I am part of the “Baby Boomer Generation”, a post war baby born in 1950’s Britain at a time of hardship and austerity. I watched my mother make and mend out of necessity and during both my primary and early secondary education “sewing” was firmly on the curriculum for girls.

By the mid 1970’s I found myself in my first posting as an expatriate wife duly armed with a couple of kids, no TV, no radio, no telephone and a visa which didn’t allow me to undertake any form of paid employment. It was then that necessity took over and I rediscovered the needle and thread, this time for pleasure, and I started to hand embroider with whatever threads and fabrics I could find locally. It was all very random, getting hold of “kits” wherever I could. Nothing spectacular was produced but stitching became a way of life, a relaxation, a pleasure and thus I muddled my way through a series of 3rd world and hardship postings!

In the late 1990’s I was introduced to quilting, which I initially found very exciting but I quickly tired of the traditional blocks and piecing and quickly found myself experimenting with applique and stitch.

Some years later, on my return back “home” I discovered Machine Embroidery and completed my City and Guilds (certificate and diploma) with Pam Watts at Missenden Abbey. I am a participant at Committed to Cloth (committedtocloth.uk) where I am currently experimenting with dyes and their different uses for surface design, and also at Studio 11 in Eastbourne with Christine Chester.

I am also a member of a group studying Art and Design. The style and manner in which this group is directed has opened my eyes to the many alternative ways I can express myself through my art, not least of all the encouragement to think “outside of the box”. Who knows where this will take me!?

I love contrasts and bring texture into my work with colour and stitch and by manipulating the fabrics I have chosen to use.

I consider each project to be a journey and I don’t like to over plan. I prefer to start with a simple idea and see where it goes, where my thoughts take me, allowing my ideas to evolve organically. I often find that I go off at a tangent and the original piece remains unfinished, surpassed by new ideas. I am a great “what-iffer” and, sometimes I find that my “what-iff’s” lead me to produce more than one piece of work which then go on to form a series or to complement the original.

I am fascinated by Boundaries, both physical and emotional, and a lot of my work reflects this. Walls fences and trees, in particular, have featured in a lot of my work and I particularly enjoy the texture and decay/distress that can be brought into this element of my work.