{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"41: Creative Hands, Bold Moves with Franca Westaway","description":"In this week\u2019s episode of An Art to It, I chat to artist I talk to the multi-talented Franca Westaway - an artist, designer, educator and all-round creative force. Franca\u2019s work spans textiles, ceramics, teaching, painting, mural commissions - and a deep commitment to following her creative instincts wherever they lead. We talked about her early love of fashion and textiles, and how she pivoted from working in the London fashion industry to teaching art and then building her own surface pattern business. She shares how creating bold work helped her resist the \u201cinvisibility cloak\u201d that can come with middle age, and why she\u2019s not interested in following a conventional business model if it means compromising her values. Franca opens up about the ethical challenges of mass production, the environmental questions that surface in her creative decisions, and how she\u2019s now moving into small-batch ceramics that are unapologetically personal and hand-painted \u2014 even if they aren\u2019t \u201cconvenient\u201d to scale. We also talk about the many hats a creative has to wear \u2014 from bookkeeper to social media manager \u2014 and how being open to possibility and saying yes has shaped her journey. As ever, it's a rich, honest, and inspiring conversation about finding your own rhythm and way of doing business in a creative life. Franca references some fellow creatives whose work and ethos inspires her:  https:\/\/idknitthatco.com\/ https:\/\/www.rachaeltaylordesigns.com\/ https:\/\/annahaymandesigns.com\/ You can see Franca\u2019s work on Instagram @Francawestaway23 and her website is francawestaway.com    ","author_name":"An Art To It","author_url":"https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/539737","html":"