Venice Carnival became a testing ground for some of my early costumes and characters. I attended six Masquerade Carnivals in total and love Venice deeply.
A journey to discover creativity and community
It is beautiful to look back and reflect, indulging in the phases that evolved and morphed our family and our adventure. Driven by feeling and searching for opportunities we grew alongside our daughter, ebbed with the seasons and flowed with our dreams.
Having scrolled through the thousands of photos documenting a lot but not all of the voyage, it is with great pleasure that the journey can be re-written and presented here, reflecting on where we find ourselves now.
Both myself and Gavin have spoke about writing a book about our years on the road, and perhaps this is the start of that process. It is important to share the passion and purpose behind our projects and also to encourage others to take the leap into the unknown!
Laura Van, our first family home was purchased from a friend in Wales for £1000. It didn't start but we loved her! Somehow Gavin managed to drive her back to Leeds, where we were living at the time. We got to work straight away, stripping out everything except the fire.
Our daughter celebrated her first birthday in Laura Van while we were living on a campsite in Holmfirth. At the time I was engaged in technical training at a fashion centre in Huddersfield, applying for funding, sourcing 'waste' materials from Yorkshire mills, making prototypes and imagining ways of traveling and selling our range of up-cycled clothes on the road.
We didn't get the funding for our touring project, but we decided to go ahead and do it anyway. With a van fully stocked with fabrics, 2 sewing machines, and a huge amount of excitement, we headed to Wales to upgrade the interior function of Laura Van. Living in her had allowed us time to realise what needed improving and my brother came to the rescue. I always say, he made our house into a home.
My love of sewing started at 16 years of age after my mother taught me on her Antique Treadle Singer Sewing Machine. Immediately up-cycling became my obsession, simply because it allowed me to refresh my wardrobe without having to reinvest. Bags and other smaller products were made from the 'waste' materials with jewellery design, styling and aesthetics becoming a big part of my youth, alongside music, performing, poi, circus and recycling.
Using a long scarf as a poi. My White Geisha was a well-loved performance character, seen walking the many streets of Venice, silent apart from a glass bell.
Meeting up with other circus performer friends, we occupied St Marks Square to improvise, act, play, perform routines and engage with other incredible artists.
You can see a visual documentary of our journey Instagram - @thecolourcircus
We left the UK via ferry in October of 2016. We landed in Dieppe in France and bee-lined for the South of the country to visit some friends near Montbrun-Brocage. The journey through France was incredibly freeing, long hours of driving, finding beautiful impulsive spots to park and accepting the slow pace of Laura Van and her unique features. She came with a Haines Manual and was fixed many times thanks to Gavin's patience and intuition.
Arriving at our friends house, later than planned, they welcomed us into their beautiful home, cooked an incredible dinner and we shared stories of vans, kids and travelling well into the early hours. Justin mentioned that the next morning he was going to be selling his fresh pasta at a local market. When I told him I had a van full of products we decided to join him at 5am ! It was a misty morning, we wrapped Jhonah up with layers and headed off with Justin. That first market experience was unbelievable. The day unfolded and burst into colours, noises and new smells! Everyone was very welcoming and we set up a space with the table section of our bed from Laura Van. I used what I could to display my jewellery and bags and Jhonah made a handful of friends. My face painting was a great attraction and allowed us to meet lots of families.
The market became a regular activity for us all. I sold products, taking orders for bespoke garments, made-to-measure and face painted successfully, making enough money to then spend at other market stalls, buying produce for us for the following week. Fresh local cheeses, bread, Justin's pasta, vegetables and oats we are staple part of our shopping list and it felt very rewarding to be a part of such a vibrant, efficient and local economy.
Leaving Montbrun-Brocage was inspired by the desire to see the sea ! We headed to Perpignan and then took the pirate route south into Catalonia. We settled in the incredible bay town of Cadaques where Salvador Dali once lived, it was oozing creativity and artistic influence. We were immediately captivated by its charm and spent a season working and collaborating with local artists. Gavin was hired to create soundtracks for the biggest restaurant in the area, Cap de Creus and I offered my face painting in partnership with Negra, a seamstress and artist selling up-cycled clothes and artefacts.
We had a beautiful permanent spot to park Laura Van where were able to grow tomatoes, have other neighbours living in caravans, put up our hammock, spend time with Jhonah, watch her grow into her 3rd year and invite our family to visit us.
