CREATE
Mixed Media Artist

I fully appreciate that I’ve been blessed with a wonderful career, for over 25 years, that combined my Textile Design Degree & passion of Art and Fashion textiles with global travel and business acumen. However, the main driver for leaving my Dream Corporate job, was to pursue my personal ambition to dedicate the balance of my working life to discovering my creative voice.

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

Scott Adams

I was deeply connected to both St Ives and the School of Painting, having discovered it 12 years ago whilst touring Cornwall, and hence we have holidayed there every summer since. I have frequented the St Ives School of Painting every year for the last 8 years attending numerous courses and relished in its methodology knowing that it suited my experiential way of learning.

I loved escaping to my ‘happy place‘ of St Ives every month for a long weekend to immerse myself in its creative culture and spend time with my fellow artists, being challenged in a new media or technique.

MAC | RAGS Art Collective was borne out of seven artists who started the Porthmeor Programme at St Ives School of Painting in 2020 and blossomed into an Art Collective, with our ‘Breathing Space’ exhibition in April 2022 being a celebration of our time spent together.

The name came from our initials and the fact that we were often in rain MACS during our many wet weekends and many of us enjoyed using RAGS to paint with!

We were drawn to St Ives by is light , inspiring scenery and fresh air, and a chance to work with other artists over 9 weekends. We have discovered that, while each of us has our own distinct identity and artistic practice, collectively we share a love of St Ives and the influence it has brought to bear upon us and our work.

We know that our creative journey together will grow through future collaboration and exhibitions in our beloved St Ives and beyond, so watch out for information on our plans for the next Mac Rags exhibition in 2023.

I hope you enjoy discovering our work and following MAC|RAGS on Instagram @mac_rags

Breathing Space Exhibition

As it was my first exhibition I learnt loads about exhibition preparation from my more experienced peers and tutors, and lowballed my expectations of just selling one piece to a complete stranger to instil the confidence I needed to go forward as an Artist?

So I was completely blown away when I sold 11 original works out of the 17 I took, and we had over 500 visitors in one week!…just a wonderful experience to launch my career as an artist!

So as a fully-fledged artist, I’m enjoying the experimentation and playing with different techniques in order to challenge my creative voice, however the Porthmeor Programme definitely taught me that this is where the magic happens!

My work combines my love of the light and open sea, especially exceptional in St Ives, along with the admiration of Mother Nature the Artist, both of which inspire me with their ever changing iteration of texture, pattern and wonderous colour.

Influences of my textile degree and fashion background are apparent in my recent creative practice, which is dedicated to my beloved father, where I have painted scenes of places we spent together on his sailing clothes to keep his memory very much alive.

Kenilworth Artists / Warwickshire Open Studios

I was mindful that, despite my strong connection to St.Ives, I needed to find my creative tribe back home in landlocked Kenilworth, and after many conversations was delighted to be accepted into the Kenilworth Artists in June 2022, and have also signed up as a member of Warwickshire Open studios ready to exhibit in 2023.