How does a busy mum-of-three find the time to study and pass on her skills? Joanne Lowe appears to have the answer.

Currently completing her final year in BA (Hons) Applied Arts for Enterprise at Cleveland College of Art & Design, Joanne first attended the College in 1991.

Joanne was a forces child as her father was in the RAF and for the first 16 years of her life she and her family were stationed all over the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland. At school Joanne was classed as being lazy – unfortunately no-one had picked up that she had dyslexia. Just before Joanne was to take her GCSE examinations her father left the RAF and her family moved to Billingham. Joanne, however, remained with a neighbour in Bedale, North Yorkshire in order to take her GCSEs. Joanne explained that she had not realised that she had a problem apart from the fact that she used to get letters mixed up and that it took her a long time to read things. Needless to say she failed her GCSEs only achieving a “C” for art.

Joanne then came to Cleveland College of Art & Design to enrol on a 1st Diploma course and then moved on to a BTEC in Theatre Crafts course in 1992. Following this she entered the world of work where she started her own business – Idle Hands – eventually moving into her own premises in 1995.

After marrying and starting a family, Joanne decided that it was time to further her education and skills. Joanne said that she was going “stir crazy” and whilst she dearly loved her children she couldn’t be just a mum. Her self esteem was at a low ebb and she needed to challenge herself, so she returned to Cleveland College of Art & Design to undertake an FdA in Applied Arts in 2006. Joanne’s husband and parents were incredibly supportive of her decision and this support made her return to study possible.

At the College, Joanne found that the content of the course, ceramics, jewellery and textiles, not only allowed her to concentrate on an individual specialism but mix all three to produce items which appealed to her creative nature. She also found that the course focused her attention on her career and after successfully graduating from the FdA in 2008 she decided to carry on with her studies and has progressed to a top-up year on the BA (Hons) Applied Arts in Enterprise programme to obtain an honours degree. Throughout her Foundation degree she experimented with the uses of many different materials, the products being developed from live briefs in conjunction with the NHS, Coats Crafts UK and MIMA. Her plans also include setting up her own business which will make and sell her own products and where she will use the skills she has developed. Joanne has already developed a range of products which include:

• Bespoke multimedia heirlooms for the future
• Wizzy Woo products– this have been developed from a book written by Joanne, which was inspired by her daughter, Elizabeth.

Both of these products were developed in response to a live project set by the NHS, to create artwork based upon family for a new maternity unit.

As well as juggling a busy family life, completing a degree and running a home, Joanne presents workshops and master classes at Idle Hands in Card-making and further developed her workshop delivery by presenting a workshop on Crochet at the College – this was so successful that she has delivered this for the past three years. She is keen to pass on her knowledge so that the old crafting skills are not lost and new ones are encouraged and welcomes the opportunity to work with all ages within the community. In the past year Joanne has been working with local councils to deliver craft workshops in deprived areas. She also hopes to work as an artist in residence in nursery, primary and secondary schools

Success comes, according to Joanne, because of hard work, careful planning, juggling and having a supportive family and college. In April, 2008, she was presented with the Creative Arts Award from FE+ and acknowledged that she was surprised, but very proud to have been given the award and stated at the time that “It was very hard, especially since I have three children – a full time job at home. It was timetabling really. Juggling everything. It’s hard but very rewarding”.

Joanne’s tutor, Eyv Hardwick, has nothing but praise for Joanne, especially in respect to her level of commitment and remarks that Joanne is an inspiration to her fellow students. She also notes that Joanne has had to work very hard to overcome problems with her dyslexia, explaining that she spends much more time on her written work than other students as she is determined to achieve at the highest levels.

Joanne is an exceptional person and one who wants to share her passion for the creative arts, she says that her philosophy is:
“To pass on invaluable life skills through the teaching of creative arts to the next generation”