The North East of England has long been a hotbed of artistic talent; from the landscapes of Turner to the sculptures of Gormley. Today, this creative spirit thrives online, with a new generation of artists using Instagram to showcase their work and connect with audiences. Our new series delves into the vibrant world of North East artists exploring the diverse mediums, styles, and stories they share.
We'll be highlighting talented individuals who are pushing creative boundaries and using Instagram as a platform to amplify their voices and connect with a global audience. Get ready to discover the diverse artistic talent, all shaped by the unique spirit of the North East.
Ruth Flowers, under the moniker InkyMakes, is a "northern witchy lass” cooking up a unique blend of artistic creativity. Nature, cats, Japan, and folklore simmer in her creative cauldron; alongside strong milky drinks and a dash of the delightfully creepy and kawaii.
In her artistic exploration, the former tattoo artist found magic not in a single style, but in her hero's journey itself. Our very own creative superstar Andrew Mitchell caught up with ceramist and painter Ruth to discuss her world, where the cute and crepuscular collide, and how creating is always an enchanting brew.
AM: I was hoping we can start around how you started your creative journey?
RF: When somebody asks you to talk about your work, it's a little bit difficult because you're right in the thick of it. To be honest, I feel like I've always been making art, and not to sound like a cliche, but I have been my whole life. It's always what I've done.
The turning point was quite early on. When I was at school, I didn't really gel very well in an educational environment. I wanted to go and create what I wanted and definitely didn't want to do what my teachers wanted me to do. I felt there was a lot of jumping through hoops at school. As a result I ended up going to College after school to do my art GCSE because my school’s GCSE teacher was like, well if Ruth tries really, really hard, she might scrape a B. I think grading art is the exact opposite of what art’s about, you're supposed to be able to express yourself.
After college I worked for eight years as a tattoo artist and ultimately managing a studio in Leeds. After I started getting tattooed, my tattooist had seen some of my artwork and they asked me if I’d like an apprenticeship.
I was studying towards my Masters (in Fine Art) on a part time basis so I jumped at the chance, much to one of my tutors' amusement. I got quite a lot of push back about it; it seems like the academic world and tattooing were worlds apart from them. I can remember my tattoo mentor trying to get me to quit my MA too, so I guess there was push back on both sides, like, neither could see the merit in the other.
About 6 years into my tattooing career I started feeling a bit stifled creatively so I started exploring acting, something which had always helped me build confidence when I was younger. A couple of years later I quit tattooing altogether, upped sticks and came back to the north east.
The pandemic struck and everything ground to a halt. It was during lockdown that I started thinking about other art practices I had enjoyed when I was younger, which led me into looking back into ceramics and to transition into exploring other artistic avenues.
AM: What was it about ceramics that appealed to you?
RF: I got interested in ceramics in the first place because I had a really fantastic ceramics teacher during my A-Levels; my former teacher someone who I'm still in contact with now. When I first started talking to Donna again where I was like, oh my God, do I call her Miss Grant?
We reconnected just after COVID as I was trying to find her again because I thought maybe she still put on ceramics classes after retiring from teaching. I found her on Google through an article from an exhibition that the sixth form had put on when I was studying there. They'd interviewed Donna and they'd interviewed me! I'd totally forgotten about it. It was bizarre.
My work feels a lot like a hero's journey. Where you have to go and do this whole long journey and then you find yourself back where you started and which for me is in Peterlee. And I’m back working on projects that I did from an early age.
AM: Does the local artistic community have a big influence on the work you’re creating?
RF: If you'd asked me that question, maybe even just a year ago, I would have been like, oh, I don't really have anything to do with the community and I couldn't envisage myself doing that because of my experiences in education.
But now, because I've got to know organisations like No More Nowt helping to create other ways of interacting with people on a creative level and in ways that I didn't think was possible in Peterlee.
I feel like because of their projects, I'm wanting to have more to do with the wider community. As a result, I worked facilitating creative workshops at local primary schools which I totally didn’t think was ever going to happen. From there I’ve been working with Shotton Community Hub co-creating a mural with their members. The mural illustrates the onsite garden they have, where the staff and volunteers grow fruit and veg to use in their cafe. It's been a nice surprise.
