Back in 2011 when Central Saint Martins first asked me to consider teaching short courses online my initial reaction was, “Wow! Does that mean I could be spending my days on the beach in Bali, waddling down to my favourite internet cafe every so often to deliver a lesson, whilst sipping on a mango smoothie, and looking forward to a chat with the locals on my way home to the little house on stilts that I rent every time I’m there? Sounds good! Sign me up. I'm already on my way!”

Once reality kicked in however and I started to analyse the pitfalls; sporadic power cuts, slow internet connection and the relentless screeching in Balinese, “Hey! Cewek! Cewek!” (Hey! Girls!) from the cafe’s wolf-whistling pet mynah bird. Couple this with the all-roads-lead-to-question of how to recreate the unique and welcoming ambiance of my real time classroom within the confines of a computer screen, and I unreservedly concluded that teaching online was not for me.

Dressed in traditional kebaya, Balinese women wait to perform a Hari Ibu (mother’s day) temple dance.

Now fast forward to 2020, a global pandemic, a lockdown with no definitive end in sight, all of my face-to-face teaching at Central Saint Martins cancelled for the foreseeable future, and with no furlough, I have found no other option but to throw myself in at the deep end and embrace this ‘new normal’ by teaching everything I have in my box of tricks via zoom and other social media platforms?

Of course there have been hiccups, mainly due to my ‘old school’ aversion to technology, but my first few students have been absolutely wonderful, teaching me new ‘shortcuts’ and advising me on how best to support them as they learn. And although I have really missed teaching in my classroom at CSM this summer, now that I’m up and running it has to be said, that I’m having a really good time.

After all, here I am sat with my hair up and my lips on but for all you know, in my pyjamas from the waist down. I've used the age old 'World of Interiors' trick of styling the part of the room that will be captured on camera behind me, whilst being careful to angle my computer so there will never be sight of the pile of washing-up in my kitchen sink, that people who know me will know is there.

Now don't get me wrong, it's been tough and it may well get even tougher, but I’ve come up with a plan to keep on teaching which is what I love to do most. And what’s more, I’ll have you know, that once this dreadful pandemic is over, not only will I have found a new, independent and possibly less stressful way of working, but I will have developed the skills, the experience and the confidence to finally, if of course I still want to, give teaching online from Bali a go!

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