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I went to the Wordsworth Museum last week for a meeting to explore the possibility of hanging the new mobiles inspired by wake in the 'pause space'. Afterwards, I had a peaceful and thought-provoking time exploring the Museum, Dove Cottage, the garden, orchard and the...

I knew nothing about moss until a couple of years ago when I read Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It’s a book which is both poetic and informative about the unique and transformative properties of moss, and since reading it the mosses on our local moorland have...

A few other poems which have inspired me while thinking about the concept of wake.  

A group show featuring textiles, sculpture, ceramics and etchings by artists Danielle Creenaune, Juliet and Jamie Gutch, Katherine Jones, Solange Leon, Tanya McCallin and Justine Randall. Visit the gallery Tuesday to Friday, 11 am to 5 pm. Other days by appointment...

Soaking and laminationDry, rough-sanded and ready to cut out the internal shapesCutting out, ready to fine sand

Exploring lightness of lines and marks drawn from images of water boatmen skittering across the surface of water in the boathouse.

Exhibiting Dovetailing at the Windermere Jetty Museum this year gave me the opportunity to spend time in the museum with its adjoining boatyard and conservation workshop, and to get a sense of fleeting movement, floating reflections, the forming of wood, and working...

This mobile was made for an exhibition at Quay Arts to accompany a screening of the film FAWLEY, which explores the life and decommissioning of the landmark power station and its local connection with landscape and people. Made by Chu-Li Shewring and Adam Gutch,...

A few more images from Ellary.      Visual notes for remembering what I have seen

We spent a week on the west coast of Scotland on the Ellary peninsular. I was absorbed both by the long, lone strands of seaweed which, given form by the water around them, looped and moved in meandering response to the currents and tide, and by the ephemeral traces...

A very inspiring exhibition of the life and work of Ruth Asawa, which we visited at Modern Art Oxford on 13 August. Citizen of the Universe takes a unique look at the visionary artist, educator and activist Ruth Asawa (b. 1926, Norwalk, CA – d. 2013, San Francisco,...

Mobile installed at Solace, Leeds

Gathered Notes book, telling the story of the first two Dovetailing exhibitions

Dovetailing at Windermere Jetty Museum

I really enjoyed installing seven new mobiles with Jo Tinker in her new gallery, The Tinker Gallery, on Friday. The seven mobiles make up a full window installation. The inspiration came from learning about sphagnum moss. A shape within each mobile wraps around (and...

I'm currently preparing all the long hanging threads for the mobiles to be suspended within the very high space at Windermere Jetty Museum. The studio is full of long silent threads of different lengths, held in tension with a clip. The effect of so many empty strings...

We had a wonderful day last week visiting the Windermere Jetty Museum for a site visit for Dovetailing in the summer. A talk with the conservation team opened up so many avenues of thoughts about wood, trees, shapes, craft, and working with the elements. The sounds of...

I am currently packing up some Dovetailing pieces to send to jaggedart for the stand at Platform at the London Art Fair (21 - 24 April, Business Design Centre, Islington) which this year is exploring the theme of 'Music and its Part in Contemporary Visual Art'....

Inspired by the book Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I have been searching for sphagnum moss on Ilkley Moor. In its ability to capture carbon, sphagnum moss is inordinately precious to the balance of the world and yet it is so small; clearly discerning the...

I am working on a commission for a couple who specified that they would like it to be in olive. I have always wanted to work in olive. I love olive trees and my great-grandfather worked in Italy, where he and my great-grandmother lived and raised their family, as a...

Last week I went to visit Alice Fox's allotment. Alice's allotment is the source of materials and the focus of her work, and it was good to go in winter and see the structures and shapes which lie under all the growth of spring and summer. It was a cold but dry day....

We are slowly finding ways of making our work more sustainable. I have finally sourced an eco-friendly thread to replace the nylon monofilament fishing wire. It is not transparent which is what we like about the fishing wire - this gives a sense of the pieces...

A small visitor to Dovetailing Responses with Les Goldman improvising on bass clarinet (click to see the dance)    

We've always wondered what it would be like to see contemporary dancers respond to the mobiles. It was fascinating to see this at Dovetailing Responses. Mati Torres and Beth Cassani moved in and around the pieces and seemed to fuse together images, movement, shapes...