After a lifetime in Staffordshire I now find myself living near Bath, I am inspired by the countryside around me. My childhood was full of creatives crafts, thanks to my Mum and Grandma. This led me to pursue a foundation in art followed by a degree in textile floor coverings at Kidderminster.
Later I studied at college, achieving City & Guilds qualifications in machine embroidery, applique, fabric dyeing, felt making, paper making, soft furnishings, printing, interior design, and soft furnishings. This inspired me to take on a teaching role at Stafford college, progressing on to teach face to face workshops and online courses.
I enjoy using natural fabrics; cottons, silks, linens and wools, much of which is recycled and reclaimed. I love texture, natural sheen on the cloth and a soft, frayed ripped edge.
My signature colour palette is natural and muted, duck egg blue being a firm favourite of mine. I hand-dye, print or paint my fabrics and papers to achieve the required textures, colour or design.
Over the years I have built up the skills to enable me to start projects without knowing where they will end up, I usually begin by building up many background layers as you would a collage, I then add the birds or flowers. I will add a flower at a time starting with the feature flowers, then build up my piece aiming to get different size of flowers and in a variety of shapes and build up a flow or direction of stems to create movement. I use many textile techniques and break all of the rules.
