Creative Me
I have always been creative. One of my earliest creative memories was being at primary school making some fabric mouse which I was really proud of. In the summer holidays I would visit my Granny where she had saved boxes, fabrics and paper for me to create with. We mixed big bowls of glue made from flour and water and I created collages and paper mache treasures!
Later in life I went on to work within an engineering company where I found sheet steel to be my ‘fabric’ creating peacocks and copper and stainless steel art. In 2007 I went off to college then onto University to find the meaning not of life but ‘Organic’ within art. It was at that time I also discovered silver. This was a much easier medium to work in than sheets of 8 x 4 mild steel and a 6 ft guillotine! Although you can still find me creating metal art panels. One of the latest was a commission in Stainless steel and used as a stunning splash back in a kitchen. I am inspired by nature be it the sea, the wave patterns left on the sand when the tide goes out… from Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotland to the beautiful flowers, grasses and weeds found by the kerb side. The beautiful places I have traveled have also influenced my work allowing me to create textures and patterns within the surfaces of beautiful pieces of silver, copper and stainless steel.
In 2019 I really felt I needed to paint too so while living on Raasay I headed over to Portree and went to Highlands and Islands college. It was the final string to complete my very creative bow.
The final part of my Highlands adventure was when the Production company that produced the SAS Who Dares Wins series arrived on the Island. The Islands rugged and formidable landscape was a perfect back drop to for the series and I was picked up by the programs Art Director /Designer to work as Assistant Art Director/Buyer. I have since returned to England, living on a boat. Ive worked on programs such as Eastenders, Bad Education 4, Back in Time Birmingham, and more SAS Who Dares Wins 2019/2020, HBO Swoosh Adverts, Snowflake Mountain 2022 as Production Buyer & Set Dec. The next chapter in my life is to use all the skills I have learnt within my lifetime. I am having a studio built on the back of my boat where I will be able paint, create my silver while still doing Television work. A dream that started off in the Highlands of Scotland when I went travelling in 2013. My one nights accommodation at Raasay House changed my life forever.
Highlands Adventure
I had been to the Highlands when I was much younger and had always wanted to revisit the Isle of Skye which I had fallen in love with on a family holiday when I was 15. Years later on a holiday touring Scotland on the back of a motorbike with my then Husband he took us to Malliag which is the ferry port to Skye but for some reason he didnt want to take the ferry over to Skye. A disappointed me sat pillion on the back of the bike. As we rode on I soon realised that every beautiful place in Scotland had a train station. There and then I vowed to return on the train. So armed with that knowledge in 2013 when life had just emptied its self over me again I began my trip. Between trains, public busses and the power of my thumb I arrived on Skye. I ended up in Broardford. I was skint, cold, wet and miserable it had been raining for almost the whole trip. My kit was soaked though and my moral was low. I stayed in a hostel in Broadford and while I had Wi-Fi booked the next nights accommodation. Not realising that the Isle of Raasay only had two ferries run on a Sunday and there were no busses to take me to the ferry port of Sconser either! Oh well I decided to let fate take its course. I would stand outside with my thumb out. If i got a lift to Sconser in time for the ferry then great. If not plan B… and anyone that knows me there usually isn’t one of those! But low and behold I managed to get a lift just in time for the ferry. I stood on the top deck during the whole journey, in awe of the view. The Cullins and the Old Man of Storr. In the distance a fabulous old mansion house stood amongst larch trees. My what a feast for the creative me!
I walked up the path to the mansion, through the front doors to reception and proclaimed I never wanted to leave! What a beautiful place. The receptionist looked at me an smiled. How long do you have left of your holiday? 3 weeks I said. Would you like a job she asked? Yes please said I. And there it was. The moment that my life changed forever. After my holiday I went back to England, jacked my life in, packed my car up and went back and lived in the Highlands for many years.