Back to being a beginner (again)
There’s a certain point where running a business, raising three kids, and keeping everything moving stops feeling like “busy” and starts feeling like routine.
So I did something slightly out of character.
I signed up for a beginner plastering course.
Two evenings a week, 5–8pm, stepping completely out of my normal world and into something I probably should have learned about 20 years ago — considering the amount of house renovations I’ve already done over the years.
Back to being a beginner (again)
The course ran over four weeks in a small group of ten adults. A real mix of characters, backgrounds, and reasons for being there. That alone was worth it.
It’s funny how quickly you realise everyone in the room has a different life going on outside of those three hours. That mix of people quietly opens your eyes a bit — you stop seeing “students” and start seeing proper lived experience sitting side by side.
And it’s a good reminder that everyone’s carrying something you can’t see at first glance.
The setting changed everything
The course was based in an old brewery, and it genuinely made the whole experience.
High ceilings, solid walls, that slightly worn industrial feel you can’t fake. Summer evenings walking into that space, knowing you were there to learn something hands-on rather than sit in front of a screen, gave it a completely different energy.
It made the whole thing feel slower in a good way.
Where I surprised myself
What stood out most wasn’t just the learning itself, but how comfortable I felt doing it.
There’s a lot of patience involved in plastering. You can’t rush it. You can’t force a finish. You have to read the material, adjust, step back, correct, and trust the process.
That’s usually where I’d expect frustration to kick in.
Instead, it felt natural.
My eye for detail, and probably years of dealing with products, builds, and constant tweaking in business, actually translated better than I expected. I wasn’t the quickest, but I was steady. And in that environment, steady matters more.
The practical side of it
We covered all the foundations:
- Preparing surfaces properly
- Mixing plaster to the right consistency
- Applying base coats and working with them as they set
- Fixing sheet materials
- Finishing plasterboard to a smooth level surface
Nothing glamorous about it. Just repetition and learning how much difference small details make.
The unexpected bit at the end
On the final session, we moved into coving and ceiling roses — the more decorative side of traditional plasterwork.
That’s where things shifted slightly.
You start to see how much of it is about form, structure, and interpretation rather than just function. Once you understand the basics, you’re encouraged to experiment with different moulds and shapes.
That moment is where the idea for Relic first surfaced.
Not as a direct link to plastering, but as a way of thinking — taking something foundational, stripping it back, and rebuilding it with intention.
What I took from it
It wasn’t about learning a trade.
It was about stepping into a completely different environment, with different people, different pressures, and a different pace — and realising you’re more adaptable than you think.
And oddly, it also made me think about how much you miss when everything you do stays inside the same world, day after day.
Sometimes the most useful ideas don’t come from pushing harder.
They come from stepping into a room where you’re not already the person who knows what they’re doing.