AM: Do you think there is anything unique about being an artist from the North East?
RF: Well it's not Grim Up North! But maybe there's scarcity of art. Perhaps that’s down to funding opportunities in the north. Just at the Apollo Pavilion in Peterlee, if that was in London that would be some sort of Art Mecca, and all of those modernist houses on the Sunny Blunts estate would all be worth three million pounds each. Do you know what I mean?
I've had this experience of an arts education but I can find myself being in between two worlds; people who think art is a pile of crap and then other people who think it's amazing.
I mean, not to say that people down South all absolutely love art and are super cultured. But sometimes it feels like there's a lack of arts culture here. But, as an artist in the North East, that can drive you on, drive you to try more, to make more and, hopefully, make more happen up here.
AM: In your bio you mention a love of Japan and folklore, and looking at our pieces it seems like you’ve created a colourful world of characters; worms, ghosts, mushrooms imbued with a type of spirit. I found it very reminiscent of the Japanese portrayals of Kami from the Shinto religion [the divine essence which inhabits all things both animate and inanimate including the forces of nature].
RF: It’s really funny that you should say that because like, I'm in the process of writing a proposal for funding to investigate links between Japan and the North East.
I'm a big fan of Kawaii cuteness and I do feel like this sort of power in cuteness. I attended the Cute exhibition recently in London. The theme of the entire exhibition was cute, and it was really eye opening because I just felt like, wow, like, this is my time.
I had an email conversation with Professor Joshua Paul Dale recently, who specialises in the new field of cute studies about his book, Irresistible: How Cuteness Wired our Brains and Conquered the World. I feel that the kawaii style from Japan is a conscious response post World War Two and I was really influenced by artists like Yoshitomo Nara and the Super Flat movement.
There’s certainly recurring motifs in my work that keep popping up. So yeah, it's interesting that you've said about Shintoism. I feel like art is sort of my spirituality. I don't identify as a religious person, but I'm very spiritual.
AM: I found your work on Instagram and your House Cat sculpture really grabbed my attention. Then looking through your archive of photos, the house motif often pops up a fair few times.
RF: I'm kind of obsessed with houses. I don't know if that goes back to when I was a kid. I say I'm from Peterlee, but up until the age of 16, I lived in a tiny hamlet on the outskirts of it. I feel like every time I drive past my old house, it's very strange, it's like I'm sort of like, reliving my childhood in a quick snippet. I'm just sort of obsessed with this house motif that appears in my work.
AM: How do you hope your practice will develop?
RF: I don't have a dedicated studio space as yet, but that is in the pipeline because I do feel like I'm getting a position now where I'm creating more and more work and I'm getting more ambitious.
I actually really want to go more down the fine art route if I can. I want to dig deep into ceramics. I want to start doing bigger pieces and ideally I want to be put in touch with other ceramists that create larger pieces so I can learn from them. From there, I’d love to exhibit more and create more sculptural pieces.
Outside of ceramics I feel like a Peterlee Crisp Exhibition could possibly happen. [Peterlee was home to the Tudor Crisps Factory from the mid 1950s until its closure in 2017]. It ticks a lot of boxes that Place Labs is trying to fulfil; using community-power to link people, projects and good ideas to determine and realise a shared vision.
There's a lot of local history because so many local people worked at the crisp factory. One of my cousins worked there for 36 years when it was Tudor crisps, all the way through to Walkers. I feel like this needs to be spoken about and there needs to be art works created.
My Mum's told me stuff about how there was sort of a drive during the war when Potato Distributors purposefully put designs on their sacks so people could make dresses out of them. I feel like there's a real sustainability and environmentalism slant in there somewhere.
I’m really excited about my primary school workshops that will form part of a group exhibition. We will be exploring the local legend of The Easington Witch and it will be a combination of my work and the children’s work, displayed at No More Nowt from 20th May. I can’t wait.
Explore Ruth’s work on her website - https://www.inkymakes.com/
Follow Ruth on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/inky_makes/
