About
“You seemed so far away,” Miss Honey whispered, awestruck. “Oh, I was. I was flying past the stars on silver wings,” Matilda said. “It was wonderful.” – Matilda, Roald Dahl
My embroidery always comes from a playful place; the pieces are pure escapism, and I want the joy, creativity and playfulness of childhood to come through. Whether it’s in the bright and quirky fabrics, wonky stitched lines or scrawling texts, I relish the imperfections. I honestly love the moments when a mistake is made, and how it takes me in a direction that I hadn’t planned. As a control freak in every other aspect of my life, this is really liberating!
I’m very inspired by children’s illustrators such as Quentin Blake and Lauren Child. I try to remember what it felt like to be a child; all the confidence and wonder. I put myself back in that place when I think about what I want to make. Photographs are usually the basis for my drawings, and it is delightful to draw from childhood photos, or photos I’m given for a commission, and see how real people can become cute little characters. You can show so much personality with a wonky smile, cross-eyes or pigeon toes. At the moment I’m enjoying looking through photos of me and my brothers playing dress up in the costumes our Nana made us. I love seeing all the quirky 90’s clothes our mum dressed us in (dungarees and Dr. Martens, yes please), and how they come alive with fabric applique and wobbly free machine embroidery lines.
I am a proud member of the Society for Embroidered Work, an organisation that promotes and supports artists with an element of stitch in their work.