3D Pieces
Fox Forest in Winter
This piece is inspired by a small forest near my home. Walking there in winter, even with mostly bare trees, made me feel safe and calm. The cushioned forest floor and canopy insulate sound and wind, making it a sanctuary of silence. It made me think what a safe holding place forests are, providing shelter and food sources for wildlife, protection from weather, creating a safe, comforting place. A vessel was the obvious choice for this piece, a holding place for all of the roles the forest plays for humans and wildlife alike.
It is the first textile vessel I have made, using coffee dyed muslin for the structure and flax thread and local sheep’s wool for textures. I thoroughly enjoyed making it; satisfied that the fibres, combined with my collage papers painted with natural inks and paints and forest finds, combined well to describe the safe and comfortable feeling the forest provides as well as the colours and textures.
The Feeling of a Forest
This paper sculpture made from Japanese kozo (mulberry) paper, natural inks, forest finds and encaustic wax, is a wrap around structure giving the impression of a protective hug, describing the feeling I get when I am in the heart of a forest.
Paper Bowls
Nature, Fragile and Strong
These pieces are inspired by a delicate egg shell I found in early spring. It struck me how thin and fragile it was and yet it sustains life. Pairing this with a wonder of bird’s nests; how they are made from so many small parts and are cleverly overlapped and woven together by the birds to form a strong structure, a home sturdy enough to raise their young in, led me to create this series of work on the theme of Nature, fragile and strong.
These papier mache bowls are made using collage papers (Japanese kozo paper, rice paper, stained kitchen towel) painted with my natural inks and paints (walnut and coffee inks, sage, spirulina, iron stone, calendula, tumeric and Cotswold stone watercolour paints), tea bags, muslin, thread, wool, natural finds like moss, lichen, twigs, feathers, buttercup and dandelion petals and leaf skeletons.
Plaster Bowls
In Harmony with Nature
When creating pieces, there is always a constant exchange with materials and nature, always trying to strike a balance between the man-made and natural, much like we do in life
This vessel is made of plaster, representing human development, embedded with nature finds, presenting a push and pull between the two. The small woven element provides a solution or a compromise – a beautiful fragment created from natural flax wool using human hands. An example of humans working with nature, not against it.
This vessel presents a message of positivity, reminding us that nature provides stability in times of uncertainty – the seasons will still change, spring will still come, and the buttercups will still bloom.
