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I make things so I don't kill people

I've always been a maker. Ever since I can remember I have made things from various media. My grandma taught me to knit and crochet, but only recently have I learned how to follow patterns. We pressed flowers, embroidered, made paper sculptures. I spent hours kneading blocks of plasticine into weird and wonderful shapes, then cutting it out of my hair when I fell asleep playing with it. At school I discovered a love for textiles and printing. I learned weaving, batik, screenprinting and linoprinting. I always wanted to make historical costumes, and on school art trips to London I would slip off to the V&A and spend hours admiring five centuries of fashion in room 40. At college, certain my path was destined for textiles, I discovered ceramics. Like the plasticine of my formative years, but bigger, better, and with infinitely more scope. It was the stuff of dreams. Like a baby playing with mud pies. I went on to study ceramics and glass at university and even since then have continued to learn and absorb new practices - felting, spinning, weaving, dyeing, making botanical dyes and eco printing. Mostly self taught, I have realised only as I have got older that my passion is for process. I love to learn how to make things, and the enjoyment is in the making more than the finishing. I don't consider myself a specialist in any field, but more an enthusiastic researcher in making processes. I believe my talent lies only in picking up new skills quickly and an enthusiasm to try anything once.

My inspiration for my work is and always has been that most underestimated of senses - touch.

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