Work in progress on a mangrove/tree collage
Hanging onto ideas of how to draw can keep you in a strait jacket. It’s often the way we are judged as a child; if you can draw then you’ll make a good artist. If not, forget it. Leaning to scribble and muck around is a constant challenge. That’s where a drawing group can help you dare to draw. This has a flow on effect in your ability to embrace imperfection.
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Detail of the inside cover page of my Sunday post book for 2024.
How do you archive your creative oeuvre? I’ve been writing weekly blogposts since 2019 and have decided to create a series of books for each of the last 6 years. It seemed like a really daunting task but once I got started the momentum kicked in. It’s about making a start and committing to the project.
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Forest Dance (detail)
Long held beliefs about your own problem solving abilities can hold you back from experimenting and moving forward. I’ve discovered that instead of meeting the problem ‘head on’, it’s easier to go around the edges of things, whittling away until a solution presents itself. Like cutting with scissors to create silhouette shapes for collage.
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Inspired by the colours of the earth and tree bark ~ making paste papers
I’ve been calming my turbulent thoughts with colour experiments to create a series of paste papers. The colours reminded me of the earth, of the bark of trees and how trees form communities the same as humans do. All hues, shapes and colours depending on where we grow, how we put down our roots, how we are all connected by the blessing of this earth.
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Banners of Resistance 2025 Collage 10.5 x 14.8cm
Art activism is my way of maintaining optimism in the face of adversity. So many calamities are happening in the world I often feel overwhelmed and powerless. That’s where small grass roots projects like The Postcard Project – Finding Hope’ is a way I can add my artistic voice to keep hope alive.
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Unlock My Heart 2025 - handmade paper collage
Art has a way of revealing larger truths. I’ve been using a technique of conceal and reveal on some new artworks which has led me to think about how this reflects the state of world matters; political, environmental and humanitarian. I’ve become an excavator, discovering what stands out amongst the busy-ness of visual stimulation.
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Beginnings: adding some paper collage to my argyrotype print made in Scotland, 2022
Where to begin and how will your creative story progress? I’ve found it easier to start new artworks from the ‘seed activators’ of works you have already made and liked. It’s similar to following a story structure, the ‘once upon a time’ that ushers in a magical engagement with the imagination.
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Occupy 2012 - my artist books using posters from the 2011 democracy protest posters sourced in Athens, Greece and manifestos of the ‘Occupy, movement.
Artist books sit outside conventional artwork definitions. They can be 3D or 2D artworks, they can have a traditional book structure or look like a strange sculpture made from a variety of materials including melting ice. One thing they have in common is that they are acts of resistance.
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Fern the Goat - watercolour c2006
How do you birth the future you want to see? For me it started with painting goats. Not any old goats, but my British Alpine goats we had in Victoria. They were my ticket to change my world from where I was then to where I am now. Becoming an architect of your world starts with a vision and builds from there.
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Joyful Connections - detail of work in progress
What to do when you are feeling overwhelmed? When your art (and life) are feeling stalled by the chaos of the world and you can’t find your way into creating joyfully. It’s times like this that I reach into my store of visual memories, like the image of bunting strung between the houses in a Mexican village. Colour and movement can provide the spark to keep hope alive.
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