“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun” (Mary Lou Cook)

As a child and teenager I always enjoyed drawing, painting, photography, design and outdoor activities which I probably inherited from my father. When I started university and then got a job as a financial planner my focus shifted more towards using the left side of the brain. It wasn’t until I moved to Scotland when I rediscovered my creative self again. It must have been the new culture, the stunning scenery and clean air that awakened my senses. Initially I only used photography to share my experiences of living abroad. I explored my new home country by hillwalking, sea kayaking, canoeing, camping and skiing and my camera went with me all the time. A few years later, after a tough but very insightful period where I tried to make a living with my photography business, I met someone who inspired me to get back into painting and drawing again. It was as if I came home again spiritually and it was the start of my creative journey.
My artwork and sketchbooks are the result of experimenting with a diverse range of mediums, trying out new combinations, pushing the boundaries, making mistakes, learning and feeling completely free in developing my creativity. Nature is a big theme in my artwork and I’m inspired by textures, patterns, colours, tones and shapes. My mixed media paintings can contain kitchen foil, modelling paste, paper collage, scraps of fabric, prints from my own photos or printmaking, dried flowers and leaves, bark or sand. My collograph and etching prints can be monochrome or very colourful but are always full of texture and markmaking. My photography is still a medium I use regularly, not only as an art form in itself but also as reference for new paintings or prints. The digital art I create on my Ipad can sometimes also lead to new art projects. My handmade papercuts are more graphic in style and inspired by botanical or coastal patterns. Recently I started to work more in 3D, making artists books/book objects and assemblages from my own prints, natural and found materials.

Every year I take part in North East Open Studios. I also exhibit my work at local galleries and exhibitions such as Fabric of the Land at the Geology Faculty of Aberdeen University, ArtAboyne and Art in the Park in Banchory. In 2017 I had my first artists’ book exhibited at the National Open Print Exhibition in Bankside Gallery in London. Recently I received the Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award from Creative Scotland to do a residency at
Zea Mays Printmaking in the USA.

I regularly organise art, craft and Ipad workshops throughout Aberdeenshire and further afield to help others discovering new techniques and gaining confidence in exploring their own creativity.