Artist & Facilitator

I am a freelance artist based in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in the North West of England. I have worked within the performing and fine arts for 20 years. Initally I worked within the theatre as a performer and on production. Then moving on to a street circus group that performed around the UK. I did my degree BA(hons) Fine Art at Uclan. For fifteen years I have collaborated with local arts organisations, worked on youth community projects and in schools running a variety of creative projects. I am currently a member of North Lonsdale Embroiderers Guild, Blue Tarn, a rural womens artists collective and Trident Textiles, based in Furness. I am always working on a variety of small scale projects including photography, textile and mixed media. Although my favourite thing is meeting and talking to interesting people!


Tuesday 27 October 2009

Posted off the Momiji Doll!




I cannot believe the mammoth task I have just performed!  I managed to make the doll in just a week and got it sent off special delivery on Monday hoping to beat the postal strike and then i learn that the deadline has been extended!!! Typical!  At least I have done it and i am on with the next thing now.





Wednesday 21 October 2009

Momiji Contest

I am an avid textile hoarder (carrier bags and boxes oozing out of everything possible cupboard), and love reading sewing/quilting mags and look forward to sitting in bed with a brew and a fave mag. In one of these mags was a comp for making a momiji doll. It was open to all but particularly textile artists. Momiji are little friendship dolls that are all the rage recently. The idea of the comp was to get one off dolls into a haute couture catwalk in LA. The finalists would end up with a mag slot and some contacts in the business. BIG PROB for me was I had only read it last week and the closing date in Fri 30th Oct 2009 at 5pm! So I have had just over a week to design and create it. Days are out cos of my son so I get a couple of hours in the evening these days to do work. Although I am not particularly happy with it I am glad to be entering it because it had pushed me into action again. Check out the dolls and the comp www.lovemomiji.com/couturecontest


Recently I have had a spurt of ideas and had been experimenting with some fabrics and paper but this is confined to the evenings. I don't have the studio space either which is frustrating as it means tidying away everything each time. Considering making under the stairs into a little cubby hole for stuff. The Summer House was a great space but the light was poor and it was too damp for paintings. I wonder if I could justifiy an extension just for a studio?