I've always loved textiles - the feel of cloth, it's colours and textures - however what started my journey into textile art was the simple running stitch. I learnt to quilt a long time ago, but the fascination of the light and shadow a simple line of running stitch makes has stayed with me ever since. My textile art really took off around 2010 when I was able to balance my time to be more creative, and it has expanded ever since.
I have a studio at home (it was one of the reasons I moved to Worcester) and, since November 2022, I work around 3 days a week in a studio at Bevere Gallery, Worcester. I prefer to hand stitch as it's the repetitive movement of the needle through fabric that I really enjoy. I dye and print my own fabric from old sheets, pillowcases, shirts etc as this gives me the soft colours I like to use. I also like to treat fabrics with gesso to give me a surface to draw and paint on. I'm always mindful of the previous history of my fabric - so I'll leave an unpicked seam, buttons and button holes in place, and much of what I use has personal associations such as ties from my brother or an old linen shirt that I've worn for 35years!
I'm interested in what makes a place special - landscape, maps, walking. Antarctica is a huge inspiration. I went there in 2002 and fell in love with this cold, but beautiful, place. I went again in 2020 just before Covid 19 engulfed the world and the colours keep cropping up in my work. I'm always taking photographs and keep an ever growing folder of images from plants and trees to water and ice to landscapes that I can use as a jumping off point for a piece of work. Stone circles and pre-historic landscapes are another source of inspiration. After a recent visit to Avebury stone circle I've been working on a series of pieces that interpret the site and surrounding landscape, imagining connections with the past and the peoples who lived there.
