The Garden

View of river bank “Glan Ceirw”/Bank of the River, from our back garden in North Wales. December 2024.

Gardening is a huge part of the creative process for me. I need to be in it, physically and emotionally. My family and I are fortunate to have a garden big enough to grow a modest amount of edible plants and ornamentals, and we maximise its potential every year. I am also growing plants to use in my work. Creating my own pigments from the ground, making dyes, printing from various materials, and using other natural materials is essential to my sustainable practice. Collecting found objects littered in the landscape are often threaded into my pieces. Using unconventional materials strengthens the awareness I want to raise about the climate crisis, and how plants are dramatically effected by environmental degradation.    

I've always had a curious mind. That's the artist in me and the lifelong fascination with biology. Much of the work I am creating now will be my personal exploration and deeper engagement with nature, pollution, and its effects on all life forms. I'm particularly intrigued to learn more about the language of plants and how they communicate within their own communities. Learning how they respond and connect with other living organisms will be part of my research too.