What I love about my work...
IT’S THE TACTILE QUALITY OF THE ENAMELLING PROCESS AND THE FACT THAT EVERY PIECE I MAKE LAST❞ IS SO DIFFERENT FROM THE
of marketing methods – communicating with customers in the flesh and online – that helped keep our businesses buoyant.’ But having lived and worked in London for 13 years, Buddug was starting to miss her roots. She wanted to return to Wales and settle there so that when she had children, they would be able to learn the Welsh language. The move would also enable her to escape the financial pressures of London’s sky-high rents and house prices. So when Buddug discovered she was pregnant with her daughter, Marla, in March 2015, she made the move back to Wales with her partner, fashion photographer Gareth Horton. But rather than the wilderness of Snowdonia, the couple settled on the outskirts of Cardiff. When Buddug first returned to Wales, she packed her studio into a storage unit and worked in her sister’s spare room for a few months. Although she had saved some money so that she could take time off to have Marla, she never stopped creating. ‘I love making things just as much as I love being a mother, so I fitted my work around looking after my daughter,’ she says. ‘I eventually found the studio space and shop that I have now in the Castle Arcade opposite Cardiff Castle in September 2018.’ With her daughter Marla now at school, Buddug is developing her collection further. Her new flower pots are delightful. She has experimented with combinations of metal, enamel and fabric to create flowers that come displayed in a vase filled with resin. Thanks to social media platforms, the move from London to Wales has meant she’s kept a connection with her customers. ‘My clients have remained quite similar to when I was in London; the only difference now is that they purchase more Welsh things,’ she says. Buddug’s passionate about the Welsh language and people warm to that. ‘I’ve always exhibited at Eisteddfod, even when I was working in London. It’s a great way to celebrate the Welsh arts. I run workshops every summer from my studio, such as enamel plate making, which are well worth it as they connect me to more people.’ Work since the move hasn’t changed much according to Buddug. It’s having a child that’s made the difference and she tries to get that fine balance between work and home life. ‘I would love to move further out into the heart of the countryside,’ she says. ‘Moving to the outskirts of Cardiff was the stepping stone between busy life in the City of London and calmer life in Wales, but now we are feeling ready to embrace rural Wales once again, so let’s see where we end up.’