SZUSZU SIGNS

Photo credit to Neal Campbell at Campbell photography

2020 is here and we are excited to share our first Womenfolk Profile of the year! We caught up with Laura Nelson who is the founder of SzuSzu Signs. We feel that it is super important to ask about people’s journey, creative struggles and top tips to stay inspired.

Interviews are a great way to know more about our expanding community and encourage each other as much as we can.

What does SzuSzuSigns do?

 My name is Laura Nelson and I have just set up SzuSzu Signs.

SzuSzu Signs is the present working title, it’s a nickname given to me by my partner and collaborator the artist Leo Boyd. It may well change one day when I find the perfect name. Im working on it.

Currently I am learning and practicing all there is to know about the somewhat forgotten art of traditional sign painting and hand lettering. The practice was largely forgotten in Europe and North America with the new faster, cleaner, slicker advent of plastic Vinyls in the 1950’s.

The craft/skill is having a revival now in many larger cities across Europe/America and indeed never really went away in lands further afield such as India (Indian truck art), Africa and the South Americas where human labour is usually the cheapest option.

I am aiming to offer traditional hand Sign painting at a high skill level with a modern, eclectic design vibe as artistic practice, mural work, installation and more commercially for high street shops, cafes, galleries and businesses.

 Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to set up SzuSzuSigns?

 I have been working in the Creative industries here in Belfast since 2010 since I moved back here from Bristol with two tiny children following a split with my then partner and baby daddy.

At that time I was in a pretty desperate situation financially and threw myself into the pursuit of finding paid employment within the arts sector.

I started getting work in community arts and gradually became known as a jack-of-all-trades who could make pretty much anything. From there I gained skills and experience, learning on the job in costume, theatre set and props, festival builds, carnival and arts installations,  builds of all kinds, workshop facilitation and teaching in anything you could wish for as well as project management.

I began to work more with my new partner Leo Boyd on ambitious Screen-Print projects, including large vertical Screen-Print Murals, Large wall and community commissions and the creation of our own mobile Screen Print Project- The Journeymen Printers which brings Print out of the studio and to the people. The idea known as The Democratisation of Art.

I studied Art and Visual Culture at University of the West of England, Bristol and then A Post Graduate in Further Education at the same Uni.

Both of these course were pretty theoretical but provided a sound base for me to continue my education in practical skills. I consider myself self-taught and have added Welding, Woodworking, Joinery, Costume making and Printmaking to my skill base.

My work to date has been very much 3d and sculptural. In the summer of 2019 I began to realise that I wanted to specialise in one specific area. I was becoming increasingly obsessed with letters, typography and design.

I started researching, practicing, learning. I travelled for a lettering course in Copenhagen, Denmark in November for which I won funding from the NI ArtsCouncil.

I realised I could do it. More importantly, I realised that I loved it and I could envisage huge potential for Sign Painting here in N.I.

I haven't looked back so far!

 Why did you want to start your own business?

Ive been self employed for the last 10 years. I cant really imagine working in any other way at this stage of my career. It’s a no-brainer for me.

 What/who influences/motivates you?

Incredible current day sign painters/letterers such as Ciaran Globel at Globel signs in Glasgow, Jakob at Copenhagen Signs, Vanessa Power from Signs of Power in Dublin- These are all Sign painters who could see a life staring at a computer screen making graphic design for other people and decided to pick up a paint brush and teach them selves a skill that would open their worlds. Each of them have evolved the discipline and have brought new incredible works of art to the world.

I always love an outsider artist and you can learn a lot from Folk Art.

Lastly Paula Scher from Pentagram Design is a pretty incredible example of a woman who has had huge success and made great work despite the odds stacked against her.

WOW.

What has been your biggest hurdle and your proudest moment or accomplishment with your business so far?

I am extremely lucky to be a part of Vault Artist Studios in east Belfast.

I was a founding member and currency sit on the board. It takes a lot of time and energy to keep it running but its so rewarding!

Im not sure I would have been able to take a chance with a new direction without my studio, affordable rent and incredibly supportive community of 108 artists, many of whom are now super great friends. It’s so important for a creative to have a space that they can work in and they can afford.

My vision, ambition and boundaries have definitely evolved and opened since Ive had the space here.

The biggest hurdles are always finance related!

Even with a super affordable studio, amazing and supportive artistic network, money is still always an issue. I have two kids, bills, responsibilities and a partner who is also a self employed artist. Any time off is time away from making work to make ends meet. That is the relentlessness of self employed life!                                                                 

How do you manage having a work life balance?

I manage that pretty well. I am far from a workaholic. I love community projects and social events. I love collaborative projects. I’m always busy but I enjoy the fullness of having many projects on the go at the same time.

My kids are getting older now. Sometimes work seeps into evenings with them. We have imposed a strict no screen rule for everyone in the evenings on weekdays for that reason.

 What are your tools that you use to keep yourself motivated when you are in the thick of a project?

Podcasts! Podcasts keep me sane and grow my brain! They pass the time and keep the loneliness at bay when working in solitude for long periods.

We have a Vault Podcast list. S-Town is the absolute winner made by the the geniuses at This American life and Radiolab.

 What are your goals/dreams/ambitions for your business?

To make Belfast beautiful. It deserves it!

When Im travelling around town I look out for handprinted signs and currently there are very very few. I aim to change all that and bring some new colour, good design and innovation to walls, streets, shops, cars, windows!

I am also keen to keep travelling. Lettering is happening at all times all over the world and the discovery of these new forms and shapes and colours keeps me motivated!

 Tell us a fun fact about you.

1.  I can’t stop thinking about handpainted 1950’s American supermarket Showcards. Check them out!

2.  I’m eating a banana and painting two different signs at the same time as typing this!

 Could you give some advice for any young, emerging entrepreneurs?

That’s hard! I’d say- Get experienced, volunteer, learn skills, get a CV, make it better, ask advice, collaborate, look for orgs and schemes that can help and support you, find what you like and learn how to make it. It’s not easy. There will be dark days, weeks, especially January but keep going because its worth it! Belfast is a small place, it is possible to make stuff happen here. Don’t give up!

 Where can people find you?

My studio is at Vault Artist Studios Belfast. 8-84 Tower Street, BT5 4FH. Belfast.

 My Sign painting Insta:

https://www.instagram.com/szuszusigns/

 Everything work/life Insta:

https://www.instagram.com/laura_lamb_nelson/

 Oldish work Tumblr:

http://lauralambing.tumblr.com