My mother and grandmother both hated sewing. The one thing my mother ever knitted was a violently lime green matinee jacket to dress me in as a baby, and my gran specialised in making those really hard darns on my socks – the kind that make standing for any length of time an extreme sport.
Despite this my Mum advised me to take sewing as an O level as she thought it would be useful, and she was right. I trained as a theatre designer at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic and used my sewing skills before and after as a supplement to my design work. In more recent years I have been feeding a passion for work that explores the textiles and sculpture crossover, and am naturally drawn to mixing materials as each piece dictates.
I’m interested in work that reflects a story, the journeys people make and how one person’s experience can resonate with many many more.
I also run The Creative Retreat, a venue on the Scottish coast with arts holidays, studios and accommodation, open all year round. We offer a range of creative holidays and / or space to develop your own work, re-energise or to just take time out from the day to day stuff.