We are Adam and Katherine, a husband and wife team who started Kyloe Creations at the end of 2022. We are both academic scientists (genetics, molecular biology) by profession. Adam developed ME (CFS) a few years ago, which steadily got worse. Despite best efforts to manage the condition and work from home as much as possible, it became impossible to continue the job that was a passion for so long. Katherine still works as an academic, but runs our social media and of course is the primary component of Adam’s care. Adam has been a creative for much of his life, primarily through his passion for landscape and nature photography. You can see his work as @adamwestphoto on Instagram, X, Vero, 500px, Flickr and he sells his work on Pixels. However, ME means no more long walks up hills and along coastlines, so the camera tends to stay home too. Like many creatives, Adam’s passion for photography is in the next location and new images he’d like to create. Not being able to get out much does impact your mental health and your enthusiasm for sharing your work. Adam has tried so many things to understand his condition, improve its management and deal with the immense psychological impact of a living with variable chronic disabling condition and losing the life you had. Engaging in appropriate activities and hobbies can be helpful for people with ME/CFS or chronic pain conditions, as long as they are adapted to the individual’s capabilities and energy levels. These activities can provide a sense of purpose, relaxation, and a distraction from pain or discomfort. This could be a hobby like gardening, baking, writing or indeed photography, but a lack of energy and “brain fog” makes each of these difficult. Adam found jigsaws and building LEGO (in an effort to sell the household stockpile) very helpful. This then developed into crafts, especially working with wood. A chance video about laser engraving struck a chord, so we took the plunge. The beauty of laser engraving these days is you can make so many different things with high quality from your own home. It has become a way of tying together a creative drive with the need to make physical things with my hands, and it also builds on my technical skills and computing know how. Things have moved on quickly now. We have a home studio with the specialist equipment, workspaces and storage infrastructure to support a small laser crafting business. Besides setting this up, the first few months have been about trying out techniques and materials. You need to really understand a process and where its limitations are before you can develop products that have aesthetic and structural quality. This comes naturally to Adam as it is much like developing protocols in the laboratory. From there we have developed a series of products that we find appealing and are not something you would find in a big box store or at Amazon. We started selling on Etsy, which has gone quite well so far. However, we want to build a community around what we create. The goal is to create things people actually want and inspire others to express their creative side in a world that increasingly takes us away from the people we want to be. We’re excited to see where this venture takes us and who we will meet along the way.

Meet Mia – Quality Control Officer She is a blue grey tabby and will soon have a first birthday. She is small, but fast and quick. She has an eye for detail and is very attentive – perfect for the role here at Kyloe Creations. She keeps an eye on everything and is frequent visitor to the studio, so there’s no slacking to be had. Meet Malaki – Chief of Morale Officer Malaki is a big tabby with white boots and tuxedo chest. He’s almost twice the size of his sister Mia and is a very different character. He is clearly very smart and capable, but he’s a bit of a day-dreamer and lacks the focus for many roles here at Kyloe Creations. He’s very playful and affectionate, so we think we have found the perfect role for him. Work does tend to stop when Malaki visits the studio, but it is important to take frequent breaks. Meet Moggy – retired Moggy is a very affectionate black cat. He has just turned 20 years old and he’s certainly made good use of his nine lives. His vision is not so great, but he likes to explore the different smells of the studio. Here he is with sawdust on his face! He much prefers people over cats and frequently puts Mia and Malaki in their place. He also prefers human food. Don’t leave any around because he will find it!