Have you ever walked through a gallery and seen a stunning piece of art, only to be left a little underwhelmed by the frame? As a fellow art lover and artist myself, I understand entirely. The frame is like a piece of furniture for your artwork; it should enhance the piece's beauty and resonate with the style of the room it will eventually call home.

A flourishing tale for art enthusiasts and plant lovers alike! I want to share a story about the unexpected turn my latest collection, Bottle & Branch, has taken. It all began with a simple idea: capturing the beauty of found branches through art. But as the project unfolded, nature added its creative twist, blurring the lines between artistic inspiration and botanical experiment.

In fine art, inspiration often strikes in unexpected places, weaving its way into our creative endeavours and shaping the essence of our work. The seeds of inspiration for my latest collection, Bottle & Branch, have emerged from three key influences: brushes, clarity and folk art. The developing collection is a still-life exploration into glass bottles, branches, pattern design and the pursuit of simplicity.

The cheerful supermarket kalanchoes plant (commonly known as a Flaming Katy) and a hand made ceramic pot, dotted in circular buttons, are the star of a brand new botanical painting collection. The collection takes a deep dive into composition, surface pattern and a personal connection with favourite colours and how they work in harmony.

The Homespun Girls are a collection of paper collage portraits constructed from recycled paintings, remnants of clothes patterns and collected colourful envelopes. Each girl has a name inspired by female American names of the 1930’s - 60’s. They are names that remind me of my fleeting yet impactful time living in the American Midwest in the early 80s.

Differences are a key ingredient to finding joy and making life feel rich and full. Covid times made differences feel elusive. In the chinks of freedom in between those trying times a road trip to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, for crab brioche sandwiches, opened a whole new view and sparked a candy coloured abstract landscape collection.

A small tin flower pot, stuffed with hyacinth bulbs, sparked a new botanical fine art collection complete with bold shapes, luscious fronds, fancy china plates and dainty gold details. The finished work represents a desire to explore strong tonal contrasts and richly textured surfaces. It’s also a collection of mixed media paintings that helped me climb out of the depths of isolation.