My love of textiles is rooted in a desire to capture the tactile, mesmerising qualities found in nature and organic form. I believe the ebb and flow of natural structures, those quiet, intricate patterns etched into the landscape, hold endless possibilities for expression through cloth and stitch.
While landscapes have long inspired artists, I find that fibre and textile art offer a uniquely embodied way to engage with place. My work invites viewers to “watch where you tread”, to slow down, notice, and form a deeper, more intimate connection with the natural world.
Firmly grounded. in the dramatic and fragile landscapes of North Devon, my practice does not aim to replicate what I see. Instead, it seeks to explore the textures, moods, and quiet rhythms of place, interpreted through the language of textiles. It is an ongoing inquiry, a mapping of presence, a poetic conversation with land and memory.
My process is intuitive and material led. I choose fabrics for their honesty, texture, and ability to carry history. Stitching with immediacy and sensitivity, I build layered, abstract surfaces through mono printing, appliqué, and embroidery. Recent explorations include working with locally sourced wool and solar dyeing, infusing the cloth with gentle, natural hues and a sense of place, while consciously moving away from synthetic colour.
Embroidery (both hand and machine) feels liberating. It allows me to draw with thread, to mix and layer colour like overpainting. My materials are everything and anything: sumptuous velvets, matt wools, shimmering organza, fragile papers. I hoard and treasure tiny fragments, each a potential echo of coastline, cavern, or rock pool.
The surface of the fabric becomes transformed by the techniques that I employ, just as the surface of the landscape transforms under changing light and tide. I do not seek to imitate, but to investigate, to translate atmosphere into texture, and emotion into fibre.
My practice is experimental and multi-layered: combining felting, embellishment, mark-making and stitch. Each piece evolves organically through touch and discovery. At its core is a profound sense of fragility, of material, of landscape, of our environment. This latest collection honours the North Devon coastline: its overhanging caverns, tangled seaweeds, murky rock pools, and the sea’s fierce, dramatic offerings cast ashore by the Atlantic.
In my studio, I surround myself with baskets of fabric scraps, tangled threads, oddments and treasures. Everything is close at hand, especially my faithful Bernina, still going strong after 33 years. It is here, amidst quiet chaos and coastal memory, that my work continues to grow.
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