Comfy Frog Home & Garden
On April 29th, a day that epitomised April showers, with beautiful spring sunshine frequently being doused by swift downpours, I made my way out of Banbury town, along Southam Road, heading towards Upper Boddington. My ultimate destination was Comfy Frog, a home and garden business run by Liz Dixon. All I knew was she created sculptures, and also taught visitors to do the same, but beyond that this was a visit of mystery.
Even the route from Banbury to the quaint village nestled deep in the farmland that surrounds the Banbury area was new to me. My ability to drive was only acquired a few years ago, so before that I rarely left the confines of Banbury town, and had no reason to venture into the surrounding villages. I'm a little nervous about single track roads, but successfully navigated the winding lanes that led from the main road to Upper Boddington. I had arrived! But where? Or perhaps when? I felt as if I had arrived in the England of the 50's or 60's, when life was less hectic. Pulling into a wide gravel driveway, I immediately felt at ease, getting a sense that nothing bad could possibly happen in an area such as this.
As I was shutting off the engine I could hear footsteps crunching towards me and I suspected Liz had been awaiting my arrival, and was now heading my way. I was greeted by her warm smile and after shaking hands, I was led through a walled archway into her garden, where her recently built studio now resides.
Apologising unnecessarily for the unfinished state of the studio, Liz led me in, offering a drink of tea or coffee. The studio is a purpose built garden shed, with large windows, several examples of her work to the left, her materials to the right, and in the centre a worktable, above which a large natural light box hung, allowing for night time working.
Having got settled I dove into my questions, wanting Liz to first explain a little more about Comfy Frog. It is, Liz explained, a sculpture business, evidence of which surrounded us, but she also offers art workshops, and craft supplies, predominantly from a company called Powertex. Liz is very keen on using recycled materials, and natural fibres, which fits into the use of Powertex, which hardens the material, to the degree it can be displayed outside.
It was after 26 years as an engineer that Liz decided to use her creative urges to forge a self-employed career. Personal circumstances meant the long hours and stressful working conditions were no longer feasible, and after a discussion with her husband, he concluded she could give a creative home-spun business a go, "as long as she didn't lose too much money!" Liz explained with a chuckle. Although that may not have been the ultimate vote of confidence, Liz has clearly flourished, the new studio evidence that Comfy Frog is still growing.
Liz started Comfy Frog four years ago, but in a very different guise. Originally she was focused on creating sewn goods, but soon came to realise that it was extremely difficult to compete with the mass produced merchandise easily, and cheaply, available in many shops. During one of her craft fairs, she went for a wander, and came across a lady called Tracey Evans, who had many items Liz loved, including sculptures made using the Powertex products. This sparked her interest in the unique product and what it could be used for. Eventually Tracey took over Powertex UK, and Liz has become a distributor and trainer, which has led to the extension from creating her own sculptures to offering the workshops.
What keeps Liz excited about her business is the creative aspect. The act of creation itself, and of finding inspiration in a new piece of material, is exciting and hugely rewarding. Liz gestured to what she explained was the beginning of a unique artwork she was designing for a call for artists to submit work for an exhibition in Stoke Mandeville called British Coastline and English Meadow. It was a highly textured representation of the sea meeting the land, waiting for Liz to add detail. Already it had a depth and presence, and I could only wonder as to its final appearance. Sometimes, Liz explained, inspiration could strike even in her dreams, bringing forth ideas for artwork already in progress, or for something new.
Teaching is the newest aspect of her business, and one she has found to be immensely rewarding. Clients are often adamant they will be unable to create anything approaching Liz's efforts, only to go away at the end of the day, the proud owner of their own art, wondering where they can display their creation. I can certainly understand how Liz finds that hugely satisfying.
I was interested to learn who was attending these training sessions. Mainly women, Liz answered, explaining it is often retirees, or those wanting something to do as a one-off creative weekend treat, and there are shift-workers whose friends are all working so wish to fill their time with something more worthwhile than Jeremy Kyle! It is common for a daughter to buy a one-day gift voucher for their mum, only to decide it would be nice to attend as well. A craft club in Daventry has also just booked Liz for a group crafting session, something she is well versed in via NEC Powertex presentations. I got the sense that Comfy Frog was for anyone with a creative itch, but who doesn’t really know where to begin. The beauty of these products, Liz said proudly, was that they were easy to use anywhere, and with anything.
