Sue MacKechnie

Challenges of combining childcare and printmaking in the Workshop

Clip Title	Challenges of combining childcare and printmaking in the Workshop
Interviewee Name	Sue MacKechnie
Interviewee Role	Workshop member since 1980, when she moved to Glasgow with husband John to work at the Print Studio.
Interviewer Name	Kerry Patterson
Interview Date	9 October 2018
Clip Length	2 minutes 11 seconds

Transcription

SM: I became a member probably about thirty-nine years ago [laughs]. Kirsty [her daughter] was a toddler, so it was quite difficult. I would drop her off at nursery and then rush into the Print Studio, do some etching, work on my etchings and rush back to pick her up. And she was only in for a morning, so that was quite hectic. But I actually got a remarkable amount of work done [….] Although what stood out to me was that any female friends that I made, didn’t have children. I was the only one - I felt isolated still because I was the only one with a child and, I was unusual, in those days.

KP: Perhaps it’s more difficult to pursue, an artistic career….

SM: A career, yeah, exactly, exactly. So, some people made a choice I think, career-wise. Cause it definitely made things difficult for me. And I, the other parts of my work, the preparation for doing the prints I would draw at home. It would be things out of my window or still lives, that’s what I would do, it’s all sort of home-based. So, like I said, in the early days, I would - Kirsty must have been about two actually, when I joined, so that would be thirty-eight years. I would have all the drawings ready and I could do the tracings at home, ready to dash to the Print Studio, make the plates [laughs]. It certainly concentrated the mind.