Updates

Blackburn

5 & 6 July 2025

I had the best weekend leading collage workshops at the National Festival of Making!

I was next door to British Textile Biennial’s beautiful pop-up exhibition about Wakes Week, pictured below.

From the late 19th to mid 20th Century, Wakes Week was the annual holiday across Lancashire and beyond. Mills and factories would close down for maintenance, and all the workers and their families would go on holiday at once. They often travelled to seaside towns like Blackpool by rail.

The exhibition includes archival photographs and postcards from Wakes Weeks in the 1930s.

In my workshop, visitors created their own contemporary postcards. They could combine the archival Wakes Week imagery, decorated collage papers, and photos from second-hand books and magazines.

The photos below show a selection of my example postcards and outcomes from visitors. Thanks to everyone who came along - I had a great time!

Hebden Bridge Summer Parade

June 2025

I really enjoyed working with Handmade Productions in the lead-up to their Summer Parade. The theme was Water, Woods and Wilderness, to celebrate local wildlife. I helped the artists to prep the amazing costumes, which involved lots of cutting cardboard, measuring fabric and stapling! I also supported with community workshops at the Handmade warehouse, including public open sessions and an afternoon with people seeking asylum. I helped to build the curlew bird puppets and then carried one in the parade.

Due to space limitations I tend to work in 2D, so this placement was a great opportunity to develop my 3D making skills.

Handmade Productions are all about creativity in the community and I was so pleased to be involved in the making of this wonderful event. The parade was magical and received loads of positive feedback. My photos here really don't do it justice! Check out the Handmade Productions website or social media to see their stunning work.

Coming soon

Recently I’ve been making monoprints, experimenting with organic shapes and mark-making to create a variety of textures (left image - black and white).

I wanted to push this idea further, so I digitised my work and printed copies using the Risograph process - a Japanese photocopying and printing method that came about in the 1980s and is still popular with designers today. Riso is known for its vibrant colours, limited palette and charming imperfections.

I’ve been playing with compositions - layering the shapes I monoprinted and Riso printing them in different colours (second and third images). It’s been an experimental process because you’re never quite sure how Riso prints will turn out, but I’m pleased with the results!

My limited edition A4 blue & pink Risograph series will soon be available to purchase through my Print Shop.

University of Salford

March 2025

Participants were invited to bring their unwanted art (e.g. testers, or a piece they'd previously given up on) and rework it into something new. I offered up some of my old work as well. The aim was to create a relaxed atmosphere where they could forget the isolation and 'pressure to produce' we can feel when making art, studying at uni, and more generally in our day to day lives.

The workshops were very well-received. Participant feedback: “I feel much more awake now and my mood has lifted. It has been great to create work without worrying about the outcome. I'd like a longer session - it was so fun! ”

Work in progress

I started experimenting with texture paste last year. More recently, I have been using it with watercolour on wood boards. These materials allow me to create a sense of movement and energy - particularly with the blue tones, which are reminiscent of crashing waves. I'm really enjoying the process and will continue to develop this series.

Platform One Gallery, Todmorden

March - April 2025

Three of my texture paste pieces have been included in Platform One Gallery's open exhibition, Into the Light, which welcomes and celebrates the Spring. The pink/orange piece is inspired by sunset skies, and the two landscapes aim to capture the ever-changing light in the beautiful Calder Valley.

Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery

Jan - March 2025

My acrylic painting of my Nan's living room was included in the BM&AG 2025 Open Exhibition. This piece is special to me because her house has been such a stable and consistent place throughout my life, but I also think it's a familiar and comforting scene that many people can recognise or identify with in their own ways.

Water Street Gallery, Todmorden

Nov 2024 - Jan 2025

I created two emulsion transfers of wintery scenes for the Postcard Art call-out at Water Street Gallery. These were displayed alongside larger pieces from the Seeds of Change exhibition.

I love postcard-sized art because it's accessible, affordable and welcomes a broad range of styles and mediums.

Emulsion transfers can have an ethereal, worn quality to them. For me, they show how photographs can represent faded memories. I think transfers work well as small-scale pieces because, when leaning in and looking closely, viewers will notice the layers, marks and textures created naturally through the process.