I have made things since childhood: using whatever was at hand to externalise my curiosity about the world and have time alone with myself. This eclectic taste in materials led me to train in Textile Art, where the varied techniques such as stitch, collage, applique, piecing and screen-printing satisfied my way of working.
My love for mythology and folklore has enabled me to place my own story in a wider context, exploring memory and stories. The darker tones of experience are married with a delight in the everyday.
The poetry of Rilke, Rumi, W B Yeats and Emily Dickinson are a continued inspiration. As are Bulgarian folk songs (particularly women’s voices) and Bach. But I prefer to work in silence. Some motifs have remained with me for years: birds (particularly corvids and especially magpies), red shoes, the child. Inspired by the mountains of southern Spain, in recent years I have investigated landscape and moved more towards abstraction.
The materials used are often relevant to the image I am making: old clothing, significant envelopes and notes….. I recently came across a case full of French lace that my great aunt had collected which has found its way into the work. Since investigating dyes on my M.A. course, I have been captured by the magic of indigo, which I like to use on paper and fabric. I’m only now, some 20 years later, broadening my colour palette and enjoying oil painting to explore this.
I use brown paper as a basis for the work– for its strength when manipulated with dyes and stitch. I collage and manipulate the paper and fabric with stitch, wax, bleach, and olive oil and often leave it outside to “weather”. Stitch and applique are used to create images and screen-printing is used for the quality of the marks.
I hope my work delights, intrigues and chime with others.