Parchment 2018  constructed from hand made silk papers (mulberry silk fibres) inlaid with linen thread formed using CMC paste between synthetic mesh. Layered collage techniques. Hand and machine stitching. Relief forms internal structure formed over Lutrador. Three layers: silk paper structure, under layer of scrim, mounted onto either off white upholstery vilene or thick handmade or water colour paper.hand made silk paper surfaces, digital and hand stitching.  Dimensions 170cm x 62cm

This piece  spoke to me about parched landscapes. Water and cellular leaf structures were my original starting point opposites which through photosynthesis, thrive.  Without water, plants become shadowy forms, parched by drought.  Visions of drought-stricken landscape with plant forms struggling to survive resonated with me as both an artist and a gardener.  Water as a life giver and life starved of water.

Blow the Wind Southerly

Large scale art textile, selected for Contextile2016 International exhibition, Guimaraes Portugal.  Measuring 150cm x 250cm.

Constructed over a period of time (2013 -2015) this final version combines digital technology (laser etched wood print blocks) with handmade and hand dyed and hand printed silk papers and Tissutex papers, with hand stitching and hand wrapping in paper yarns.  Mounted on a piece of bark cloth.  A reference to sails and overseas journeys.

Exploring the idea of journeys real and imagined, Blow the Wind Southerly was informed by the annual swallow migration whilst referencing ancient landscapes: a layered narrative somewhat like an archaeological dig.

Distressed Landscape

Framed artwork.  Tissutex paper overlaid with distressed scrim. Printed with oil based inks from a laser etched wood block .

Flights of Fancy

A  series of light weight, ethereal glove forms suggesting any number of narratives to you the viewer developed from diverse starting points. A project initially commissioned for Approaches to Stitch. Six Artists. Edited by Maggie Grey for d4daisy books (ISBN 978-0-9574413-1-6)

My challenge to the readers was to show how new works can be created from combining diverse and unlikely starting points.  Re configuring  and reinventing elements of existing pieces of my textile artwork plus a new element (gloves).  I liked the idea of transforming a practical item of clothing into textile art, where the end piece might tell a story or convey a particular message to the viewer, or simply leave the viewer to make up their own mind!