to work from home. Sitting in front of a computer all day, especially in winter, has made it harder to exercise. I do love long walks in the countryside, watching nature do its thing. I try to get out as much as I can. But, health isn’t just physical. I’m lucky I can escape into my studio and daydream about otters, hummingbirds or geckos whilst printmaking. I think spreading happiness, learning to laugh and smile is just as important as a long walk. Spend a few minutes alone, make time for yourself. Sit in the garden, or a park, listen to the birds sing. Things are not as bad as they seem. Instagram or at his Etsy shop under the name Custard4gravy. Interview by Grace Balfour-Harle
