From big skies, seascapes, trees, mountains, rock formations and human interactions with the landscape to the detail on tiny pebbles and individual leaves – inspiration is everywhere. These subjects stretch my technical skills as I try to do justice to reality without purely reproducing it. When I want to rest my busy mind and let my imagination and subconscious take over, the flow takes me towards abstraction. This is how I characterise the two distinct themes and methods in my work.
I work predominantly in print, but frequently make textile pieces and sometimes the two converge. In both I use layering and multiple techniques to achieve effects.
I enjoy the tension between the control and precision needed for printmaking and my experimental approach. Combining techniques and layering to create complex images is particularly satisfying. Most of my print processes are manual - creating intaglio plates, mixing the perfect colours, hand-inking, and registering and printing them on my etching press. Similarly satisfying is the slow process of 'auditioning' hand dyed and printed fabrics and papers, layering them and stitching them to create my one-off collages.
Alongside framed and mounted work, I create covered sketchbooks, unique cards and wearable hand-dyes.
Any open classes I teach will be listed on the workshop page of this website and on my own website (link next to the 'W' below). Please contact me if you are interested in booking tailor-made printmaking or textiles classes for your group.