It’s never too late to learn something new

When was the last time you tried something new? Not something new for your career, or even family, but something new just for yourself, for the sake of it? It sounds refreshing simply by writing about it, and the experiences three of our readers had as they indulged themselves in something bradn new was just as joyful. 

"Working with flowers in a creative way was so therapeutic."

Artist, business owner and mum of four Joanne Robinson, from Ayr, wanted to finally try her hand at floristry, after years of never finding the time.

A year ago, my husband, Nigel, and I bought a house with an acre of land, so I’ve been learning to grow all kinds of flowers. However, when it came to cutting and arranging them in a vase, they never looked as good as I thought they should. As an artist who teaches people to paint and draw for a living, I felt despondent that I wasn’t able to arrange flowers properly. But my philosophy for life and my business, The Little Art School, is that it’s never too late to learn something new. I’ve spent my career teaching people who say, ‘I’m not creative,’ to paint and draw, so if they can do it, I can, too! When I arrived at Marie Bailey’s beautiful floristry atelier, Ollie & Ivy, in Edinburgh, it was the overwhelming smell of flowers and greenery that hit me first. Then I saw all the fresh and dried flowers everywhere—it was such an arresting, sensory environment that it made me feel calm and relaxed.

I was so excited in the run-up to the class, although once we started, I quickly realised floristry is a lot more technical than I first thought. Marie began by explaining the theory behind her floristry, which is a Parisian garden style. She described it as being akin to achieving a no-makeup look, in that you spend a long time making it look effortlessly natural. She taught me about texture, form, shape and colour theory. As an artist, I have a good understanding of these areas already, so applying it to flower arranging came fairly naturally. Next, Marie taught me how to condition flowers. I’ve always known to snip the end of the stem and remove a few leaves, but Marie taught me there’s a lot more to it, such as carefully removing the nodules without damaging the stem and taking the guard petals off roses.

After Marie’s demonstration, it was over to me. I was making a hand-tied bouquet using a classic spiral technique. Picking the flowers for my bouquet was my favourite part—I felt like a kid in a sweet shop! Before, I would have grabbed as many big, bright blooms as I could carry, but Marie taught me the rules for a balanced bouquet, which is a few ‘leading ladies’—these are the stars of the bouquet, the bigger, more dramatic flowers that have more interesting forms and fall out a bit— some ‘fillers’, which are smaller flowers in complementary colours to the leading ladies, and then far more foliage than I would have imagined. The biggest surprise for me was that you can add twigs to a bouquet—I’ve never thought of doing that.

For my bouquet, I picked roses, thistles, snapdragons and chrysanthemums as my leading ladies, heather and waxflowers as my fillers and then lots of beautiful foliage. I was nervous when it came to actually arranging the flowers, as you have to hold them in one hand and add in stems one by one, creating a spiral or wigwam shape, but with Marie’s help it came together beautifully. Marie is a fantastic teacher—so patient and incredibly knowledgeable. As artists and business owners, we had a real connection, which was lovely. I had a great sense of satisfaction when my bouquet was finished, and it brought me so much joy every time I walked past it in the house. Working with natural materials in a creative way while surrounded by beautiful flowers was very therapeutic, and I’d recommend anyone to give it a go. I’ve discovered a new passion in floristry and I now feel a lot more confident to go out in my garden and pick the right flowers. It’s also informed what I’ll plant and grow this spring. There’s so much more to learn, so I’ll definitely be back for more classes soon. My dream is to be able to put together a big 17th-century-style arrangement that I can paint and immortalise for ever.

"Working with stained glass was like alchemy."

Julie Dyson, from Kent, enjoys doing lots of crafts and has always loved coloured glass. Now, finally, she has had the chance to try making stained glass.

I am passionate about crafts, whether it’s making pompoms or collages, and at Christmas I sell my crafts at fairs. I’ve tried everything from upcycling furniture to decorating our house, and fit it in along with my part-time job as a receptionist at a care home. I’ve always wanted to learn to make stained glass. I find the coloured glass utterly mesmerising and, although I am not religious, I enjoy going into churches and looking at the windows. Liza Townsend has been an artist for 25 years, as well as teaching stained glass. Walking into her garden studio in Biddenden, Kent, was like entering an Aladdin’s cave of stained glass, and I was in awe of how beautiful the artwork was. Prior to the session, I had sent over some design ideas that I liked, and we settled on a small, square piece, with abstract geometric shapes. I knew it would have to be a fairly easy design. The process of learning a new skill was challenging. I laid the glass over the design I’d chosen and traced those patterns on each individual piece of glass. Then, I used an oil-filled cutter to score the glass into the shape I wanted. Next, Liza taught me how to use running pliers to break the glass into the scored shapes. I was nervous the glass might shatter, but instead I heard the most satisfying ‘click’ as it popped into the shape! We then used a diamond grinder to file down the sharp edges. 

I didn’t realise how intricate the process of making stained glass was. We attached thin copper foil around every edge, folding it over and smoothing it out, and then soldered the glass pieces together via the copper foil joints. It was amazing to watch the molten lead solder flood over the foil—like alchemy! Now, I could see the shards of greeny blue glass were working together with the silver, and we decided on a lead frame. I already have plans to learn more from Liza on another visit. I hope to gain enough skills that I can take it up as a hobby. In the meantime, I have put my piece in my kitchen, as I spend a lot of time cooking. When the sun comes through, it’ll reflect off the glass in a beautiful way.

"I became engrossed by the swift movements of fencing."

Reverend Alison Johnson leads Torchlight Ministries in Croydon, south-east London, and for several years has wanted to learn how to fence.

Having a hobby has always been important to me as a way of relaxing and doing something for myself. My life is busy, as I have four children and am a grandmother to five. For 20 years, I was an education adviser in a local authority and then, five years ago, I found my calling and changed direction. I now lead a non denominational church. I’m not a sporty person, but I like to try different activities. I gave golf a go—only I found that I wasn’t very good at it! Fencing has been on my list of sports to try for a few years. My lesson with Knightsbridge Fencing Club was held in a church. I thought when I arrived we might be sparring in the pews, but we went downstairs into a more appropriate hall space. Any nerves I had were put at ease when I saw the amount of protective kit I would be wearing. I arrived in a pair of jogging bottoms, and for the lesson itself I wore knee-high socks, britches, a hard breastplate and under armour, as well as a jacket and a large helmet. The helmet was heavier than I thought it would be, but with all the equipment, I knew that there was no chance the blade would injure me. 

My instructor, Julianna Révész, represented Hungary in fencing for 20 years and won medals at the World and European Championships. She taught me first how to adopt the ‘en garde’ position all fencers stand in to start a match. Then she took me through the different positions of fencing. I forgot about the bulky helmet on my head and became engrossed by the swift movements of fencing. After teaching me the basic positions, Julianna showed me how to attack and block my opponent’s advances. The fast nature of fencing means you can go from attacking your opponent to needing to defend yourself in a millisecond. 

It requires a lot of core engagement to go from the en garde position into a lunge. Although it was a test of balance, I felt completely in my element because I grew up learning ballet, so I could go between positions quickly. What surprised me was the tactical nature of fencing—I loved that your mind is constantly working to beat your opponent. By the end of the session, I felt utterly invigorated. I’ve already started looking for a local fencing club so I can carry on learning to fence. Unlike golf, this is something I can’t wait to continue!

This article first came out in Good Housekeeping UK in April 2023.