1. Tell us about your practice?
For my 10th birthday I was gifted my first screen for screen printing and that’s when my dream of having my own print studio began.
With this goal in mind I studied textile design at the Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 2018 before setting up my print studio in Tighnabruaich a few months after graduating. From my workshop I create my textiles and ceramics, interpreting nature in abstract form for homes and spaces.
2. Tell us about your materials and techniques?
I work my wallhangings as if they are an extension of my sketchbooks and drawings. My prints are printed layer by layer through a unique process of paper stencilling, masking and screen printing. Using paper allows me to work in a spontaneous manner and make design decisions as I print. Due to the process my wallhangings are one-off, single-edition prints.
3. What inspired the work you are presenting at Collect 2023?
The inspiration for the collection comes from Caladh Harbour, a small Scottish remote harbour. Here a large house once stood but since its demolishment Caladh has returned to an almost wild state.
If you look hard enough there are still hints of its existence like the family graveyard on the island with stones carved into ships, moss-covered staircases and carved rocks, rows of cherry trees amongst the natural woodland and a lily pond deep in the woods.
My wallhangings capture the shapes, colours and patterns of the features of Caladh that make you question what was once there and a reminder that nature has a way of taking over leaving only traces behind.
4. Tell us about a special detail from this new body of work?
When gathering visual inspiration I took a small dinghy and visited Caladh, rowing around the old lighthouse and to the island that makes up the harbour Eilean Dubh. It was an incredibly still, frosty winter's day. You could hear the seal sliding into the water and the heron's wings flapping as it went to nest on the Scots pines.
My favourite detail is a pattern featured across the wallhanging representing the pine branches with frosted tipped pine needles. It is an intricate paper-stencilled pattern that captures the delicacy and coolness of the frost but also warmth of the low sun and bright colours. It creates an atmosphere that takes me back to that beautiful day.
5. What do you hope the viewer will take away from this work?
To me the shapes, patterns and colours represent parts of the story of Caladh. Most importantly I hope the viewer enjoys the atmosphere of the wallhangings as well as how all the shapes and patterns come together however I like that as they take a deeper look they might begin to see them taking form.
Perhaps they will see the stone harbour walls covered in moss and the lichen growing on the carved ships sails, frosty scots pine branches and ferns growing over carved waves and the ship grave stone, the shape of the island, harbour or the ruin of a lighthouse.
