I have a little shop!

After much procrastination I have finally got myself a little online shop. Visit Folksy to see my shop 'Everything Glows...'. I have only got a few items up for sale at the moment, but keep having a look as I will add more as I make more! Folksy is a lovely online community of makers who sell, buy and share all things (contemporary) crafty. They are currently running a brilliant competition called 'Upcycle Christmas' to raise money for Sue Ryder Care. It combines my twin passions of charity shop rummaging and making things, so watch this space for details of my contribution.

Open Studio Weekend

A belated update! At the end of September I participated in Cheshire Open Studios, a network of artists opened up their work spaces for the weekend to the public. It was a big task to transform my garden and house into a mini gallery-cum-sculpture garden, my cats certainly regarded it as odd! Some lovely people visited and I got some positive feedback.


The weekend was also a good chance to debut my new jewellery pieces. I have been experimenting by creating flowers using sweet wrappers and stitched with wire, a development of my installation work Everything Glows for the Very Small. Jewellery is a new avenue for my work, a kind of sculpture for the body. I would love to develop it further, creating larger, brighter more arresting pieces.

The Four Wards Lighting Project

Earlier in the year I was awarded a commission by Blackpool Council in conjunction with Blackpool Illuminations and The Festival of Light to be a lead artist on The Four Wards Lighting Project. As part of the regeneration of four seafront wards in the town, artists were asked to propose art projects involving community groups and using light in some form. I proposed a project in which I would invite groups to participate in urban and beach clean up events to collect plastic flotsam and litter. The 'treasure' collected would then become the raw materials for illuminated sculptural pieces. I was absolutely thrilled when I heard that I along with three other artists had been selected for the project! Excitement then turned to trepidation as I began to undertake my first big commission since graduating last summer.

I went to Blackpool yesterday for the first meeting to kick start the project. I met the three other artists; Jessica Lloyd Jones, Mark Parry and Ruth Tyson-Jones, each doing fascinating and very different projects. I feel more excited than nervous now (the right proportion I think!). I learnt about the community groups that I may be working with and we talked through the practicalities and time scales. Incredibly Blackpool Council claim that there is no beach litter, due to the practice of sending out big tractors to sweep the sea bed! A beach clean may be off the cards and so the next step is to source a large amount of plastic waste. It may be that donated broken toys, chip forks, bottle tops and so on, when stitched into the sculptures become like a memory bank. Participants can see their objects transformed and illuminated.

We also discussed the possibility of using empty shop units as exhibition space at the end of the project- unfortunately wandering around the town I could see far too many possible units. My ward is Talbot- the town centre and main shopping drag. I loved the riot of colour from the arcades, souvenir and pound shops and plastic illuminations. I think Blackpool is the perfect muse for my glowing plastic sculptures and the chance to work with the Illuminations people, the experts in 'artificial sunshine' is a wonderful opportunity. Once the project is in full flow from October onwards I will be posting updates on this site.

Come and See Me Make!

Time is ticking down to my Cheshire Open Studios weekend on the 26th and 27th September. Hopefully the sun will be shining and I can transform my garden into a mini sculpture trail with some of the installations I have made over the past year. Photographs, drawings, sketchbooks, jewellery and hanging mobiles will also be on display and for sale. It'll be a busy September!

Coinciding with the Open Studios is an exhibition featuring work from all of the artists and makers involved. It is held at the Castle Parks Arts Centre in Frodsham from 16th September until 22nd October.

Come along to my studio for a nosy and a chat between 10am -5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Brochures with the address and information on all of the other open studios in the area are availble from Cheshire Libraries and at various venues. Please contact me if you would like to receive one in the post. Click here to see the website too!

Shiny Bottle Garlands Workshop

Last weekend I was proud to be Rubbish Revamped's very first Guest Workshop Tutor. With a lovely bunch of ladies all into their crafts, I demonstrated some of the techniques I have been developing over the last year. We made Shiny Bottle Garlands from old plastic bottles, bottle tops and CDs. The sun shined on Chorlton just long enough for us to take our creations out into the garden to see how they caught the light and added a bit of colour. I really enjoyed giving the workshop and would like to do some more!

New Threads

Today I created an new installation at The White Gallery in Bollington for New Threads an exhibition of textile art as part of the Three Shires Textile Festival. I've been busy stitching little wing-like bundles of found colour using old sweet wrappers and toy balls. The work is almost impossible to describe without it sounding very odd indeed! For me the piece is reminiscent of insect wings, birds of paradise and tropical blooms- anything at all that burns with colour and plays with light. Strangely, the initial impetus for the work came from seeing a documentary on the Pixar film A Bug's Life. One of the animators described how as part of his research he would lie in the grass looking up through the flowers, noticing how translucent and luminescent the world was from an ant's eye view. Everything Glows for the Very Small can be seen at The White Gallery from the 4th-19th July.

Drawing With Light

I've just finished a fantastic Digital Photography course with the brilliant Ministry of Craft, in a bid to get to grips with my beast of an SLR. Whilst doing my homework I experimented with light trail photography, something I loved doing whilst on my degree.I'm fascinated by the ghostly, other-worldy shapes and qualities acheived by simply waving light around. I think they have a painterly quality: layers of colour, juxtaposed shapes and delicate line qualties. I've recently worked with some lovely children from Park Lane SEN Specialist School, creating shapes with light in response to music. The sensory delight that comes from dancing lights in a dark space made us all feel uplifted.

Today I visited Manchester School of Art's degree show and came away feeling inspired to draw and make! The next generation of embroiderers are a talented bunch. This year there seems to be a focus on technique with some exqusite work on show. Degree shows are breathtaking in the sheer range of creativity and innovation all in one room. Go and see it!!