Welcome to my exhibition!
I am a visual artist specialising in mosaics. Prior to this I worked as a psychodynamically trained Art Therapist in NHS clinical posts in Wales. But since relocating to the Highlands, I have been working as a Community Artist, engaging with people of all ages in numerous community settings. I enjoy encouraging others to explore their creativity and try new skills and find making mosaics a completely absorbing and very accessible medium that lends itself well to both individual and group work.
Having my own exhibition at this stage in life, and in the town I live in, is very special to me. This exhibition has given me the opportunity to develop my own work and explore the expressive potential of mosaics.
I like to include interesting combinations of materials in my work and often incorporate recycled and found items. Early on I discovered the work of mosaic artists who use "Pique-assiette", a mosaic technique created from thrown away, broken and found materials. These fragments of beauty appeal to my magpie tendencies and bring a lively interplay of colour, light and textures that I enjoy.
I take inspiration from many sources and have sought to bring a little 'magic' into my mosaics by drawing on the unconscious through dreams, mythology and archetypes.
My work is often a response to the richness of nature and a desire to express a spiritual connection with it. As a medium, mosaic is well placed to convey a creative tribute to the enduring life-force of nature in the face of climate change. The process of breaking, re-using and reassembling into something whole again, is a powerful expression of resilience and strength out of fragility. Many of my pieces acknowledge the ongoing struggle for survival of our endangered species and a need to cherish what we have.
The many months of "piecing it together" for this exhibition have come to represent for me the start of a creative response to uncertain times and a hope that we can collectively piece together a fragmented world.