We spent some slow time exploring Spain after Cadaques. Driving South, visiting friends in Tortosa and then heading to Valencia to buy a one-way ticket to Ibiza! We had 800 euros to our name and we spent 400 of it on our ticket. We were inspired to go somewhere that meant so many different things to people we had previously met, and ready to find out for ourselves what the magical island had to offer.
We arrived in Ibiza October 14th 2017 and followed our noses out of the airport. We landed in Es Canar when we saw another small camper van parked on a side street. Owned by a wonderful man who gave us all the information on how to live on the island in a van, we spent a few weeks landing here; showering on the beach, making friends, taking walks, collecting water and generally living in complete overwhelm and wonder!
Over time, it became increasingly difficult to find long term parking for the van, and with the addition of a dog, Solstice, it felt right to transition to something bigger. Through a face painting job, we were able to enter an artistic community in a gated military base. We had heard about it and were very keen to know more. The family I was painting for were incredible and we got a tour of the community. We were told there were rooms available in the Hotel, the biggest communal area where people lived together with a shared kitchen, dining area and large toilet/showers.
We waited a few months to get the go ahead but we eventually got a room and started to move in August 2018! It was a strange feeling being within 4 static walls and having neighbours but over time we adjusted and the advantages we gained helped us in so many ways. There were so many children living there which Jhonah loved, safe freedom, creative people, a swimming pool, garden areas, chickens, yoga studio with regular classes and workshops, a communal 'kids area' which was a big hall used for meetings, parties, roller skating, painting, exhibitions and our home / shared schooling programme and art studios.
We spent an incredible 4 years in Polvorine and I have to say it was the best time of my life! I made so many life affirming relationships with people I love dearly, collaborated and expressed so much, created a business for myself and my family and watched Jhonah enjoy a wild and free existence, supported by healthy and happy adults. We navigated Covid during our time there and the community came together in ways I had only dreamed of. I had to close my studio for a short while but was still able to maintain my studio by limiting numbers and staying safe.
The Play Factory was home to sewing, recycling, sustainability, art, sculpture and wearables. I also managed the Swap Shop within the community which was an area that people in and out of Polvorine could drop off unwanted items and search for things they needed. This became a great place to source materials for my studio. I also recycled items found around the island and all of these were used in the busy schedule of classes, workshops, private tuition and summer schools that ran throughout the year.
At the same time, I was balancing a wide spectrum of creative make up artist jobs - weddings for Its in Your Dreams, parties and club events - Woomoon, Storytellers, Clockwork Orange, Ibiza Rocks and Ushuaia, and my residency as Head Make up Artist for Zoo Project 2018, and Make up Artist / Costume Designer for Zoo Project 2019's theatrical experience, designed specifically for limited and intimate numbers.
As the world opened up again, and lockdown pressure loosened, many of the community members started to relocate, go back to their home countries and find alternative accommodation. It felt like the community had peaked and was now on a new trajectory. We were some of the last people to go and it was a hard transition.
We took an opportunity to manage a villa in the centre of the island, living on site. We were very happy that Jhonah was able to share time with new friends who also lived on site. There were so many animals, which we took care of; wild guinea pigs, lizards, turtles and dogs. I starting teaching in an emerging democratic schooling project and Jhonah attended a few days a week, eventually going full time.
We invested in another van, this one called Synthia, named after Gavin's love of synthesisers! She brought us so much joy and we spent many a free day away, sometimes spending the night by the beach and escaping the craziness of the 14 bedroom villa when it was rented for holiday makers.
We stayed at the villa for 2 seasons and I developed my knowledge of Mediterranean plants, spending the Winter months re-landscaping the gardens, maintaining the pots and the property, managing renovations and injecting new life into a tired and quirky property.
We knew our time was coming to an end and we started to look further afield; Menorca and Mallorca. We had waited 2 years for our residential application to be processed, and we were told it did not look likely we would get it due to our nomadic existence. This was hard to hear and we had to think seriously about our situation. We started to search high and low for a new opportunity and a long term friend of the family from Wales was renting a house and we decided to take it.
This marked the end of a beautiful journey for all of us. Gavin and I are so proud we were able to share 7 years with Jhonah, wild and free, meeting so many people, making friends from all over the world and spending time deeply connected as a family. We arrived back in the UK in time for her to start Year 4 in a little Primary School. Our creative adventures now continue in a new way; looking deeper at wellbeing, sonic therapeutics, nature, seasonal rhythms and family connection. We are so grateful for all that we have experienced so far and it all feeds into the rich tapestry we are continuing to weave.
Please reach out if you want to know more, or have questions about van-life, travel and community! Thank you for reading our story XXX
