Now, Now, Nowhere...

Text and Imagery - Dom Read

Hey chaps, just checking in with a little update of times gone by of late. Letting you know what has been going on in the dreadful world of Dread Decks... I will start with a little apology, I've let you down, let me family down and let meself down! No, I joke, kinda.

The best intentions and all that don't always lead to the best results!! 

I have been working hard, working my arse off and yet sometimes it feels a bit like there is nothing to show for it. This leads me to feel like I simply haven't been working hard enough and so I beat meself up. I pile more and more on to my plate, forgetting about the many plates that are already starting to slow on their spin. 

As you can imagine the more plates that you are spinning the more that you are going to drop when things start to fall apart. I cracked, shattered from the piss poor attempt at catching up with myself before the fall.  

Hand embroidered Dickies jacket. Photo by Andrew Gooding.

Now you might say bloody hell Dom this is all a bit dramatic isn't it chuck!! And quite frankly yes it fucking is. I am not writing this stuff for sympathy but more simply to tell you about how I feel, explain why things are the way that they are and hopefully to inspire you to take better care of yourself than I do.

There have been many times over the life of Dread Decks where we have stop, started and I have said nothing. This time I thought maybe I would try and talk about things. I don't mean to be a downer as I am very positive about the future and hopeful for things to come. I also don't intentionally run myself and the company into the ground repeatedly I simply get excited about new projects and under estimate the time they will take, my personal and bodily capabilities and the difficulty of the projects I take on.  

I also write this as an apology for the consistent mistakes and slow progress. And I write this as a promise that I am trying to get it right. I'm trying to make Dread Decks better and I'm trying to make the clothing industry better. It's just sometimes tougher than I am...

Skateboarder vs Pebble Illustration

2021 has been filled with exciting projects, I have completed painting commissions, both canvases, jeans and skateboards, I have made bespoke tailored pieces for clients, I have developed new garments for the brand, made hats for the first time, ran many workshops including skateboard painting workshops and clay snail workshops, I have worked as a fashion technician at University and I have been working to complete various online courses that will in the end hopefully benefit Dread Decks.

All that said the things that are most prevalent in my head are all of the things that I had planned that I have failed to achieve. Perhaps it is just the time of year, I always get a bit melancholy towards the end of the year or perhaps it is just being ill. Whatever the reason, I know it isn't the end of the world in the grand scheme of things and it doesn't really matter. 

Flower Illustration

When taking on all of these different projects I am not very good at dividing up my time. I get obsessed with individual projects and other parts of the business slip through the cracks. This is something I am working but it still happens sometimes. Taking on the extra jobs such as specific commissions or running art workshops is an amazing experience and great fun but because of being a one man band, most of the time, this ends up taking time away from other parts of the brand and everything grinds to a halt. I end up spreading myself too thin and wiping myself out which results in poor outcomes and again slows the process.

It has been such a brilliant year, I have loved so much of it. I have found more joy in my work than ever before, feeling like things are finally moving and making progress. Yet at the same time I am very aware of all things that haven't been done that I intended on doing and it is hard. I am so grateful, just exhausted.

Being so tired resulted in my immune system being down. I returned to Uni to do my technician job and got hit with freshers flu and then immediately after as I recovered I was hit with covid. I have been so lucky in that my symptoms have been fairly mild but I just cracked and slept and couldn't keep my shit together anymore. I had reached the point where I could barely think creatively and had no drive to produce art or clothing. I wanted to, I just couldn't pick and choose or focus on where to start. In getting ill it forced me to rest and I just shut down for days, this gave me sometime to reflect on the past few months. 

I'm well on the road to recovery but I know I can't keep working like this forever. I'm going to try to prioritise my tasks better and build a healthier relationship with my work routine but if anyone has any suggestions, guidance or help to offer I am all ears! My arms are wide open!!

As always, love ya!
All the best
Dom xx  

One sick little Koi lying in bed...