Taking part in a television programme became a “life changing” experience for a Keswick glass artist.
Kate Lavender took the leap and applied for the BBC show, Make It At Market, presented by Dom Chinea, and will appear on the new series, which starts on March 3.
The show follows a group of budding entrepreneurs like Kate, who are assisted by craft and business experts to help them turn their crafts into a living.
Former physiotherapist Kate started filming in early July at stately home, Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire, and she was set a series of challenges throughout the show.
“They put you up in a hotel and they also cover all your expenses and everything, but they are just so supportive and positive the whole way through and really put you at ease,” said Kate.
She was paired with mentor Derek Hunt, a glass artist, whom she had been a fan of before taking part in the show. “Being paired with Derek, he helped me set my action plan of what I wanted to work on and what he felt would help me move from that amateur hobbyist to take my business to the next level.
“It was a really broad experience that has literally been life changing,” said Kate. “My whole outlook and my whole appreciation of heritage crafts, the network, the creative community, how we’ve all sort of come together. I’ve branched out, I’m teaching now and people are ordering from all over the world.”
Kate started her stained glass journey when she was just 10, admitting she “fell in love” with the craft. When she was about 16, she took a break from the hobby due to school work. Her love for the hobby was re-kindled when Covid hit and she was shielded for several months. Kate began watching online videos on the craft, attending webinars and discovered the hit show she would eventually appear on.
“I didn’t have any intention of working as a stained glass artist or anything like that, I just thought: ‘This is a great show’. I loved it, it had loads of different crafts and hobbies. I’ve just always found it amazing the different ways people can work and work with their hands. I find every craft really intriguing,” she said.
Once she could go out again after shielding, Kate slipped on a walk and dislocated her shoulder and ruptured the ligaments in her ankle, which required surgery. In a bid to raise her spirits, Kate’s husband, Stewart, bought her some stained glass books and asked Kate’s mum to send her the stained glass tools from her childhood.
Kate got stuck into creating pieces from her makeshift studio in the family dining room, inspired by the Lakes and the changing colours of the landscape. After running out of space to put her wares, Kate started selling at craft fairs and was encouraged by the response from her buyers.
Kate, who moved to Keswick six years ago with her husband and son, Ben, began taking on stained glass commissions alongside her physiotherapy work within the NHS but found herself spread thin.
“I had been loving my stained glass work so much and I had been really struggling to balance the amount of work that was getting requested or I was needing to make for the craft fairs, and it was actually making my health worse if anything because I was just completely overloaded,” said Kate.
On a whim, Kate applied for the television show and expected nothing to come out of it, not even telling her husband she’d applied. Following an initial chat with the production team, a follow up phone call months later confirmed she would take part in the show and she would only have three weeks before the start of filming.
