If you really want to know about me, then spend some time with my artwork, it says so much about who I am. Alternatively, grab yourself a cuppa and read my wandering arty journey here. I am an artist and psychotherapist, and these themes are threads that run through all of my work, both in art that I create, and within the counselling room working with clients in creative ways.
My journey so far…
I never went to art school. Being an artist was something I felt I always was, I studied to A level, got highest grades, and was offered a place on Foundation, but at that time, I was forced into getting a ‘normal job’ (more on this later!) and so that was that. I didn’t pursue art for many years, however I was creative in many ways, stitch, knitting. I wrote knitting patterns and had a knitting blog for many years, I took commissions and focused on this alongside my ‘day job’ as a nurse. It was only after a major life event in 2011, that I really started to think about what I wanted to do about my lifelong dream. I continued to work with wool, I spent some time in the Outer Hebrides, and felt really inspired by the landscapes, the wild windswept ways and weaving, I taught myself to weave and began weaving shawls and commission weaves from my now previous art studio in Stafford. I taught knitting and other wool based activities, learnt how to spin and wet felt yarn and indulged in being part of an artist community, attending life drawing classes and textiles courses at mac Birmingham. I studied briefly with OCA working mainly in weaving and stitch. Alongside these creative endeavours, I studied counselling and psychotherapy at masters level, and really learnt so much about how the mind and body are connected, the stories we tell ourselves and others, the narratives and threads that run through our lives that connect us to others and a sense of belonging. I now integrate my artistic self with my therapy work and the two blend together really well, bit like alchemy for the soul! My other passion is writing, and this is a new thread I have more recently introduced, to give some further meaning and metaphor to my work.
My artwork is mainly abstract, sculpture and stitch inspired by the feeling of connection between my internal landscape (my psych/subconscious self/the soul ) and the external landscape. I have long held a fascination with nature, landscapes, life cycles, rituals, death, decay, the body, immortality, spirituality and felt senses, symbolism and metaphor and these are common themes in my work.
I work from my quirky, sanctuary-like home studio in Stafford, UK. Somewhere that I can shut myself away from the world and be arty, its such a beautiful safe space that I haven’t experienced for a long time and I wish I had done it years ago!
Exhibitions
Cannon Hill Art School – MAC Birmingham 2015
Staffordshire Open Art Exhibition Summer 2015
Gainsborough Artworks Studio Open Day 2015
Ancient High House Art Exhibition Jan 2017
Collaborations
‘Yarning’ a play – MAC Birmingham 2016
Resident Textiles Artist – Staffordshire Library Services 2015-2016