Abingdon Studio : 1990s

Stand in The Market, Art in Action, 2006

Early training, travels and experience

I was born near Macclesfield, UK, but brought up in the New Forest on the banks of the Beaulieu River. The love for the landscape of my childhood home and a general sense of connection to landscape has been a potent influence in my creative life. This crystallized when studying under James Sellars at Southampton College of Art. Later at Canterbury College of Art I continued training as a graphic designer specialising in illustration. After graduating I spent several years in publishing as an editor, copywriter and designer before joining the toy industry. Working in the European R&D department of Milton Bradley, a major American company, I was based in London but also travelled widely in Europe.

In the mid 1980s I left industry and took the hippie trail to India, Indonesia and Australia some time after most hippies had gone home and were sensibly devising new technology worldwide - I did it all the wrong way round.

Beginning with textiles; living in Scotland

After spending several months in Indonesia I became directly engaged in the idea of making textiles. As I had no interest in becoming a weaver, I started to think about painting, or perhaps printing, textiles. On my return to the UK I moved to Scotland and lived on Skye for a few years. I began to paint on silk while a patient at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness - whiling away the time before the birth of twins. The Hospital Laundry is probably still in shock.

The work I developed over the next few years was later exhibited in many Scottish galleries. A large five-piece hanging was commissioned for new Glasgow Hilton International in 1991.

Oxford area

In the early 90s I moved to Oxford and a new set of opportunities, in particular as a Friend of the Pitt Rivers Museum. I attended a huge variety of lectures on ethnography, anthropolgy and textile history and found the Pitt Rivers Collection more than just visual inspiration.

Devon

In autumn 2004 we decamped to mid-Devon and now live in Hatherleigh, a small market town within view of Dartmoor. My work has broadened to include a large proportion of work with wax and I also use various shibori techniques, particularly tying, clamping and twisting. I have also started to use natural dye extracts. In 2008 I grew and used my first indigo.

Subject matter; inspiration

Past subject matter was often derived from drawings of natural subjects, such as feathers, leaves, animals or animal markings and the patterns and movement of water. An interest in mythology and folklore sometimes surfaced in more narrative pieces of work but most recently I have been closely observing grass and grassland. This was inspired by an initial set of photographs I took near my childhood home in Hampshire, but now focuses on the fields and lanes around my Devon home. Work on this theme can be seen in the Gallery section of this site.

Life in Devon

In July 2006 I was elected as a member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. There is now a permanent selection of my work in the Devon Guild shop at Riverside Mill, Bovey Tracey. I continue to sell work through fairs and good galleries countrywide.

In 2008 I embarked on a major research project concerning aspects of the C19th natural dye trade. This research is not written up in the website.

Courses; teaching; interests

Nowadays my teaching focuses on the use of wax with acid dyes or dyes for silk painting. I prefer to offer a broad approach which includes some help with design, as well as giving students the possibilty of working with with shibori techniques. I also teach the use of sustainable natural dyes.

For many years I have been a regular tutor at Denman College near Oxford and now teach at West Dean College, Sussex, Dillington House in Somerset and the Ardington School of Crafts in Oxfordshire. Through the Devon Guild of Craftsmen's Big Hand Little Hand project I have also taught children and young students locally and give talks and workshops to various Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers.

Natural dye research is a major interest and I have been supported in my studies of the orchil (lichen) dyestuff trade by The Worshipful Company of Dyers. Papers have been presented at DHA (Dyes in History and Archaeology) conferences and the Textile Society.

For the last three years I have worked with the editorial commitee of the Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers and am currently Features Editor for dyeing.

For further information on courses, talks and workshops, please look at the courses page.