People often ask me where I get my inspiration from and how I got to be a full time artist. When not doing commissions and workshops, left to my own devices my work is inspired by the environment I live in, the people around me, other artists and a spiritual need to fulfil that part of me that needs to create. If that doesn’t happen I can become impossible to live with! I love living in Northumberland, the wide open spaces, wild coast lines, hills and moor land all feature in my work. At 18 I had to leave it in order to come back and appreciate it. But I remember as a little girl watching my dad, who at the time worked down the pit, painting in the kitchen. He would take my mum shopping and while we both waited for her sitting in the car, he would get his sketch book out and I would sit in the back seat copying him with my pencils and paper, line by line, mark by mark.

I suppose I learnt my initial skills in glass by attending an Adult Education class......remember those? I learnt how to cut and lead glass. For a long time it was a hobby but then there came a definite point in my life where I decided I wanted to try and make a living from it. A lot of what I have learnt has been a mixture of self teaching and watching you-tube videos. I have progressed from just leading glass to painting it, fusing it and creating sculptural forms with it.

The woodlands I walk in near my house are full of ferns, wild garlic and silver birch. Ferns uncurling and any kind of spirals are fascinating, having a positive meaning for every culture, seen often as the door way to life and a spiritual journey. I often feel my art helps me with that spiritual journey. Helping me to be focused and mindful. Allowing calmness and space in, where often there is, I feel, chaos.

The sea features a lot in my work. Could it be because we have always lived near the sea? I love the work of David Hobday, his large wave sculptures are wonderful. The more exotic sculptures of Dale Chihuly are amazing and all play a part in influencing in my work.

My Creative Journey