Our History
We are a small group of parents who got together after many years of working in various creative and childcare sectors and decided to look at how we could work while still spending quality time with our then young children. This was the beginning of A Fine Mess UK. We began by running weekly messy play classes in North London, and over the next six years, our small group of like-minded people grew, and our sessions expanded to include Messy Play in the Park during the summer and Messy Parties on weekends.
Then the pandemic struck, and everything came to a standstill. We were able to get through the lockdown by working other jobs and selling messy craft kits and art supplies online.
We all found ourselves with time on our hands (even with the kids and tabletop learning!) and turned to our own creative play to keep our spirits up.
Many projects started with upcycling and repurposing home furnishings and decorative accessories to creating one-of-a-kind art. Overall, we rediscovered the artists we were all before life got in the way.
When we were able to meet again, we decided to restart the messy parties but not the messy play sessions. One of us had the bright idea of asking the team if they wanted to join her at a local art fair; despite our reservations, we all gave it a go and ran several stalls in various towns throughout the summer. They were challenging, yet a lot of fun!
This year we are all occupied with messy parties, so it will be difficult to continue the art fairs (though we will do a few), and because none of us has the time to individually do what it takes to promote our artwork for the foreseeable future, we have decided to set up an online art gallery here showcasing our work.
How we will work.
The gallery will showcase each artist's current works; the type and number are entirely up to the artist themselves.
Each month, the gallery, social media, and email will be staffed by one of the artists. They will post on social media, update the website, answer any emails*, and share any fairs or events we will be attending.
*messy parties are coordinated by Maria, our messy maker. Please note that we are full for 2023 and not taking any new bookings at this time.
Messy Play
