Working with wool and other fibres is my happy place.  It is such a tactile medium to work with and you can easily get lost in the feel and colours of each different fibre that you choose to work with.  I also love the idea that the pieces that I create will one day be able to harmlessly and naturally degrade and become one with the earth once more, leaving only memories.  The aim of my practice is to slowly become more and more environmentally friendly and sustainable through finding new ways of sourcing and preparing my fibres and in dyeing them.

I am lucky enough to have a studio in the garden that overlooks the sea and the islands of Bute and Cumbrae.  Here I can design and lay out my work, leaving it in place for days on end until I finish it.  My studio is also a lovely space where I teach small groups of students in wet felting.  It is lovely to see everyone find their artistic voices, having fun and enjoying this part of the Cowal peninsula.  There may also be freshly baked scones to keep us going as we felt..

I find inspiration in nature and living in beautiful Argyll I cannot help but be guided in all that I do by what lives around me.  A big part of what drew me here from Ayrshire is the magical energy of this location.  There are stone circles, ornate rock carvings, fairy glens and rocky hills where the kings of old met and ruled the land.  There is even a suggestion of Arthurian legend running through this part of the world…..

I have recently been exploring the joys of nature journaling and making my own sketchbooks.  It is a way of looking at this beautiful environment in a more deeper and magical way.  Felting, eco printing and natural dying all become a part of this new creative process.

Wet felting can be such an intuitive process where you are drawn to colours and textures to create a two or three dimensional piece of felt.  I sometimes sketch, paint and collage ideas that eventually find form in felt or I have an image inside my head, ideas on how I can bring it to life and simply sit at my table moulding it into life.  I think the great thing about working with wool and felting is that it is very forgiving and allows you to make mistakes, learn, change direction and express what is in your heart.  Art becomes so much more accessible to everyone in this way.  This is what I hope to inspire in others, the confidence and belief that they can create something beautiful and meaningful and become artists expressing what lies within them.  No judgement, no fear ,just having fun in a safe space, surrounded by soft fluffy fibres…….

If you would like to visit my studio, book a course for yourself or a group of up to four or ask any other questions just send me a message through my mobile number, email or Instagram DM.

In my studio there is a wooden inscription that reminds me that the space is an imaginarium, a place where the imagination lives and where it is allowed the freedom to express itself.  I often meditate using this energy, pushing my noisy head out of the way and letting my heart speak and lead me.  Hopefully we can all find that time and space to feel this in our lives and let it guide us just that little bit more.