NEWS: I am very excited to announce I will be doing a workshop for the Stroud International Textile Festival on the 20th May. Tickets will be on sale soon, but in the meantime, check out the website: http://www.stroudinternationaltextiles.org.uk/

As a textile practitioner, I work predominantly with fabrics, preferring those that have a history. Textiles have always been a part of human societies and cultures, and I choose to experiment with the meaning of these textiles as a communication medium by lending new life to old and discarded scraps and clothing.

As an embroiderer I have a fascination with the continuation of skills and craftsmanship. My work can take hours to complete, and is a reflection of my own patience and dedication to my art. Working mostly with hand embroidery literally allows me time to meditate upon those stories which are woven into the materials I choose. The role of embroidery in traditional women’s roles cannot be ignored, and as a woman using stitch to express myself, I am keenly aware of this. I counteract the innate femininity of my choice of technique by using unusual or unexpected subject matter. I am faithful to the tradition of embroidery but am passionate about making it accessable to modern society through using easily identifiable imagery, and adding a little bit of wit and humour! I have a fascination with juxtapositions such as life and death, male and female, right and wrong and beauty and decay and explore this through a unique combination of traditional and modern. The line between fine art and craft is blended in my practice through the use of traditional craft skills to communicate ideas to my viewers through well realised and skilfully executed artworks. Through my creative practice I have discovered my fascination with the process of creation, and that this is often more important to me than the end product. For this reason I will always keep pushing the boundaries of my artwork, and let it lead me on a path to new discoveries and realisations. I will never stop exploring the possibilities of my artwork: I find inspiration everywhere I look

My current work is a further exploration of those juxtapositions that fascinate me, with particular focus on the idea of ‘disturbing domesticity’. Through use of found materials such as doilies and place mats, I am appropriating old embroideries and combining them with my own, using disquieting and troubling imagery such as beetles, bugs and spiders. These creepy crawlies act as a metaphor for the malaise that can lie beneath the façade of a seemingly happy home.