In addition to her training, Liz creates work for galleries and undertakes commissioned sculpting. One unusual example was a mannequin called Dot (seen in the picture above with Liz), currently posing confidently in the nude in the left hand corner of the room. Dot is carried around by her fashion designer owner and used for photographic shoots, but she was proving too bright white. So she has now been turned a less glaring ivory, and Liz will provide her with hair, make-up, and some socks to cover up her ugly feet (sorry Dot, but it's true). It turns out mannequins are not unusual to Liz, she admitted her attic were full of them, bringing to my film-fuelled mind some horror situation where they come to life and take over the village.
Liz has a lot of plans for expanding Comfy Frog; building partnership working with schools, expanding her workshop offerings, and aiming for more commissions. Liz has so much bubbling enthusiasm for her work that it was infectious to hear her enthuse about future prospects.
The dreaded question arrived; describe your business in one sentence. Silence followed, a moment of thought required, until Liz remembered the wording she already has on her A-boards outside; Sculptures, Art Workshops, and Art Supplies. We agreed that summed it up in a nutshell, though as I write this, I think I would add Fun and Creativity, because Liz brings both to the table, and it is something I was soon to find out first hand.
To end I wanted to know a little about Liz and her connection to the Banbury area. She's not local, having been raised on the South coast, near Portsmouth. It was actually her engineering that brought her to the area, and she has lived in her current property for the last eight years, and is highly prolific in networking within Banbury, finding it a great place to use as a central hub. Her business does extend beyond Oxfordshire, because Upper Boddington is equidistant between Daventry, Southam, and Banbury, affording Liz great access to many town resources. Of course, I was here because of Banbury Pulse, so for my purposes I focused on why she likes Banbury. Castle Quay shopping centre got a nod, as did the fact that it leads on to the Old Town of Parsons Street and The Lanes where the independent shops can be found. She attends the Oxfordshire Project, whose latest meeting was to be held at Little Amsterdam, somewhere else I hope to interview in the near future. Liz, I quickly learned, is deeply involved in many social networking activities in the Oxfordshire area. She enthused in particular about the recently formed Visit Banbury project run by @TimTD, for whom I plan to do a guest blog for, and by the end of the conversation we had come full circle, discussing Ian Gentles, Liz having found my blog via his Banbury Business Network on Facebook.
At this point I was ready to wind up the interview, say my goodbyes and head off, but as always offered the interviewee a chance to add anything they felt we had not discussed. With a cheeky grin, Liz said "I have a question for you actually." A taste of my own medicine was due it seemed! Not a problem I said. "Do you want to try and make something small now?" she asked. "What now?" I immediately replied, wondering what one earth an inept artist such as I could make. Once Liz had established it would only take ten to fifteen minutes, I realised I had no choice. Of course I had to try the merchandise first hand!
Thus began a short lesson; for me in how to take a small pre-cast face, wrap a Powertex dipped cloth around it, and fashion a hanging decoration, and for Liz in how to teach a cask-handed, creatively inept, unprepared Michael!
Apron and disposable gloves slipped on, I was ready to get messy. After a brief colour selection, I was given my 'face', which required a general base colouring, and to prep it for the addition of the cloth. I had a simple scrap of t-shirt, which I had to drape into the Powertex mix, not to the point of saturation, just enough to coat well. Any excess was squeezed out, and it was immediately ready for shaping. Now Liz quickly demonstrated her expertise, by shaping her sample into a wonderful static depiction of a windswept cloak. I attempted something similar, but feel it looks more like a duvet wrapped around his head.
Once the face was wrapped, the subtle colouration visible on Liz's sculptures was added. Mysterious white liquid was mixed with your chosen colour powder, most of which was wiped off on a cloth, before being gently applied to the face and wrap. A second colour, to bring depth and texture is then added. Now I must, at this stage remind you of my incompetence when it comes to art. A brief lapse in attention and I had forgotten a key stage, the wiping of the brush upon the kitchen paper before applying the second colour to the sculpture. Instead of the subtle texturing, I had effectively painted a solid colour over the previous. I knew something would go wrong! Make sure you pay attention to teacher folks! Below is the transition my efforts went through, and below that is Liz's demo version that she whipped up quicker than you can say Powertex, and shows you what I was trying to replicate.
Despite my artistic faux pas, I managed to fashion something that didn't look half bad, and all in less than fifteen minutes, with no preparation whatsoever. Most importantly it had been great fun. In my mind I wished I had simply signed up for a proper day of sculpting, and foregone the interview. Liz had hit the nail on the head when she had asked me to give it a go; what better way to learn what Comfy Frog was all about than to get hands on?
Having felt like I had taken part in an episode of The Generation Game, I bade farewell to Liz, her cosy little studio, and drove back along the winding country lanes, a unique personal sculpture drying in my boot. Inside I held a satisfying feeling of having achieved something, no matter how small, nor how imperfect. I had created something, and Liz was right, that was hugely satisfying.
