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East London makers<br />
Art & crafts<br />
Not just any old window display, above; tie-dye magic, below; Lizzie and one of her piñatas, right<br />
From tie-dying and piñatas, to magical window displays,<br />
Christine Preisig meets multi-talented maker Lizzie King<br />
Every day Lizzie King goes to her studio in De<br />
Beauvoir and makes things.<br />
“For ages I didn’t know what to call myself.<br />
Now I just say, ‘I make things’,” Lizzie<br />
explains, listing all her different<br />
occupations. She is a prop-maker,<br />
artist, tie-dye enthusiast, teacher,<br />
knitter, sign-maker, jewellery<br />
designer and published author.<br />
For a long time Lizzie felt she<br />
had to specialise and focus<br />
on one thing. But the different<br />
strands started to come together and<br />
combining them under one roof felt right.<br />
“It happened quite organically, without thinking<br />
of a business plan. I just get distracted by many<br />
things,” she says.<br />
After graduating with a fine art degree in<br />
sculpture from Brighton University, she assisted<br />
a set designer for three years. Then she began to<br />
work for her own clients, choosing projects<br />
that she felt connected to. Teaching art<br />
projects at primary schools helped<br />
her support herself during those<br />
years.<br />
Lizzie’s first big breakthrough<br />
came with an appearance on<br />
Channel 4's Sunday Brunch, where<br />
she demonstrated how to make<br />
piñatas. That led to a wave of piñata<br />
commissions and more workshops,<br />
and demand for her colourful, scaly paper<br />
creations has been strong ever since.<br />
The same can be said about her tie-dye<br />
10 LOVEEAST
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