About

I studied Graphic Design in Newcastle in the 1980s, working first in design practice and then returning to the University of Northumbria as a Senior Lecturer. My introduction to printmaking was as a student, when I was never happier than when in the print room and my transition from graphic design to printmaking was a gradual process, combining both, until my move to rural Northumberland where I now have my studio. After fifteen years teaching I now make original prints and offer occasional workshops, creative days with a small group of enthusiastic students, in my own rural studio or occasionally working with other organisations to deliver workshops elsewhere.

My background as a graphic designer undoubtedly influences the way I work demonstrating a design sensibility in my approach to my printmaking. I am inspired by plants and natural forms but the process of printmaking itself is a genuine love - the problem solving and ‘craft’ of creating prints and that thrill of 'lifting up the paper', the big reveal, which is a joy (most of the time). 

Drawing underpins my work - it is where many of my prints begin, in sketchbooks, and the processes I choose which often allow me to incorporate drawing in some form or other.

The riverside studio in which I work, in rural Northumberland, is rich in inspiration in a setting of natural landscape, my home and garden. And when I am not in my studio, I might, for example, be walking on a beach on our amazing coastline, or be in my garden where I grow veg from seed, sweetpeas, dahlias and a host of informally planted perennials.