PANAPPLE ART

I trained as a fine artist and textile designer although accidentally spent a lifetime working in the advertising and communications industry, splitting my working life between the private and public sectors.

I have worked in retail, charity, tourism, arts, and government departments but never lost my lifelong interest in everything handmade. 

Since my earliest childhood potato prints, I have enjoyed drawing and making handcrafted objects. A big influence was also getting my first camera as a child leading to a love of photography and I was lucky to get a job where photography was a daily task. 

My creative life took a back seat during my career too often. With a burning desire to return to all things art and making, in 2014, I established a studio space in Oxton, Birkenhead. By 2018, I returned to arts and crafts full-time and have not looked back. 

It has been an incredibly exciting time creating artwork and embracing the creative me. 

Whether I am sketching, painting, printing, cutting and glueing paper, sewing or sanding, I take inspiration from all aspects of handicraft techniques, traditional and contemporary. 

My desire to create has never been stronger than now. I love the whole process, the thrill of a new project, the thoughts and ideas that start as notes and sketches and the satisfaction of seeing my ideas develop into a finished piece. 

Some projects are fast (my quickies), and others take months even years to mature to fruition. I often combine my painting and collage with poetry and writing too. 

I am truly a magpie and adventurer of all things art so as you step into my world expect a colourful and random journey.

I studied Art & Design, graduating with a BA Hons from Lancaster University in the 1980s. Despite my training, a huge part of my graduation show involved repurposed cardboard packaging and papier mâché, much to the angst of one of my fine art tutors who burned my work post-show. 

This did not deter me as you will see cardboard and packaging feature a lot in some of my current projects.