Colour on the Moors - The Psychedelic Sheep of Fleecy Sunshine

The colourful sheep of Fleecy Sunshine have their home at one of our CADS studios. Elizabeth Crossley and Paul Sewell are two of the very talented artists of our community. Here, Elizabeth tells us a bit more about her art.

by Roxana Soica / 29 July 2015

Rainbow Ram and Son by Elizabeth Crossley

Hello, Elizabeth and thank you for finding the time to have a chat with me. Tell me, first, when did you and Paul discover your passion for painting and sculpture?

I went to Sheffield Art College for five years many years ago and I did Sculpture for my main subject. I was very passionate about it but it was very difficult to continue while also bringing up two children.

Paul, on the other hand, has only started painting just over a year ago. He used to run a pub and had never done any painting in his life before.

Old Church. Lubeck in Winter by Paul Sewell

 It is quite impressive to see Paul’s works now, knowing that he has no formal training and is very much new to this whole thing. He’s still very much in the learning process, Elizabeth tells me. But then again, she ponders, I suppose we never stop learning when it comes to painting and the arts.

When did you take over the studio at CADS?

Well, I live in a flat and, about three years ago when my son came back home, I had no room to paint anymore and I decided to take the studio. He is now gone, but I am still keeping it, because it’s a space just for me and it’s so nice and quiet! I go to there about twice a week, sometimes three times, but I also run some art groups for adults (see below for times) and take care of my grandson so I am kept fairly busy.

Tell me a bit more about you as an artist. What artists do you admire? What medium do you prefer?

I really like Claude Lorrain and Picasso. I also like sculpture very much. As for a prefered medium, I think it would be watercolours and acrylics. I have done lots of watercolours, as well as oils – and I did make some little sculptures as well. Nowadays I do acrylics mainly because they are light to move around (as I don’t drive) and because they don’t need framing.

Piccadilly Sheep by Elizabeth Crossley

What about your subject matter? Why the sheep?

I was born in London and we moved up here when I was about seven years old. When we arrived here, I was absolutely taken with the sheep on the moors and being able to go and feed them. I had seen nothing like that in the middle of London… and that was it, really. I suppose I’ve always liked sheep.

I used to do more traditional paintings – things like snow scenes with sheep and so on – and I still can do them, but at some point I decided to try and develop it into something different. Then, a few years ago, I did my first painting of multicoloured sheep. I entered the Great Sheffield Art Show and I won the Octagon Prize. I was so thrilled! And I suppose that’s what’s kept me going!

I guess you can’t keep any sheep since you said you live in a flat, but have you any pets at all?

I love animals! Unfortunately I’m not allowed to have dogs in my flat but I do have a little goldfish in an aquarium.

Colour Blind by Elizabeth Crossley

Elizabeth’s work has been exhibited at the Bradfield Art & Craft Fair, Art in the Gardens (at the Sheffield Botanical Gardens), as well as the Great Sheffield Art Show. 

She also runs art groups at the following locations:

Wood Lane Countryside Centre, Stannington

Mon (9-12): Painting for Pleasure 

Mon (7-9 pm): Structured Course

Christ Church, Manchester Road, Stocksbridge

Tues (10-12): Painting for Pleasure

St Mary's Church Hall, South Road, Walkley

Wed (10-12): Structured course

Visit www.fleecysunshine.com to view and purchase Elizabeth and Paul's artwork.

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From 0 to 92,000 in Under Three Years: The Media Directory

We sat down with Rob Hirst of The Media Directory to talk about the creative industries, starting your own business and the enterprising community around Sheffield. Here's what he shared with us about the exciting journey that The Media Directory has carried him through.

by Roxana Soica / 29 Apr 2015

When did it all start? What was the preamble to this brilliant idea?

It was around September 2012 that I was about to turn 30 and was working for an engineering firm while also trying to be a musician. I had a lot of friends who were artists, actors, photographers, all working or aspiring to work creative jobs. I, too, had a degree in Media Studies - which, in all honesty, hasn't really been of much use.

There were redundancies at the company I was working at and I wanted to leave because I had been there for 10 years. There was a lot going on - I was also paying for a rehearsal room, practising with the band, writing on my own, and then I just had enough. I decided it wasn't getting me anywhere. I felt as though my time was finished and it was time to help others.

How did you decide that this was what you wanted to offer as a business?

I was aware of other businesses in the sector because I was using their services. I did believe that their services were extortionate, though. I would pay £100 a month for subscription fees to try and get into the music industry as a songwriter, and it just seemed ridiculous…  And a lot of the jobs advertised were fake and I just thought – ‘Right, I wonder if I can do anything myself’.

