I was born in Lancashire into a family who made things and went for very long walks. 

Grandad always painted and made us wooden toys. Both mum and Dad would have loved the opportunity to go to Art College and were over the moon when I went first to Blackburn and then Bath College of Art.

 

It was a wonderful time of learning and discovery. My degree was in Graphics and Illustration but it was printmaking I was drawn to. When I moved to Edinburgh in 1994 the first thing I did was was join Edinburgh Printmakers. I have been a member there ever since.

 

Through the busy years of home and family I have always kept a sketchbook close by. Watching and drawing birds from the kitchen sink.

In our small city garden we planted a hedge and the sparrows came. We got an allotment and I learned the value and beauty of worms and insects. Finding a bee feeding on a self seeded Water Avens I wondered why I had ever weeded the unknown plants out. 

 

In 2018 I was awarded the John Busby Seabird Drawing Course Bursary. Being on Bass Rock drawing Gannets on a bright, cold, ferociously windy day, felt like another world. 

 

It was at this point my interest in conservation and ecology grew. 

 

If it is drawing that helps me make sense of things and brings me a sense of calm.

Printmaking allows me to take the quick sketch of a fast moving subject matter and explore it with a rich variety of mark making. I love all forms of printmaking but it is etching that I return to most often.

 

‘It is so beautiful I must show you how it looks’ Van Gough