I live and work in North Yorkshire, using local plants to make unique ecoprinted designs, direct from nature. Through the slow art of botanical mark making on papers and textiles, an enhanced encounter with plants and their properties unfolds.
In my workshops, participants are invited to experiment with a wide range of plants and to discover the unique signatures that they offer. In the process of foraging, identifying and printing we discover the joy of a deeper connection to the natural world.
Ecoprinted textiles are made using leaves and flowers to create a contact print on beautiful natural fabrics. There is a huge variety of pigments and tannins present in foliage/flowers, which can be coaxed from them during the process. There are no paints or digital prints used in my process. I use a wide variety of locally sourced plants here in North Yorkshire, both from my garden and the surrounding countryside.
All the shapes printed on the fabric /paper are from the direct contact of the leaves/flowers and the cloth, under the influence of heat and pressure.
"Ecoprint is for me a dialogue with nature and my surroundings. One of my recurring themes is a sense of place and belonging which I record on cloth and paper. It can draw together sensory memory, that of a particular walk, or time of year in my garden or surrounding countryside.
I am so fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the UK, within the Howardian Hills AONB, and the North York Moors literally down the road. The extraordinary colours in nature's palette are a continual source of joy to me - whether it's unwrapping bundles of cloth and leaves to see what alchemy has taken place in secret in the folds of the fabric, or whether it's coaxing colour gently from leaves, bark or flowers, or other natural dye sources. There's a natural harmony and depth of colour that cannot be replicated by synthetic dyes. I love to let nature do her thing, and there are so many variables!"
I am a supporter of the Just a Card campaign, supporting independent artists and makers to have a voice in a global market.
