10- 14/03/2025
Monday 10th
Today was the first day at Margo Selby Studios. A nice lady called Abi greeted me. I was given a tour of the place and met all of the other members of the team. When I met Margo it seemed like she had no idea who I was and didn’t seem very interested. While I understand she probably wasn’t interested she could have acted a little more warm. Ann had warned me she is sometimes quite cold but reasurred me she was lovely. I also got the impression she knew nothing about me.
I started working with order and dispatch. Good to know. A lovely girl called Liv was showing me all the important things. She is an intern who has been there since September. She explained that she only gets £10 a day, so her university told Margo she couldn’t work 5 days a week. She needed one day to work to get money to pay for rent etc. Highlighted the issues around large companies taking advantage of students.
I watched the team cut off the fabric they had been working on for the last 3 months. That was exciting, as it was a really large length of fabric.
One of the pieces had many faults, there seemed to be an issue when weaving. Someone hadn’t noticed. I was surprised that they weren’t upset, but seemed not to phased. Just said Abigail would darn it back together.
The edges of the fabric wasn’t very neat and when cutting the yarns some wern’t woven in. It was suprising how little they cared… the places I have been working the attention to detail is much more precise. I suppose when it’s such a large piece you wouldn’t notice. Would bug me though! They also said that because they do 3 hourly shifts on the fabric the way its beaten down can change depending on the person, sometimes making it uneven.
I often felt as though I was just annoying, no one had any tasks for me. I just kept asking if there was anything to do. Very different to my current two placements. Also I have realised a lot of weavers are very quiet and to themselves. If I was in their position and someone was new I would be asking many questions. Thye just avoid eye contact and look away. It makes me less motivated to be enthusiastic when a few are very awkward. As a new person I will feel very awkward so it’s nice to be chatty etc. Just made me think if I had my own company I wouldn’t act like that. The ex-interns are mostly all lovely. I am assuming because they know how it feels. One seems very confident, making sure it’s known she is very popular etc.
Tuesday 11th
Today was a really boring day. I feel dissapointed I am not gaining very much at this placement. I was told to pack a couple of orders and then had to keep asking if there was anything for me to do. I felt as though I was in the way. Despite this I chatted to some people working there. That was interesting and good to keep networking. I decided to slow down with my tasks as once I was done I would wait around for ages for another task to be given to me. I was downstairs a lot on my own while I could hear eveyone else upstairs laughing and chatting. Was a bit sad I couldn’t be with everyone and make a good impression. These last few days have almost felt like I am not trusted to do anything with actual skills. Vey eye opening considering my other placements give me a lot of responsibilities.
Wednesday 12th
Today I felt really fed up. I started the day downstairs asking if there was anything that needed to be done. There wasn’t much, so I helped in dispatching again. As the day progressed I became more frustrated that I was downstairs for the third day. The other interns were inundated with tasks to complete. It felt as though I wasn’t trusted to complete these tasks. I have spoken to Margo once this week very briefly. She has then been working at home for the rest of the week. Just feel disapointed as I had spent so much money to book accomodation here etc, for me to have not learnt anything. The staff now don’t seem to ask if I have tasks as they don’t want to find me things to do.
After the last order in the afternoon (had done these tasks slowly as there wasn’t anything else to do) I asked if there was anything that needed to be done. I was directed to speak to another staff member about pinterest. When I asked them about this they asked if I could help with workshop prep. However, the other interns had completed this the last few days when I was packing orders. It just felt like no one wanted to deal with me. I was just copying and pasting text into pinterest. Then 20 minutes before 5pm I was asked to complete some ‘pearling’? tassels on the end of an art piece taken off the loom on Monday. I was excited they had given me a slightly bigger job. It was the most exciting task of the week which says a lot. Today I have felt really fed up and annoyed. I wanted to speak to Margo about Ann however, I doubt I will get the opportunity now.