I've always been a bit of a selkie, really. I grew up a stone's throw from the beach and spent my childhood more in the water than out. The shore is my happy place. It's little wonder then, that my art is influenced by the sound of the sea; the rise and fall of the waves and the salty tang of the air.
I'm a textiles artist and I love to experiment with fibres, inclusions and embellishment. I have some sort of schema, where I constantly try to meld the treasures of the natural world with fibre and stitching to create entirely new pieces that hold a memory of their parts.
Recently, I have been working with seaweed. I love the slithering texture; the marine scent that engulfs me. After stormy seas, I have taken great hands of kelp and stitched them into pods. The wet-sea-leather is hard to control, and writhes as you sew. Many tear. I dry them and add light to make a delicate glow that exhibits the secret patterns of the fibres deep within. The warmth of the light makes them exhale; selkie-lungs breathing the scent of the seabed.
