Ingrid Wagner

Life could be like a bowl of cherries I suppose. I cannot remember who said that. I am not sure about the cherries. For me, its more like a journey which has always been characterised by colour and the desire to identify and develop what was in the genes. My father was a gifted pen and ink artist, could turn his hand to tapestry and calligraphy, and left me his lettering books and a set of nifty nibs, thereby making a significant contribution to my own journey.

It is fairly safe to say that I am a painter, writer, photographer and designer who once had the dubious pleasure of working in film making at the BBC, and in dance and the theatre. For purely practical purposes, but also possibly because I have a passion for travel and a great interest in how different cultures around the world relate to each other, I am a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language. More journeys were waiting in the wings on this one.

One such journey took me to live and work as an English teacher in Russia during the time of the countrys transition from communist rule, surviving, as the Russians say, five freezing winters. Neither I, nor the Russians, no doubt, have ever quite forgotten the experience. I have recorded the Kremlin, photographed in Berlin, shaken the snow from my boots in wine caves in Hungary and put pen to paper in Poland. Eventually, and somewhat reluctantly, I came home to England to begin what I had never had the opportunity to do when I left school - study for an art degree.

As a result of gaining two travel awards during my degree, I went to Georgia to study felt-making in the mountains bordering Chechnya, and to Morocco to study the weaving and culture of North African rugs and their makers. They do say that travel broadens the mind. In this case, the broadening of my mind led to the setting up of Ingrid Wagner Real World Journeys, featuring creative skills trips to Morocco and, so as not to lose my own artistic practice, Ingrid Wagner Rug & Art Creation. Read more about these on other parts of the website.

The journey continues, as all good journeys do, and there are many more stories on the adventures of being an artist in business than can be told here. Suffice it to say, as Matisse did, that to be a working artist, talent is not enough. Its something I emphasise every day in my work with education & business partners throughout the UK. So, what hours do you work, students ask, and how do you know when to stop? Quite simply, I reply, when I have finished. And when its time to pick up another paintbrush, pack for another trip, knit another curtain or lose myself in a new combination of colours. Oh, and when the database spreadsheet is done and clients are taken care of and parcels posted...

I hold a first class BA (Hons) in Textile Design and an MA with Distinction in Cultural Management. I set up both my businesses after graduation and went on to train in Boston USA, one of 20 UK small enterprises selected to take part in the first New Entrepreneur Transatlantic Scholarship Scheme, where I emerged as one of the top four finalists. Sometimes I have made a mess of things and failed, sometimes abjectly. However, as Miki Hakkinen, the former Formula One racing driver was once heard to say,
Its not the start I wanted to have. But the start is not the finish.
Success can follow if you have the determination to learn from those failures. Life, I have to conclude, may not always be that bowl of cherries. Its all just part of the journey.