1st presentation over with! Through presenting and listening to rest of the group it has struck me how much I am returning to aspects of my childhood of growing up in the countryside and the influence of this experience; it has been a cathartic  few days! The home, and the 'safe' 'cocooned' sense that this space provides is of great importance to me. Life is so fast paced we all need that space where we can return to and feel reenergized at the end of the day. We seem to constantly go  from one screen to the next; at work we look at screens, we return home to look at another screen and in-between constantly look at another mini hand held screen!!! We no longer 'make' or engage in the production of physical objects or each other; we need to hold onto that  need to be creative and engaging. Having materials within the home that are tactile and have physicality to them may be a way of compensating. The lack of physicality today is an issue for me........how many people on a daily basis never come into physical contact with a person or living thing?????

touch, physicality, making, doing, engaging with the real, sensory communication through physical interaction are my main concerns!

I feel my practice is strongly underpinned by todays obsession with technology; tablets, smartphones, computers. I cannot get away from the fact that my work represents the physicality of the real. I strive to only work with organic matter which stems from my idyllic childhood growing up in the countryside........it left profound memories for me that demonstrate how important the physicality of the land and its materials are.......it gave me good grounding to go out into the world and become a fully rounded human being! Working in the flower trade for 17 years and now in an horticultural environment I am lucky enough to keep that link to the land on a daily basis.

Banksy 'Mobile Lovers' 2014.................just says it all!!!