There was a two-week period where I just thought, ‘I've got to do something’ – so I did some research, set up a twitter account and started re-tweeting all these different companies in different areas. I got about a thousand followers in three weeks.

What surprised you about how it evolved?

It was always exciting launching it – that was the key thing. At the time I used to watch The Apprentice and Dragons’ Den and read all these blogs about businesses starting out and never getting to see their product out there. When it launched, I had built a following on Twitter of about 25,000 and in the first week the website had about 500 views. Needless to say, I was devastated. I couldn’t believe it! I was so naïve to think that all those people on social media would come straight to the website. That was a big shock, but also an exciting time. I thought ‘Here we go’.

How do you feel about the start-up/business community in Sheffield?

One of the highlights of this journey was being able to work with a few other Sheffield companies. I’ve been engaged with the start-up community in the last two-three years while I was building my site and I’ve found it to be incredible. I went to a few enterprise group sessions and I learned about taxes and HMRC, how to market your business and things like that. I had already read about all of that, but it was nice to have other people to talk to, who were all at the various points in their journey. I find that the Sheffield start-up community has developed a lot in the last few years. CADS has been around for about three years now, and Union Street just opened, too.

What do you prefer in terms of working space? Open or individual?

I think the co-working thing is a great idea, especially in the creative industry, and Sheffield has a lot of small businesses that wouldn’t exist without the connection that a communal working space provides. And at the same time it’s great to be part of CADS and have a space here. Even though I’m not working with them, it’s nice to be under the same roof with so many artists and creative people – it’s about the environment.

Do you come in at CADS like you would in an office? As in, you come from home, you do your work here and then when you're done you go back home? 

I do it all day and I do it all night – it’s crazy and it’s very exciting at the same time!I almost spent 14 hours a day, 7 days a week on the website. It’s become like an obsession, it just drives you on.

Finally, would you have a piece of advice for others starting their business?

Never give up! It’s really easy to give up and looking back at my bank account along the last two-three years, I could have given up a long time ago. If you believe in something and know that if you get to a certain point it will work, and if you do your research, have a solid business plan and you know your market, you should be fine – and you should just go out and do it.



Follow The Media Directory on Twitter @mediadirectory1 and Facebook to find out about the newest jobs in the Arts and Media industries.

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Who's playing? Oh no not them!

Billy (guitar&vocals), Dan (bass guitar) and Chris (drums) have managed to come up with what might be the best band name in history. In their words, OHNONOTTHEM are "South Yorkshire's premier post-angular technical grindpop trio" while ironically, none of them are from South Yorkshire. However, their brand of infectious, upbeat punk rock is definitely rooted in the South Yorkshire's Sheffield DIY scene.

by Roxana Soica / 14 Apr 2015 

The band have been playing in their present formula for about two years and they took on a studio at CADS about a year ago, when playing in their basement was no longer an option. They've performed in their CADS home at The Cucumber Lounge, a night of art and music by Sheffield Art Forge, as well as in other venues around Sheffield, like The Bell Jar and South Sea.

Originally, OHNONOTTHEM took on the studio at CADS, and along came two other bands: Ditch and Juxtamahpigeon (Billy's 'floaty' folk side project). It took us a while to get used to the studio, but now we're using it more so that's really good. They're all working on various things at once - Dan is currently cooking up a surf-y concoction with Ditch members Josh and Dave. We already have half a set and should have a full one around June, when we want to record it. Juxtamahpigeon will probably be recording something as well, since they've been gigging a lot lately.

As none of them are genuine northerners, I thought I'd ask what they appreciate about the music around here. It's really good to be part of the Sheffield art scene, especially when you have these spaces like The Audacious Art Experiment, The Lughole, TyeDie Tapes - and they're all pretty unofficial. We also share the studio with a number of different bands and we have various side-projects. We've recently recorded an EP with Ben Hunter at The Audacious and we're pretty excited to start gigging soon.

To buy and listen to GIZAGIG, head down to their Bancamp site. You'll find them under the tags "post-angular" and "technical grindpop". Well, not really. They explain:

We asked somebody to describe our music and they came up with this ridiculously long description. They were like "oh, it's post-hardcore technical punk" and we kinda just varied that and went along with it as a joke (laughs). We might have to get rid of it because people keep taking it seriously... but yeah, it is funny. It's just a punk rock band, really.

If you want to enjoy OHNONOTTHEM's refreshingly chaotic sets LIVE, they're playing this week!

The Green Room  on Wednesday 15th April - get your tickets straight from the band via their Facebook Page
The Rocking Chair's first anniversary party on Friday 17th April 

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