I believe that communities become more resilient and caring when people have the confidence, understanding and skills to engage actively with the world around them. In my artist practice, I aim to cultivate curiosity and imagination by raising questions and noticing the particular in places.
My experience in community learning and participatory art covers a range of different audiences, participants and settings:
- engagement workshops for general public and community groups,
- organised and led art walks,
- delivered schools projects as independent creative practitioner and on behalf of Meadow Arts,
- projects with Looked After Children and young people with disabilities
- public events alongside curated exhibitions,
- developed an educational programme and learning resources for a public funded heritage project,
- created a walking event for livestream online festival,
- artist talks and presenting papers at academic conferences.
Combining artist skills with my experience in civil engineering and environmental consultancy gives me a broad outlook with an ability to make new connections and offer fresh perspectives on subject themes.
I am trained as an Arts Award adviser for Explore/Discover level and have completed courses in:
- Planning for Work in Formal Education (Arts Connect)
- Creative Facilitation for Young People (Artsworks)
- Managing Difficult Situations (Severn Arts)
- Attachment Theory, Neuroscience and Parenting (Severn Arts).
Explore some of the projects below for further information:
Avon Meadows – Beauty and Utility
I was one of four artists commissioned by Meadow Arts on this project, working at Avon Meadows, Pershore with the Floodplain Meadows Partnership
Cinderloo Heritage Schools
As co-founder of Cinderloo1821 in 2018, I helped secure over £30k of public funding and have led many different events for people, community groups and schools to learn about the history around the Cinderloo Uprising.
CPRE Hedgerow Heroes
I led walks and workshops for CPRE Shropshire’s Hedgerow Heroes project in 2023/24. The aim was to inspire people to respond creatively in arts activities, and learn more about hedgerows, their use in sustainable farming practices and value in supporting biodiversity.
Making with Nature
Walking is fundamental to my exploration of places, and from this I seek a close relationship with the landscape, using found or foraged materials to make art. In many of the public workshops and events I lead I encourage people to develop skills and work closer with nature, often working alongside historians, ecologists or other specialists. This more informal approach for learning combined with creativity can be a powerful way to build connection with nature.
Meadow Arts
As a member of the Meadow Arts’ network of creative practitioners, I have led engagement projects alongside Meadow Arts’ projects and exhibitions, and I have also worked in schools under the Meadow Arts Inspires programme.
The Landing Project
The Landing Project is a creative exploration of rural labour, the evolution of farming practices and future relationships between people and land
The Roaming Flags of Bumble Hole
Working with artist Andy Howlett, and singer/songwriter Bethany Kay Hopkins, we led a project to make a series of flags celebrating the nature and waterways of Bumble Hole Nature Reserve in Dudley with the local community and volunteers.
This Land
I joined artist Jill Impey and poet Jean Atkin to work on a project for Meadow Arts to deliver an engagement programme in parallel with the exhibition Monument to the Vanquished at the Hive in Shrewsbury.
Walking
My artist practice stems from walking and experiencing places. I bring this practice into many different community events and learning projects and find that people enjoy the opportunity to take time observing the world through artistic eyes.
Your Perfect High Street
As part of the 2017 Heritage Open Day events, I was delighted to be invited to run a workshop at the Unitarian Church on Shrewsbury’s High Street.