Makers Dozen - Q & A with Susie Hetherington

Welcome to the Makers Dozen. We ask a Guild member a dozen quickfire questions about their life as a maker.

Today we talk to textile artist Susie Hetherington.

Susie is a pattern and printmaker, devoted to bringing to life designs that celebrate the natural world. 

Which three words best describe your work?

Detailed, intricate, imperfect

How long have you been a maker?

I have been a maker for about 13 years. I am trained as a graphic designer but a took a more hands-on approach to designing after having children. I was drawing more and tried lino printing to take these drawings further. My love of pattern, combined with lino printing, has resulted in the work I make today, and I am completely in love with the process.

What is the best part of your process?

All my work is based on details from nature, and gathering inspiration for my work comes very easily; I see things I want to draw and carve every day, just walking the dog or being outside generally. But my favourite part is playing with pattern, bringing shapes together. The possibilities are endless and this process of experimentation is very absorbing. I love drawing and I love carving. I have a love/hate relationship with the printing bit, depending on whether it is going well.

What is the hardest part of your process?

Like so many makers, I find promoting what I do and the money/business side of things, the least intuitive and enjoyable part of what I do. I wish I didn’t have to engage with it at all. 
Do you have a favourite book about your craft?
It isn’t directly about my craft, but a book I return to regularly is ‘The Bookplates and Badges of C.F.A Voysey.’ It is probably because I love Voysey patterns and he epitomises Arts and Crafts style to me, but also this particularly emblematic work connects with my graphic design side. I used to specialise in branding and 
packaging when I had a graphic design agency, and a beautifully crafted identity or emblem therefore appeals to me very much.

What are you reading?

I have recently read ‘Craftland’ by James Fox, which I highly recommend. Every chapter introduces a master craftsperson and their work, which often describes an endangered craft. Often the craftsperson is the last remaining expert in Britain. It is a fascinating read and a book I will revisit. It is a reminder that making things slowly, and with skill, is an approach that should be preserved.

What is your favourite film?

I don’t think I have one. There are many films I have seen repeatedly but I am not sure I would want to name them. I am a bit of a sucker for period dramas, even the poorly acted ones. My family thinks I like anything emotional, and claim someone must be tragically dying, or facing severe adversity, for me to like a film. They might be right!

What do you listen to in your studio?

One of the things I love about my making work is that I can listen to music, radio, or podcasts without losing concentration on what I am doing with my hands. I listen to a real mixture, according to my mood. Recently I have enjoyed the podcast ‘Strangers on a Bench’ with Tom Rosenthal; it is a glimpse into someone else’s life for a moment, and it is very absorbing.

What one thing would improve your life as a maker?

I would love for there to be more guidance and shared understanding of how to price work. I don’t feel like I am ever confident in discussing money and am always torn between charging what reflects my time, versus a complete guess of what it might sell at. I suppose I am imagining an online tool for makers and their clients that could help make things more universally understood and less subjective, to help price work with confidence.

What is the best piece of advice you have received?

A friend reminded me once that I was allowed to think of myself as an artist. Because I come from a more commercial graphic design background where all my work was in response to a client brief, I was very used to a budget, feedback, amends, and approval. Most of my work is self-directed and I suppose the approval I seek is linked to whether it sells, which is less direct and reliable. I am often reluctant to promote my artwork because I am still hesitant at calling myself an artist, and although the work spills out of me without the need for a client brief, I get imposter syndrome without that direct designer/client relationship. My friend’s advice reminds me to stop overthinking it; be an artist, make the work that is in you, and see who it speaks to later. I am still learning if I can do this in practice.

What is the question you are asked the most?

When people see my more intricate, larger lino blocks people always ask how long it took me to carve, but I don’t know. I lose all sense of time when I am absorbed in carving, and the truth is, I don’t want to time and record how long it takes. I am sure it takes too long to make good business sense, but that isn’t why I do it. So, I keep myself partially, and blissfully, ignorant.

Life as a maker can be challenging, what keeps you going?

The seasons… my work is entirely inspired by nature and every time the seasons change, I am motivated to draw/capture it. This is now so much part of my life, I would do it whether it was my means to earning a living or not.

Thank you, Susie!

Follow Susie's blog on Substack here .